This study was designed to investigate Southern Appalachian, first-generation students' expectations of higher education. Research indicates that many first-generation students drop out of college after only 1 semester; however, little research exists concerning the expectations and experiences of first-generation college students from Southern…

Early college choice models utilized data from high school seniors who were from predominately middle income, White, and continuing generation families. This dissertation focused on first-generation students who entered college between the ages of 35 and 50. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with these students to construct a…

The Federal Pell Grant Program is the nation's largest need-based grant program. While students' initial eligibility for the Pell is based on financial need, renewal of the award is contingent on their making satisfactory academic progress (SAP)--meeting minimum academic standards similar to those proposed in models of performance-based…

Sallie Mae has conducted "How America Pays for College" annually since 2008, providing information about the resources American families invest in an undergraduate college education. This study focuses particularly on the planning and payment behaviors in a given academic year. Now in its seventh year, the study provides a compelling…

Situating herself on the cusp between life in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and her new world at Seton Hall University, Mellie Torres describes the painful awareness of a growing distance between herself, as the first to go to college, and her family. In so doing, she reveals the inherent losses of leaving home and the painful contrast…

This year, the author embarked on a tenure-track appointment as a chemistry professor. He considers himself very fortunate. As he advances into this next phase of his career, he has reflected on how he reached this point. The author's own experience leads him to believe that precious few first-generation students ultimately become chemistry…

Academic personnel who were first-generation college students (FGS) are uniquely positioned to consider the questions these students often have about the college experience. Academia needs first-generation and working-class voices to diversify an academic culture that is often socially stratified. As more FGS enroll in colleges and universities,…

Students from underrepresented groups who seek to become the first in their family to attend college confront economically and racially stratified education systems. This article reports findings from an evaluation of First Graduate, an organization that offers college advising, mentoring, tutoring, and case management to first-generation students…

The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of transfer. Accounting for variables in several domains (background, academic, social, environmental), this research was particularly interested in the effect of environment on transfer. Data employed in this study was derived from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:…

To meet our nation's college completion goals by 2025, postsecondary institutions must graduate a total of 23 million more students over the next 13 years. As the higher education sector continues to consider strategies to meet this ambitious goal, it is crucial that higher education institutions use data effectively to analyze where they are,…

This study compared selected college/career readiness outcomes for students attending an urban high school who voluntarily participated in an academic support program, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), to demographically similar/same school peers who completed the traditional academic program (TAP) of study. Grade point average,…

It is intuitive for businesses and corporations to be worried about the nation's economic competitiveness in the globalized marketplace. To help close this income-based degree attainment gap, models of college access and success programs continue to emerge among the corporate sector. For years, many corporations have established internship and/or…

The authors investigated differences in college-going expectations of middle school students who would be the 1st in their families to attend college. Social-cognitive career theory (SCCT; R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) was used to examine college-related expectations in 272 seventh-grade students. Differences were found between…

Low-income students who are the first in their family to attend college continue to drop out at alarmingly high rates. Previous studies have shown that service-learning can have a positive influence on student retention. However, little research exists to explore how low-income, first-generation (LIFG) college students experience service-learning,…

Many minority students enter the university without the discursive ''codes of power" that they need both to find academic success and to self-identify as scholars. High schools and college preparatory programs too often ignore the role that academic language and literacy play in success at the college level. Even when academic…