The door to college is open for increasing numbers of students for whom adapting to college may be a great challenge (Kamphoff, Hutson, Amundsen, & Atwood, 2007). Hansen (1998) noted that the overall academic preparation level has declined for students entering college and that academic disengagement in college has increased among many…

The presence of first-generation students in the college classroom poses specific challenges for instructors, across disciplines. Being cognizant of the unique characteristics and tendencies of first-generation students is a first step in better reaching this population. Also, implementing strategies geared specifically toward first-generation…

This study investigates how research participants' desire to make a positive social impression may affect their responses to survey questions. Specifically, participants may react in socially appropriate ways to create a positive social impression for those persons reviewing their responses. This concept is termed "impression management," or more…

A multiple logistic regression model was used to determine the associations between the role of acculturation, perception of educational barriers, need for family kin support, vocational planning, and expectations for attaining future vocational goals against the demographic variables (gender, age, being the oldest child, the first to attend…

The success of older adult students seeking higher education degrees depends, in part, upon fulfillment of critical support needs. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of nine contemporary Older Baby Boomer students (ages 50-62) who are pursuing bachelor's degrees at a Midwestern university. Qualitative data was gathered from…

This article discusses why the Lumina Foundation is considered so influential in higher education despite its small size and the fact that is is a relatively new foundation. Lumina approaches its 10th anniversary this month with a focused higher education funding mission targeting efforts aimed at expanding access and success beyond high school,…

The path to upward mobility or economic success for African American men is often filled with obstacles and roadblocks. Many first-generation African American men entering colleges and universities face limited resources and opportunities to aid in their career development and efforts to meet their career objectives. This article explores the…

The mental health of today's college students continues to be a top-level concern for institutions of higher education, whether it is viewed from the perspective of staffing mental health services on campus, responding to after-hours crises in residence halls, providing accessible treatment with limited budgets, managing behavioral threats, or…

The purpose of this study was to advance understanding of self-directed learning characteristics of first-year, first-generation college students participating in a summer bridge program. Understanding the experience of these students in higher education can lead to the development of programmatic and pedagogical strategies to better meet the…

The purpose of this exploratory, case study of Black male first-generation college students at Carthen College was three-fold. First, it was designed to elicit participants' descriptions of the stress they experienced related to school and being a student. Second, the study aimed to describe and then rate how important that source of support was…

A volunteer sample of 16 Hispanic first-generation commuter college students, 9 women and 7 men, 18-30 years of age, attending a private college in the Northeast, were interviewed about their first-year college experience, with an emphasis on issues related to cultural capital and habitus. Five aspects of cultural capital were of interest:…

First generation college students are a diverse group of students who enter college with unique challenges and varying abilities. Understanding the college experience for first generation students involves an examination of their background characteristics as well as the barriers and supports that impact their college success. This study explores…

While college campuses nationwide continue to grow in diversity with increased enrollment of students from minority backgrounds, national patterns continue to reveal educational inequities in the retention rates of racial/ethnic minorities. Additionally, socioeconomic factors of family income and parental educational level further complicate…

Educational reform in the United States has focused on several factors such as academic achievement, performance on standardized test scores, dropout rates, the mandate of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 (Dee and Jacob, 2010) and other changes. A new call for a broader and bolder strategy for educational reform that focused on…

Inquiry into the academic achievement of Latino/a youth in the United States should be of major interest to teachers, administrators, families, communities, scholars, and policy makers committed to equitable multicultural education in schools. Although the diversity of Latinos is well documented, academic achievement discourse continues to lump…