Improving Black Student Graduation Rates: A Literature Review
This paper presents a literature review examining the factors that influence college completion and graduation rates, with particular relevance to Black non-Hispanic students at the university level. Drawing on empirical studies from multiple national contexts, the review organizes contributing factors into four categories: academic (GPA, academic discipline, past performance, and extracurricular involvement), institutional (staff quality, student-staff ratio, and sense of belonging), individual (age and gender), and socioeconomic (financial aid and employment). The paper synthesizes key findings and identifies a knowledge gap regarding community college students, noting that most existing research focuses on four-year university populations. The review ultimately frames the need for targeted institutional strategies to improve graduation outcomes.
- Introduction and Purpose: Purpose of the literature review stated
- Academic Factors Influencing College Completion: GPA, discipline, past performance, and activities
- Institutional Factors Influencing College Completion: Staff quality, ratios, and sense of belonging
- Individual Factors Influencing College Completion: Age and gender effects on graduation timing
- Socioeconomic Factors Influencing College Completion: Financial aid and employment during college
- Knowledge Gap and Conclusion: Gap in community college graduation research
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper uses a clear, hierarchical structure that categorizes a broad body of literature into four distinct factor types, making complex findings easy to navigate.
- It consistently compares and contrasts findings across multiple studies, noting where results converge or diverge and offering contextual explanations for differences (e.g., geographic and institutional setting).
- The conclusion meaningfully identifies a specific knowledge gap — the underrepresentation of community college research — which grounds the review in a clear practical purpose.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates effective thematic synthesis in a literature review. Rather than summarizing each source sequentially, the author groups studies by the type of factor they examine and evaluates how their findings align, conflict, or complement one another. This technique shows analytical engagement with the literature rather than mere description.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief statement of purpose, then moves through four thematically organized sections covering academic, institutional, individual, and socioeconomic factors. Each section is further divided by specific variables (e.g., GPA, sense of belonging, gender). The paper closes by noting a literature gap and positioning the proposed study as a response to that gap. A full APA reference list follows the body.
Introduction and Purpose
This section reviews literature on the factors influencing students' rates of college completion and strategies for increasing retention, with a focus on recommendations to address low graduation rates among Black non-Hispanic students.
Academic Factors Influencing College Completion
In their Saudi Arabia-based study, Almenaie (2018) found that both grade point average (GPA) and the nature of one's academic discipline influenced the likelihood of timely completion. Students were more likely to graduate if they had high GPAs and if they were enrolled in medicine or science-related courses rather than humanities (Almenaie, 2018). These findings partly mirror those of Guzman et al. (2021), who also found a positive association between a student's course average and timely college completion. However, unlike Almenaie (2018), Guzman et al. (2021) found that academic discipline itself had no effect on the likelihood of completion. The only significant factor was whether the student was satisfied with the course they were taking — students with higher levels of satisfaction were more likely to complete their courses on time (Guzman et al., 2021).
Studies found that past academic performance significantly influenced the likelihood of timely course completion; students who performed better in high school were more likely to complete their college courses on time (Guzman et al., 2021; Almenaie, 2018). However, Almenaie (2018) found that students' performance on pre-admission aptitude tests predicted their rate of completion better than high school performance did. As such, the author recommends that such tests be adopted as part of admission requirements, as they are more accurate indicators of the risk of non-completion.
Scott and Castles (2017) sought to determine the factors that influence completion rates among student athletes in the United States. They found a significant positive association between the number of hours spent preparing for class and timely completion. However, participation in extracurricular activities had no significant effect on course completion (Scott & Castles, 2017).
Institutional Factors Influencing College Completion
Studies contend that a positive school or campus climate increases the chances of students completing their courses on time (Buckman et al., 2021; Guzman et al., 2021; Srairi, 2021; Fleming et al., 2017; Bengesai & Paideya, 2018; Afable et al., 2022). Researchers study different variables of school climate to analyze their impact on college completion. Srairi (2021) found a significant negative relationship between both staff quality and student-staff ratio and students' completion rates in an analysis of Tunisian universities. The study measured staff quality by the proportion of full professors relative to the total number of university staff, and student-staff ratio as the ratio of teaching staff to enrolled students (Srairi, 2021).
Okuduba et al. (2022) found that students' completion rates depended on how well staff and the general campus environment created a sense of belonging for students. Other studies corroborated this finding, with empirical analyses showing that availability of on-campus accommodation (Scott & Castles, 2017; Guzman et al., 2021), self-advocacy opportunities (Fleming et al., 2017), supplemental instruction programs (Bengesai & Paideya, 2018), and service-learning experiences (Hungo, 2017; Morris-Matthews et al., 2020) all enhanced students' sense of belonging and resulted in higher completion rates.
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