Survey Examines the Educational Aspirations of Black Students From Low-Income Families

Filed in Underserved Youth on May 8, 2018

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) recently surveyed low-income African American youth on their educational aspirations. The results showed that 89 percent of respondents strongly agreed with the statement that education beyond high school was important for African American youth from low-income families.

Here are some of the other key findings from the suvey:

• The survey also found that two thirds of all respondents stated that success in school was the priority most significant to them.
• More than a third of respondents agreed that their race limited their educational opportunities.
• Nearly three-fifths of respondents stated that the cost of higher education was a significant barrier for them to achieve their educational goals and 20 percent said they had no idea how they could pay for college.
• More than two thirds of all survey respondents reported that there was some adult in their school who monitored their progress and cared about their success.
• More than a third of all respondents said they had received out-of-school suspensions at some time in their educational experience. Some 16 percent said they had been arrested and 8 percent reported they had been expelled from school at some point in their lives.

The report – A Seat at the Table – may be downloaded by clicking here.