College is associated with positive outcomes in adulthood. However, many students with foster care backgrounds face challenges transitioning into college settings. Young adults with foster care backgrounds also experience mental health conditions and suicidal ideation at a higher rate than their same aged peers. This study examined the…

Times of adversity often require an intentional focus on fostering people's inherent strengths to help them not give up on their life's most cherished aspirations. The outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine has created unprecedented struggles and uncertainties among the entire Ukrainian population, including college students (Limone et al., 2022).…

More than 1 in 3 undergraduate students transfers from one college or university to another, but many do not go on to graduate. Literature suggests that service-learning pedagogy supports both social and academic integration; therefore, we examined whether transfer students' participation in service-learning courses is related to sense of…

Noncognitive factors, such as academic self-efficacy, motivation, and sense of belonging, predict college students' academic performance and retention. It is unclear if varying profiles of academic mindset are differentially associated with student success. We examined first-year college students' academic mindsets (perceived academic…

Strengths-based approaches are flourishing across hundreds of higher education institutions as student affairs practitioners and educators seek to leverage students' natural talents so they can reach "previously unattained levels of personal excellence" (Lopez & Louis, 2009, p. 2). Even amid the growth of strengths-based approaches…

We surveyed 237 first-time college students to examine the extent to which social-cognitive factors--self-efficacy, perceptions of mentorship, high school GPA, ACT scores, first-semester college GPA, and demographic characteristics-- influence freshmen's intent to persist. Standard multiple regression and MANOVA were conducted to determine the…

Using a psychosociocultural (PSC) approach, we examined how self-beliefs, social support, and cultural fit influenced the academic persistence decisions of 115 Latina sorority members. Upper-division Latinas reported higher self-efficacy than lower-division Latinas; however, lower-division students reported higher college stress and more perceived…

A survey of 2,520 college students was conducted to test relationships between academic success and college student motivational orientation, conceptualized from a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, while also considering the moderating effects of background characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic status, race/ ethnicity, and…

This study analyzed a multi-institutional and longitudinal data set to determine the impact of exposure to effective instruction on first-year persistence--defined as reenrolling for the second year of college at the same institution. Net of important confounding influences, exposure to effective instruction significantly increased the likelihood…

Student-faculty interactions can be crucial in developing students' academic self-concept and enhancing their motivation and achievement. Although most interactions with faculty tend to occur within the formal classroom setting, students who experience informal interactions tend to be more motivated, engaged, and actively involved in the learning…

We investigated the association between Frankl's (1985, 1988) construct of purpose in life with Bandura's (1977, 1997) theory of self-efficacy as a possible predictor of students who may be at risk for leaving school. For this study, 344 undergraduate college students (233 females, 111 males; 76% White/Caucasian, 10% Asian American/Asian, 7%…

Although race and parental attachment are concepts that have been widely researched, few studies have explored how these variables manifest themselves among women or influence their adjustment to college. This study examined how parental attachment effected college adjustment among White, Black, and Latina/Hispanic women attending an urban…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic self-beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy and degree aspirations) with various academic outcomes. Based on previous findings, it was hypothesized that students with more positive academic self-beliefs would perform better in school. The results supported prior research as students…

At most colleges and universities, African American and Latino students are less likely than students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to stay enrolled in college and are, therefore, less likely to earn a college degree. "The Digest of Educational Statistics" reports the following trends: in 2006 30% of Whites age 25 and older…

Administered Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) to entering freshmen international college students. Cumulative grade point averages and enrollment status for each student obtained for eight semesters following matriculation were used to examine predictive validity of NCQ. Found NCQ predicted college grades and retention for international students.…