Global Journal of Management and Business Research, B: Economics and Commerce, Volume 22 Issue 4

11 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue IV Version I Year 2022 ( ) B © 2022 Global Journals Racial and Community Wealth Disparity the Bane of HBCUs: A Wealth Ecology Model Relational Perspective shown by Eq. (04)) that demonstrates positive changes in AA HBCU enrollment. Thus, more assets, higher income and credit card debt seems to have a greater and most effective signaling effect on the perception of family wealth than all other wealth indication elements and categories. Thereby, having the most statistically significant effect on African American HBCU enrollment. Another explanation can be seen as African American students attending college based on their low wealth status causes their families to enter into higher debts, and mostly credit card debt. Many findings indicate that African Americans rely on credit card debt more than bank loans or other loan sources (Klein, 2017; Robb & Fairlie, 2007; Cavalluzzo & Wolken, 2005) to fund improvement initiatives including education. Further, higher credit card debt with satisfactory progress payments is generally associated with higher credit worthiness and could be an indication to prospective students of their wealth basis and ability to pay for college. a) Recommendations for Future Research The results of this study only present the potential explanatory power of student wealth status on African American students’ choice of HBCU as a place of higher education. There may be more significant variables that shape the school choice dilemma in addition to the wealth status. As this effort did not focus on the causation effects of wealth status on specifically AA students' HBCU choice, given that most HBCUs cost of attendance is not much different than TWIs (Sissoko & Shiau, 2005; Dial, 2014; Wilson, 2007), there is need for an empirical study that can establish the causal relationship. Future studies may use a self-administered survey method to confirm the results from this study. A more in-depth qualitative study to understand the key behavioral intentions (of subjective norms and attitude) (Pitre et al., 2006) that not only predisposes an African American student to choose an HBCU for post- secondary education but also moves the choice process beyond the intention stage may prove more comprehensive. It may settle the general inconclusiveness of the wealth causation, moving the research on school choice forward while adding to the usefulness of the theory of reasoned action as a basis for understanding school choice. VI. C onclusions and P olicy I mplications The results of the study show that the wealth status of African American HBCU students is positively correlated with and positively affects the choice of HBCUs as higher education preferences of African American students at46.4% (95% CI, p<.05) explanatory power. This revealing outcome does not support the research objective of a negative relationship that will support the notion that the wealth status of African American communities is a cause of HBCU fiscal challenges. The main objective is the need to know if African American students choose HBCUs because of their low wealth. A negative relationship reinforces the fact that, as African American students perceive family wealth to decrease or to be low, more African American students will flock to HBCUs. The positive relationship results show that African American students’ HBCU school choice may follow similar pattern as for those who attend other schools. And that, other behavioral intention drivers could be the main determinants of why a prospective African American student will choose an HBCU for post-secondary education. The outcome here is that African American students do not choose HBCU just because they are of low wealth. Moreover, the fact that the national median wealth and income had no significant effect on African American HBCU enrollment assures the accuracy of the prediction. This provides that national improvements in income and wealth do not show the same signal effect as do what happens within the African American communities. Thus, community economic or wealth factors are the more dominant perceptive determinants of wealth for the African American student school choice decisioning than what happens nationally. This is supported by the results of hypothesis H b with signaling effect of credit card debt as the most significant wealth indicator for the African American HBCU student. The above analyses by no means establish that wealth status is the only condition of the African American student that through their attitudes, influences their behavioral choices on higher education school attendance. Previous studies either showed no influence of African American students’ wealth or income on African American students’ HBCU choice or some effect. The findings from this study demonstrate the relationship with more than 44.6% explanatory share. This may be due to a general positive following effect from the population environment that student wealth benefits from rather than just their wealth status (Sissoko & Shiau, 2005). The theory underpinning this study is based on the notion that the school choice process is volitional (Pitre et al., 2006). There could be a state in the process where student attributes may take precedence like after choosing alternatives and the need to match attributes and perceptions to making a choice. Thus, the practical application may not be fully supported. With this finding, the overall objective of establishing the assumption that the wealth status of HBCU students and their catchment communities have effects on HBCU financial and growth state is found not to exist. The fact that HBCU students make their school choice not because they are poor implies that improving the community wealth status may not automatically lead