After he graduated from high school in Harvey, Illinois, he attended the predominantly white Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he majored in political science. In 1968 he earned a diploma as one of only 18 black graduates in his class. Throughout his undergraduate education Steele was active in the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE), a chapter of Dr. Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Although often overlooked, SCOPE engaged in highly effective black voter registration campaigns throughout the American South beginning in 1965.
Steele continued on to graduate study, attending Southern Illinois University where in 1971 he obtained a Master's Degree in sociology. He then went on to the University of Utah, where for three years he taught black literature and in 1974 he earned a Doctoral Degree in English.
