The Power of Peers: Influences on Postsecondary Education Planning and Experiences of African American Students

This investigation demonstrates the effect that peers have on students' academic engagement and educational aspirations. Forty-nine African American university students retrospectively discuss the manner by which their friends influenced their academic commitment and activity while in high school; their postsecondary education aspirations, planning, and decision making; and their college experiences. These data reveal that peers have noteworthy influence on their friends' academic activities and their postsecondary education planning and experiences; however, greater efforts need to be made to ensure that students, their families, and their peers have access to, and are making decisions based on, appropriate academic and college planning information.