The Relationship between Parental Involvement as Social Capital and College Enrollment: An Examination of Racial/Ethnic Group Differences

Although comparable percentages of African American and White high school sophomores expect to finish college (Nettles & Perna, 1997), smaller shares of African Americans and Hispanics than of Whites actually enroll. Only 39% of African American and 32% of Hispanic high school graduates between the ages of 18 and 24 were addenrolled in college in 1999, compared with 45% of Whites (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2001).