The purpose of this study was to determine whether African American male students who were involved in a learning community model during the first semester of their freshman year in college achieved higher academic success than students who were not involved in a learning community during the first semester of the their freshman year of college. The learning community model under investigation was based on theory and research highlighting the importance of academic and social integration for student retention and graduation.

The study consisted of analyses at two levels. The first level used quantitative methods to examine the effect of learning communities by comparing academic outcomes between learning community and non-learning community African American male freshmen. To further examine the impact of learning communities, the second level of analyses examined the leaning community experiences of African American male freshmen, including the impact of learning community composition and focus (i.e., an all African American Male Learning Community-AAMI, and mixed race and sex learning communities-non-AAMI).

Findings from the first part of the study show that African American male freshmen who participated in a learning community attempted and completed significantly more credits at the end of their second semester of college as compared to a matched sample of African American male freshmen who did not participate in a learning community. Return rates, second semester grade point averages, and first to second semester grade point average gains were similar among both groups.

Qualitative data were gathered through entrance questionnaires, focus groups, journals, and semi-structured interviews. Findings from these data suggest that academic integration was achieved in both the AAMI learning community and the non-AAMI learning communities. However, student participants in the AAMI learning community identified recurring themes of positive social integration experiences; opportunities for self-expression and self-affirmation; positive faculty support; and positive friendship-bonds. Students in non-AAMI learning communities did not report these experiences. In addition, non-AAMI learning community participants expressed more racial incidents and racial microaggressions than the AAMI learning community group. Implications of the study's findings for research and practice to improve African American male college academic outcomes and retention are discussed.