Many students enter postsecondary institutions looking to further their educational endeavors. These students enter at various levels of preparedness, which can affect their learning experiences, with not all first-semester college students entering postsecondary education prepared to face the challenges of college-level work. Students come to college with varying levels of academic preparedness, personal demographic characteristics, and postsecondary background knowledge. Some students may enter college identified as at-risk in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics, with academic struggles and personal barriers preventing students from passing college-level courses. This convergent mixed method study explores students' perceptions of their reading comprehension skills as well as the strategies that they use to improve their reading comprehension. In addition, it examines students' experiences in a corequisite world literature lab. Finally, the study compares differences in the retention rates and DFW rates between students enrolled in a corequisite world literature course lab and students enrolled in a world literature course without a supplemental lab. Participants include students at a university in the Southeastern United States taking a corequisite world literature class that focuses on improving students' reading comprehension skills. Quantitative data included archival university retention rates, the percentage of students who received a D, F, or withdrew from the course (henceforth referred to as DFW rates), and closed-ended survey data regarding students' reading comprehension strategies. Qualitative data were comprised of open-ended survey questions that explored students' reading comprehension skills as well as semi-structured interviews and focus group data that examined students' experiences in the corequisite world literature course and lab. Qualitative data, open-ended surveys, and focus group data were coded using thematic analysis procedures. SPSS was used to analyze the quantitative data, including two chi-square tests for association. Results indicated that students felt the enhanced lab supported them in their transition to college, helped them find deeper connections with text, and gave them a sense of community with their peers. Results also showed a small, statistically significant relationship between the retention rates, DFW rates, and course delivery method. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]