Spelman College is an all-women’s Historically Black College which prides itself on the academic and professional successes of its students. However, the students attending the institution may feel stressed when attempting to meet the school’s academic standards, such as achieving a high GPA, holding numerous leadership positions. Students may feel they don’t belong on campus when they fail to meet these expectations. To measure this, the Spelman and Academic Success Scale (SASS) was created and administered to current Spelman students (N = 53). The School and Social Membership Scale (Goodenow, 1994) was also administered to measure students' sense of belonging. There is a correlation between the two scales (r = .654). This correlated scoring suggests Spelman College’s academic expectations may have an impact on current Spelman students' sense of belonging.
