Though an increasing number of Latino students is attending college upon graduation from high school, the vast majority of these students, even if they are high-achieving students who could attend a four-year college or university, choose to enroll into two-year community colleges. This study discusses the process by which high-achieving,…

This single case study takes a phenomenological approach using the voice centered analysis to analyze qualitative interview data so that the voice of this first-generation college student is brought forward. It is a poignant voice filled with conflicting emotional responses to the desire for college success, for family stability, for meaningful…

This article examines the pervasive difficulties experienced by first-generation students in their quest to attend postsecondary settings. A change in the profile of the undergraduate student body has changed dramatically with respect to first-generation students' age, enrollment status, and family conditions. These students are likely to enter…

Too few community college students who intend to transfer and earn a baccalaureate degree actually do. Further, low-income and first-generation college students are overrepresented at community colleges. Education is considered a means of social and economic mobility for low-income, first-generation students; therefore, retaining this population…

The federally funded Ronald B. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program) prepares first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented college undergraduates to pursue terminal graduate degrees. This study examines 22 McNair scholars' transitions into graduate school in an attempt to identify factors that influence alumni…

At the college level, the effectiveness of active-learning interventions is typically measured at the broadest scales: the achievement or retention of all students in a course. Coarse-grained measures like these cannot inform instructors about an intervention's relative effectiveness for the different student populations in their classrooms or…

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 student retention and college completion rates for today's entering college freshmen. Findings are reported separately for four-year and two-year institutions, private and…

Conducted by researchers at the Gardner Center at the request of the College Futures Foundation, this literature review examines challenges and promising practices for increasing college access and completion among boys and young men of color. Wide gaps in college enrollment and persistence remain, even among, for example, Black and Latino boys…

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are…

Little is known about the college adjustment of first generation African American male students. The purpose of this study was to examine the college adjustment of this subgroup of students and create a profile of African American male college students as it relates to adjustment. In addition, research has found that students who do not integrate…

Universities are realizing that retention needs to be at the forefront of the University's strategic mission because sustainability and future economic viability remain at stake. Retention of college students is a serious issue that needs further study in the area of higher education. Extant literature abounds with methodologies and practices to…

Research has shown that first-generation college students are educationally disadvantaged in a number of ways. While a variety of interventions have been recommended to increase the success of this population of students in higher education, little attention has been placed on the role that families can play in supporting these students,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived academic obstacles of first-generation students in comparison to non-first-generation students. Using the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) completed by approximately 58,000 students from six research universities, the researchers used nonparametric bootstrapping to analyze…

This study presents the results of a study of first-generation college student predictors of persistence at Christ-centered baccalaureate colleges. Data were obtained from 5 institutions that administered the CIRP Freshman Survey from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA and were matched with persistence data. Multiple regression…

Whether and where students begin college after high school profoundly affects their degree completion and ultimate educational attainment. Students' college access is influenced not only by individual characteristics, but also by economic, social, and schooling contexts. Accordingly, using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study, 2002…