The role of personal motivational characteristics and environmental social supports in college outcomes was examined in a longitudinal study of 100 ethnic minority first-generation college students. Personal/career-related motivation to attend college in the fall was a positive predictor and lack of peer support was a negative predictor of college…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine if parental involvement had a significant influence on the educational aspirations of first-generation students as compared to the educational aspirations of non-first-generation students. Additionally, the study investigated if the educational aspirations of first-generation students differed from…

This article documents the experiences of a group of first-generation Latino college students who enrolled in 4-year institutions immediately after high school graduation. Students form part of a research intervention program that focuses on disrupting social reproduction by increasing college access and persistence for underrepresented youth. In…

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) sits on the border of Mexico and the United States in the middle of the world's largest binational metropolitan region. For years, it struggled to compete with top-tier research institutions with far greater resources in a quest to become "Harvard on the Border." In the late 1980s, new president…

This study provides understanding of college readiness from the perspectives of older first-generation college students who transferred from community colleges. Results indicate that life experiences contribute to academic skills, time management, goal focus, and self-advocacy. Research is recommended to improve nontraditional student advising and…

Expanding access to higher education is critical to improving the lives of the working poor, as jobs in today's economy increasingly require some higher education. The nation also needs higher educational achievement levels from this substantial sector of the population--about 14 percent of individuals ages 24-64--in order to meet the growing…

I conducted a survey in order to determine whether or not the cultural values shared by parents from a poor mountain town in West Virginia discourage high school students from pursuing a college education. The results suggest that the persistence of poverty in rural Webster County can be attributed to the region's traditional set of cultural…

A multi-stage mixed analysis was used to examine stories from 423, primarily Hispanic, undergraduate students in the United States regarding their best and poorest K-12 teachers, along with responses to 10 Likert format survey items. In the quantitative analysis phase, participants expressed strong agreement with items derived from the literature…

This article examines the attitudes of baccalaureate aspiring community college students with regard to affirmative action in college admissions. Using data from UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Annual Freshman Year Survey, the study assessed determinants of approval or disapproval of affirmative action for 20,339 community…

Hmong students represent how a relatively infant culture in the United States adapts to the education system. A study of three Hmong male university students and how they dealt with diversity on a personal and social level is presented here. The intent was to explore Hmong men's experience in college with their potential need to utilize student…

Increasing access to higher education for first-generation and low-income students was the primary motivation for the establishment of the federally funded TRIP programs. This study, using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) obtained through data sharing among several urban institutions, compared TRIO-eligible students and…

Focused on how the high school preparation of first-generation students (i.e., students whose parents did not attend college) related to these students' performance and persistence at 4-year colleges. Compared these students with their peers whose parents graduated from college. Parents' levels of education were associated with student retention…

The growing demographic diversity of the under-graduate student body in American postsecondary education has been well documented over an extended period of time. One result of this increased diversity is the substantial number of "first-generation" college students from families where neither parent had more than a high-school education. For…

Using a theory of resiliency, this study provides a Chicana student's perspective of the role of parents in the development of college aspirations. Qualitative interviews with Chicana high school seniors shed light on the different ways these students perceive and come to understand the manner by which their parents influence and shape their…

This paper draws on post-structuralist theories on language and identity to explore the shifting language attitudes of 15 "black" students over the course of their undergraduate studies at a historically "white" South African university. All the students speak an indigenous language as their first language. Those students who…