As jobs become more competitive and demanding of specialized training, the presence of first-generation college students will continue to be a growing reality. However, unless the needs of first-generation students are addressed by educational institutions, the motivation experienced by those students to attend college will be short-lived. Even…

For first-generation students of color, the transition from high school to the community college can be a difficult one. This study explored how high schools and community colleges can work in partnership to improve the transition for first-gen students of color. A mixed-methods analysis aimed to first discern high school students'…

Stereotype threat is a widely supported theory for understanding the racial achievement gap in college grade performance. However, today's minority college students are increasingly of immigrant origins, and it is unclear whether two dispositional mechanisms that may increase susceptibility to stereotype threat are applicable to immigrants. We use…

Students' expectations and experiences with university life are influenced by a number of variables. Many universities develop programs or promote aspects of existing programs to market the university's image. This research was motivated by our desire to determine the relationships between first-year students' college expectations and experiences,…

How do you teach the humanities to working class students living in the shadow of a BP oil refinery? Calumet College uses freshman learning communities that link humanities, social justice, and English composition classes to provide a foundation for college success to predominantly first-generation students who are often underprepared for…

Organic Chemistry is perceived to be one of the most challenging of undergraduate science courses, and attrition from this course may impact decisions about pursuing a professional or academic career in the biomedical and related sciences. Research suggests that chemistry students who are strategic help seekers may outperform those students who…

As colleges and universities aim for greater diversity in their undergraduate populations, one population researchers consider is first-generation students, or students whose parents do not have a college education. The research reported here addresses first-generation college students' discipline of study (e.g., biology) and its impact on…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of student-faculty interactions, student-staff interactions, and student-peer interactions of Latino students to their intent to persist toward graduation in community colleges in Texas. Parental educational level (for both mother and father), first generation status, gender, and…

As the Latino population progresses from minority to majority status in the United States, there still remains the typical and historical pattern of failure in higher education associated with this minority status. According to the 2010 Census, approximately 16% of the total U.S. population or 50.5 million people have self-identified themselves as…

First generation Latino college students are under-performing and continue to have the lowest levels of educational attainment relative to other groups in the United States. This study utilized a positive deviance theoretical framework to uncover the challenges faced by first generation college students, as well as the strategies used to achieve…

In order to improve the academic and cultural transition of low income, disadvantaged, first-generation, and working-class students at a public flagship institution, the purpose of this qualitative study is to listen as these students, with increasingly diverse background experiences, narrate their first-year experiences, including the summer…

This dissertation uses a mixed-methods design to examine persistence into the second year by students' parental education level. The institution selected for this dissertation is Temple University, a large, urban, public university in the Northeast. Using Tinto's (1993) model of student departure as a conceptual framework, the quantitative…

The purpose of this research was to explore the challenges of access for first-generation Hispanic college students in a postsecondary institution on the southwest Texas-Mexico border. According to the U.S. Census (2010) between 2000 and 2010, over a ten-year span, Hispanics increased by 41.8% representing 37.6% of the population in Texas. Yet,…

First generation college students are accessing colleges and universities at an increased rate. However, first generation college students, which include a disproportionate number of minorities and low income populations, continue to lag behind their counterparts in graduating from college. More prevalent in the research are factors that cause…

This annual report goes beyond the usual metrics of standardized test scores and high school transcripts to explore a wide range of non-cognitive attitudes that influence college readiness, such as students' levels of self-discipline and confidence in their abilities. The report is based on student survey responses drawn from a sizable national…