Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / This study explored the relationship between pre-college and college racial environments and post-secondary outcomes for Asian American students at selective institutions. This research utilized a sample of API students (n=940) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman (1998-2003) which examined the pre-college and college experiences of students from 28 universities across five separate wave instruments from freshman through senior year. A series of blocked, linear regressions investigated the impact of homogeneity and heterogeneity of three racial environments (childhood, adolescence, and college) and the transition between adolescence and college on post-secondary outcomes in six categories (GPA, assertiveness, psychological health, satisfaction, cross-racial interactions, and racial microaggressions). Additional considerations included possible mediating effects of peer group racial composition and racial identity variables. The major findings reveal that (1) diversity in adolescence predicted lower academic assertiveness; (2) college homogeneity predicted lower academic assertiveness, higher psychological distress, and fewer racial microaggressions; and (3) high school-to-college transitions in racial diversity decreased assertiveness. Additionally, peer composition of racial environment was found to mediate between GPA and college homogeneity. Several control variables (gender, ethnicity, college type, immigration) were also strong predictors in the model. These findings add a new dimension to the literature on Asian American college students by identifying some potential links between their racial environments and post-secondary outcomes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.