Two studies examined the link between academic self-concepts and grades (Studies 1 and 2) for first-generation (i.e., parents have not obtained a 4-year degree) and continuing-generation (i.e., at least one parent with a 4-year degree) college students, and how parent-student conversations about college related to this link (Study 2). In Study 1,…

Using a psychosociocultural approach, we examined the role of motivation, belonging, and congruity relative to sense of mattering for 236 Latinx undergraduates attending a public Midwest research university. Findings revealed the key role of belonging in understanding undergraduates' experiences where belonging accounted for more than half of the…

In a nationally representative sample, first-year U.S. college students "somewhat agree," on average, that they feel like they belong at their school. However, belonging varies by key institutional and student characteristics; of note, racial-ethnic minority and first-generation students report lower belonging than peers at 4-year…

First Generation (FG) students' pursuit of higher education continues to be initiated at community colleges at high rates; these two-year Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are critical in bridging the gap for an increase in degree completion at four-year HEIs. The purpose of this study is to explore the institutional barriers, indicators, and…

Dual enrollment (DE), in which high school students take college courses and earn both high school and college credit, has great potential to help make the high-school-to-college transition more effective and equitable--and to do so on a large scale. There is strong evidence that DE improves academic outcomes for students, including completing…

This study explores the high academic achievement of Excelencia Early College High School (EECHS), located along the Texas-Mexico border. An open-enrollment public school, EECHS serves students who are characteristic of the lower Rio Grande Valley. These include students of low socioeconomic backgrounds, minorities, first-generation, and those…

Background/Context: Community colleges are drawing renewed attention from policy makers and advocates seeking to increase college attendance and completion. Nearly half of all students awarded a bachelor's degree attended a community college. However, we know little about how community college students decide where and how to pursue postsecondary…

Researchers have paid increasing attention to issues of access and retention among first-generation college students but have focused less on their post-college outcomes. We extend this literature by investigating if there is a generational wage gap, that is, a gap between first- and continuing-generation students' wages. We also ask how the…

First-generation students are often described as disadvantaged in university adjustment, self-efficacy and grades. Yet this deficit model of understanding first-generation students ignores their cultural capital, which could increase resilience and resourcefulness. Here, 844 students (31% first-generation) in South Africa and Canada completed…

Much has been written about the growing influence and reach of online learning in higher education, including the opportunities that this can offer for improving student equity and widening participation. One area of student equity in which online learning has an influence is that of gender equity, particularly for mature-age students. This…

This dissertation is comprised of three studies that examine the likelihood of exiting the college-going pipeline, test the framing of a text messaging intervention, and explore the transition and enrollment experience for high school seniors eligible for Tennessee's tuition-free college scholarship, TN Promise. In a discrete-time survival…

In this study, black South African first-generation students' experiences related to identity development during their first year at a higher education institution were explored. Chickering and Reisser's [1993. "Education and Identity." 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass] seven-vector identity development theory served as overarching…

Largely because it puts higher education within reach for all people, the community college is thought to play a vital role in the democratic functioning of American society. Partly driven by an ethos of American egalitarianism, low-cost and open access community colleges enroll, train, and educate nearly anyone who aspires to higher education.…

The goal of this study was to understand the relationship between the graduation rates of first-generation college students and the offering of multidisciplinary student support services by universities. Recent decades have witnessed a rise in first-generation college students, but little research on their graduation rates. The literature is also…

Chinese parents are increasingly embracing college as a means to a better future for their children. Private independent institutions are prevalent throughout the country, yet there is continued apprehension about the type of education that is offered at independent universities. This qualitative narrative study reveals the life stories and…