Social support and adjustment to university life: A comparison of african‐american and white freshmen

The present study assesses patterns of social support of African‐American and White freshmen attending a predominantly White university, and the relationship of support to measures of adjustment to university life. African‐American students reported significantly less support available than White students, but this difference disappeared when family income was used as a covariate. African‐American and White students did not differ in adequacy of social support. Even with family income and prior academic performance covaried, African‐American students' college GPAs were significantly lower than White students'. No differences in well‐being were found. An understanding of minority students' adjustment to university life necessitates adopting a multidimensional perspective involving social and academic variables and their dynamic interaction.