The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how females enrolled at a four-year institution of higher education in a northern state described how participation in leisure and campus-sponsored physical activity helped manage their academic stress. Recent research suggests that females often experience academic stress at higher levels than…

Background: Promise programs are place-based financial aid awards that seek to promote postsecondary attainment by covering all or nearly all college tuition costs. In 2015 Oregon became the second state in the country after Tennessee to implement a statewide promise program (Higher Education Coordinating Commission [HECC], 2020). Oregon Promise…

This dissertation explores the dynamics of undergraduate socialization within a STEM Intervention Program (SIP), specifically the STEM Scholars Program (SSP), with a particular emphasis on comparing the experiences of first-generation and continuing-generation college students. The study employs a longitudinal design and uses random intercept…

Trauma is not a novel phenomenon within the world or society. Kilpatrick et al. (2013) postulated that most individuals will experience at least one traumatic event in their life. Possibly the more disturbing truth about trauma is it can occur throughout all stages of a person's life, sometimes even before the person is born (Narayan et al.,…

Living learning communities in higher education involve students living in a shared residence space and a faculty or staff member leading various activities. These communities have been shown to help students transition to and retain in higher education, promote higher grade point averages, and provide peer support. However, only a limited number…

Substance use in America remains a public health crisis, especially given the ongoing opioid epidemic and an alarming spike in overdose related deaths. Institutions of higher education have a unique opportunity to provide realistic measures of sustained substance use disorder (SUD) recovery through collegiate recovery programs (CRP) that employ…

Tracking and using data to inform decisions pays off for college success programs on multiple levels. Having data allows program staff to monitor the progress of individual students and tailor support to their particular needs. It enables staff to understand the effectiveness of program activities and make improvements as necessary. Most…

Providing access to the underserved has long been a priority in college admission. A newer trend to increase access to underserved students are fly-in programs that enable students to visit campuses overnight, get deeper insight into a college, and consider schools that they might not have otherwise. The idea for fly-ins is to increase the number…

This article reports the findings of a small-scale qualitative study aimed at exploring the academic experiences of college students (n = 11) who had previously engaged in the EAP program at a mid-sized college in Ontario. The primary objective was to unveil student perspectives on the effectiveness of the EAP writing program and to determine…

We analyze the impact of a campus visit program and scholarship for admitted students on enrolling using data from a public research university. Differences in receiving the scholarship allow us to decompose the effect of the program on enrolling into separate visitation and scholarship effects. Visitation appears to increase enrollment, and the…

Some assert that first-year college programs can foster increased engagement among college students and lead to successful outcomes, but there is a lack of in-depth analysis of students' perceptions of their experiences in such programs. This qualitative study explores a small sample of young, Pell Grant-eligible Latino male students' perceptions…

The global challenge of rising healthcare demand, coupled with an acute shortage of physicians, has become a pressing concern, particularly in Egypt. To address this issue, this dissertation comprises three essays that aim to tackle the shortage and maldistribution of physicians in Egypt. The first paper investigates the factors that make general…

Learning-by-doing presents an opportunity for political science departments to instruct undergraduate students in social science research methods. Conducting these trainings as short-term, high impact programs have the potential to make research and research methods accessible and appealing to students. Building these opportunities around major…

College recovery services are designed to provide necessary supports for college students with issues related to substance use disorders to be successful in postsecondary education. However, as a still emerging form of student supports, major issues remain such as funding, the utilization of evidence-based interventions, effective program…

The 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census confirmed the overall U.S. population is growing and diversifying. These trends, however, are not matched in higher education enrollment. The disparities are even more pronounced for STEM doctoral education. In response to these inequalities, higher education institutions have responded with a variety of solutions,…