Chapter 1 describes the problem the study addresses, discusses the significance of this investigation, and details the work of each paper. Chapter 2, the first of the three papers, examines the various ways college culture, and specifically counseling personnel, shape the, college search and selection processes of high-performing African American students in two Chicago charter high schools. I explore the ways African American students understand and respond to divergent high school college-going cultures. Chapter 3 examines the role of parental educational attainment in the availability or absence of college-going information and knowledge for African American students. I consider the ways social capital may operate differently in the African American community during the college transition. Chapter 4, the final paper, examines how students make meaning of the role of cost during the college search and selection process in ways that may lead them to enroll in colleges with low institutional graduation rates. Chapter 5 concludes with implications for social work practice, educational policy and practice, and future, research.