This study is an ethnographic inquiry into the beliefs and perceptions of first-generation/low-income Mexican American students in a rural community college located near the U.S.-Mexico border. It explored their experiences as TRiO Student Support Services participants. TRiO Student Support Services plays an increasingly vital role helping…

Narrative inquiry was used to trace the educational journeys of 11 first-generation university students from rural areas of Colorado in an effort to identify the experiences, beliefs, and people that impacted their decision to attend a 4-year institution. Students were asked to convey their experiences growing up within the contexts of their…

How can an understanding of adolescent development inform strategies and practices for supporting first-generation college goers? In "Ready, Willing, and Able," Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies that young people need to develop in order to plan for and succeed in higher education. These…

The purpose of this qualitative research is to discover and describe the successes and institutional barriers along the educational pipeline for Latinas who are the first in their families to have successfully completed their undergraduate degrees. This research explores the unique elements of gender such as gender role socialization and…

This study explored the contributions of background characteristics, family, academic, and work demands on levels of burnout among undergraduate females in an urban college setting and to what extent informal/formal support is related to levels of burnout. Data were obtained through the use of self-administered questionnaires, which were…

With 16,000 graduate and undergraduate students, the International College for Experienced Learning (ICEL) is widely considered among the better for-profit universities in Mexico, where such institutions have flourished over the last 20 years by offering degrees that can be earned relatively quickly, and flexibility in terms of fee payments and…

Extensive qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 first-generation college students. Profound changes to the students resulting from exposure to academic liberal arts course content were documented. Specifically, this study explores evident thematic trends and specific examples of how liberal arts course work provided students with profound…

Although many studies have examined college student attrition, no extant literature examines the phenomenon of undergraduates who discontinue their enrollment in college during a semester of their senior year. This study used both institutional and self-reported survey data to examine the rationale behind seniors' decision to leave college during…

At Southern Vermont College (SVC) and at the nation's other colleges and universities, Anatomy and Physiology I (A&PI) is the gateway course into healthcare careers. Disturbingly, at SVC and elsewhere, many first-year students interested in healthcare careers do not succeed in this course. They withdraw from the course or the institution, or…

This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program from the student perspective, specifically focusing on factors associated with student resilience. The AVID program aims to close the achievement gap among predominantly minority and low-income students without a family…

This paper describes a qualitative case study that investigated the aspirations and decision-making process of first-generation students concerning university education. The participants comprised of 16 first-generation students at a research university. Data were obtained through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis method. The…

This primer introduces 23 practices designed to support students inside and outside of the classroom and increase their community college success. These case studies illustrate the five themes for effective student support that emerged from Student Support (Re)defined--a multi-year study performed by the Research and Planning Group for California…

There are ambitious institutional and national goals that aspire to improve the six year graduation rate for undergraduate students. An important element of increasing the overall rate lies in decreasing the educational attainment gaps for low-income, first generation, and other historically underserved students. Comprehensive theoretical…

The topic of this study is a community college mentoring program, connecting small groups of students with a campus employee. The mentoring program was a feature in a pilot AVID student success class. Specifically, this study attempts to answer the following questions: How do AVID College Mentors develop genuine relationships with their Mentees?…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined parents of first generation college-bound student's beliefs about roles and responsibilities to guide their child who aspires to a postsecondary education. Interviews were conducted with 23 parents of high school tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students. In the sample, parents represented…