Several instruments exist to measure college adjustment: the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ; Baker & Siryk, 1989), the College Adjustment Rating Scale (Zitzow, 1984), and the College Adjustment Scales (Anton & Reed, 1991). Of these, the SACQ is the most widely used and takes a multifaceted approach to measuring college…

The purpose of this article is to describe effect coding as an alternative quantitative practice for analyzing and interpreting categorical, race-based independent variables in higher education research. Unlike indicator (dummy) codes that imply that one group will be a reference group, effect codes use average responses as a means for…

We examined a student subgroup often absent from diversity research: student-athletes. We explored whether intercollegiate athletic teams are promoting an open and inclusive environment and whether creating such an environment leads to more frequent and more positive cross-racial interactions. Findings reveal that overall, coaches appear to be…

The purpose of this article is to clarify the discrepancy in the use of "queer" as a sexual identity classification in education survey research. This study extends the work completed by Dugan and Yurman (2011), who empirically demonstrated problems with treating LGB students as a homogenous population through collapsing all respondents…

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…

In this study we investigated the extent to which faculty interaction contributed to Latina/o student perceptions of their learning, using a sample of 10,071 Latina/o students who took the Community College Survey of Student Engagement. Findings were disaggregated for men and women, but results were quite similar between the 2 groups. Frequent…

Although academic motivation is an important predictor of academic success, we show that being academically motivated is not equally beneficial for everyone. More specifically, the results indicate that African American students benefit less from being academically motivated than do their White peers, particularly when they report interacting with…

Sexual orientation has been socially prominent in the national media lately, but little is known about how college creates opportunity for thinking about sexual orientation among individual students. Using data from the Diverse Learning Environments survey, administered by the Higher Education Research Institute, we compared samples of…

We examined the predictors of psychological adaptation regarding subjective well-being and loneliness among international students. The sample included 243 Cape Verdean students attending Portuguese universities, and the control group was composed by 265 native-born Portuguese students. The latter group reported higher levels of well-being and…

The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men's basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are…

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…

According to Tribal Critical Race Theory, Native American students have low retention rates due to the structural barriers and racism inherent in colleges and universities. Similarly, structural barriers and racism could put Native American students at risk for victimization and substance use, thus influencing their academic success. The purposes…

To increase student engagement, many universities are adopting high-impact educational practices that include study abroad opportunities, faculty mentoring, internships, service learning, challenging coursework, and research experiences; these institutions are also intentionally promoting high-impact cocurricular activities such as community…

The development of college students' civic identity is understudied, but worthy of attention because of its salience to many students and higher education's commitment to fostering an engaged citizenry. Using 45,271 participants from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, this study uses structural equation modeling to explore…

Using the Cyberbullying Experiences Survey, we collected data from 1,114 undergraduate students at a large public Southwestern university. In addition to inquiring about students' experiences with bullying, we inquired about the level of distress and the digital medium used. Results showed differences in types of experiences and level of distress…