Exploring an Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA) program’s impact on African American male student success

Abstract

This study investigates the impact a historically black institution's (HBI) Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA)-peer-tutoring program-effecton African American male student success. The ULA program allows upper-level college students who have successfully completed lower-level economics and accounting courses to serve as peer tutors to undergraduate students by providing in-class support and out-of-class office hours. This paper seeks to tackle the causal effects of peer tutoring on African American male students' success in quantitative base courses at a predominately HBI. The results predict that an African American male students have a higher probability of passing an economics or accounting lower-level course if a ULA is present compared to if a ULA is not present. Educators can use these findings to design better university-wide interventions and classroom-based support for students to address the African American male achievement gap, specifically in quantitative-based courses.