A Dream Deferred?: Examining the Degree Aspirations of African American and White College Students Book

	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction: The Realization or Abandonment of Dreams	1
	Educational History of African Americans in the U.S.	1
	The Gap in Attainment	2
	Explanations for the Attainment Gap	3
	Importance of Studying Aspirations	5
	Significance and Purpose of the Book	6
	Scope of the Study	7
2	What Are Aspirations? Definitions and Theoretical Foundations	11
	Operational Definitions of Aspirations	11
	Theoretical Foundations for Aspirations Studies	14
	Cultural Explanations for Low Aspirations and Attainments	22
	College Students' Degree Aspirations and College Impact	26
3	What Affects Aspirations? Empirical Evidence	31
	Student Background Characteristics and Degree Aspirations	32
	Role of Social Psychological Variables in Aspirations	35
	Effect of Institutional Characteristics on Student Outcomes	38
	Effect of Financial Aid Variables	42
4	Methodology for the Study	47
	Hypotheses	49
	Data Sources	53
	Sample	56
	Description of Variables and Measures	56
	Analyses	60
	Limitations	65
5	College Students' Degree Expectations and Plans in Two Data Sets	69
	Correlation Analyses of Initial Expectations/Plans and Third Year Expectations/Plans	69
	Changes in Degree Expectations and Plans by Racial Group	70
	Group Differences Within and Between the Data Sets	76
	Base Regression Model of BPS and CIRP Data Sets by Race	85
	Comparison Between the CIRP and BPS Base Regression Models	92
6	What Affects College Students' Degree Expectations and Plans?	95
	BPS Full Regression Model by Race	95
	CIRP Full Regression Model by Race	104
	Scholarship Aid and the Degree Plans of African American Students	110
	Comparison Between the CIRP and BPS Full Regression Models	115
7	Conclusion: Dreams Deferred?	119
	A Review of Approach to Studying Educational Aspirations	119
	Summary of Results and Hypotheses	122
	Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice	130
App. A	Previous Empirical Research on Aspirations	137
App. B	Differences Between Reduced and Full White Student Samples	149
App. C	Variable Definitions and Coding Schemes	153
App. D	Unstandardized Coefficients for Regression Models	159
App. E	Correlation Coefficients of Variables in the Regression Models	163
	Bibliography	171
	Author Index	181
	Subject Index	185