This dissertation examined the influence factors of students, particularly African American students, who intended to enroll in a postsecondary institution. High school seniors enrolled in a technical course ( N = 566) responded to a three-part questionnaire to assess the likelihood of attending a KCTCS technical program.

Four scales were constructed to examine the influence of economic, social/cultural, institutional, and dual credit participation influences. The additional independent variables high school GPA, importance of hands-on instruction, and importance of improving academically were included to assess the academic influence of enrollment decisions.

Simultaneous regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between the dependent variable likelihood of attending a KCTCS technical program and the independent variables. One regression equation was conducted to examine the total group of students. Additional regressions were conducted for subsets of students from the total sample to allow comparisons between (a) African American and White students, (b) male and female students, (c) public high school and technology center students, and (d) students eligible and not eligible for a free or reduced price lunch.

The results of this study indicated that for the total sample the institutional scale, social scale, and academic variables significantly influenced student enrollment in KCTCS technical programs. Differences existed between the subsets of students by demographic category. The dual credit scale was only significant for the students not eligible to receive a free or reduced price lunch.

Most germane to the study, differences existed between African American and White students. The social scale was a significantly negative contributor at the .05 alpha level to the African American group (β = −.175) but was not significantly related to the White group (β = −.093). White students reported a higher GPA (M = 3.05) than African American students (M = 2.88). Both ethnicity groups reported similar mean ratings for all predictor variables. The greatest difference between mean scores occurred in the dual credit scale with African American students reporting a mean rating of 4.27 and White students reporting a mean rating of 4.51.