exploration of persistence among successful low-income students in North Carolina (original) (raw)
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Community colleges serve as entryways to higher education and a sustainable future for tens of thousands of students in the United States each year and are designed to provide affordable access to education, particularly for lower-income individuals. Within the United States, postsecondary student completion is a significant issue in academia, and it presents problems of greater societal consequence. Community college students face numerous inherent risk factors, and barriers and institutions provide student support services and intervening programs to help students overcome barriers to persistence. Therefore, the purpose of this Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (APA) study was to understand the experiences of successful lowincome community college students at one of the 58 two-year, public community colleges in North Carolina. This study was a guided by this research question: How do low-income community college students who are within six months of completing their degrees make sense of and explain their academic success? By helping colleges understand which services and interventions are effective at strengthening the success of lower-income students, this study informs the provision of support systems in place for low-income community college students and helps student services practitioners create and enhance programs that will help low-income students stay in school and graduate. This study shows that the imprint of growing up lowincome ultimately impacts students' postsecondary choices and their reactions to barriers jeopardizing their ability to persist. This study also affirms the importance of supportive relationships and the impact of positive institutional support systems.
2018
The literature failed to question the contribution institutions of higher education had in reproducing racial hierarchies favoring Whites (Baber, 2012). The way that scholars explain, discuss, and theorize racially/ethnically diverse groups in student achievement, including higher education, was consistently disaggregated (Harper, 2012). Finally, among African American first-generation college students, racially/ethnically subjective environments resulted in various behaviors that may contribute to persistence decisions (Baber, 2012). 11 The problems with access and equity for education in the past are the result of the problems today, and those problems characterize the education of African Americans (Lincoln, 1969). The government's historical opposition towards freedom and equal rights for African Americans was extensive and presumed to have a relationship with their low college persistence and degree attainment rates. The history of African Americans' participation in the educational system in United States has undoubtedly been challenging and is perhaps a reflection of the postsecondary experiences of many first-generation college students today. Unique Challenges for African American FGCS College attendance is considered one of the most stressful times for an individual to experience in his/her life, and African American first-generation college students face unique challenges (Greenberg, Ramsey, & Hale, 1989; Parks-Yancy, 2012). For example, a cohort of students enrolled in a four-year institution in 2003; 21% of African Americans dropped out of postsecondary education three years later compared to just 11% of White students (Aud et al., 2010). An even wider gap was noted in graduation rates. Among a cohort of students who began at a four-year institution in 2001, 42% of the African American students completed a degree within six years compared to 60% of White students (Aud et al., 2010). More specifically, for full-time African American and Hispanic students, 7.5% and 11.1% respectively, completed their associate's degree in three years (Carnevale & Strohl, 2013). Part-time students completed a degree at even lower rates with just over 2% of African American students and 2.6% of Hispanic students completing an associate's degree in three years. In addition, of firstgeneration college students who attended college, only 36% of Hispanics and 37% of African Americans completed their undergraduate degree or higher compared to 57% of White students (Carnevale & Strohl, 2013). Since 1975, African Americans showed the most significant decline 12 of first-generation students earning a degree compared to other racially/ethnically diverse groups (Conway, 2010). Of students identified as FGCS in the United States, 38.2% are Hispanic, 22.6% are African American, 16.8% are Native American, 19% are Asian, and 13.2% are White (Saenz, Huratado, Barrera, Wolf, & Yeung, 2007). College success, including persistence and degree attainment, serves as the primary means for racially/ethnically diverse and underrepresented populations to improve their socioeconomic status (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2008). Despite the increased college enrollment for African Americans, persistence and degree attainment continues to present unique challenges for these students, and first-year experiences have shown a strong correlation to college persistence
Student Persistence of Urban Minority Two-Year College Students
2018
College student persistence has been the focus of much research for over 40 years, but there has been little progress in increasing the rate of student persistence. Many scholars have focused on specific student populations in particular institutional types. While the fastest growing institutional type has been the 2-year for-profit college serving primarily underserved communities, the experience of persistence among students of this population has not been studied. Accordingly, this study was conducted to explore, through a social cognitive lens, the persistence experiences of students from minority urban communities attending 2-year for-profit colleges. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data from interviews with 4 students from various schools around the country. Four common themes were found: social support, independence, growth, and conflict. All the students cited family as relevant but also as a source of conflict. All the students also expressed the importance of faculty for academic success, engagement, and fun. Participants did not mention any engagement or concern around financial policies, and social integration outside the classroom was valued more
ABSTRACT American Student Persistence, Retention and Graduation at a Predominantly White, Research Extensive, Land-Grant Midwestern University Completion of a college degree serves as an necessity for many individuals who want to transform their lives, change their socio-economic status and have a better chance of living the "American Dream". For African Americans students, completing a college degree can be challenging due to some significant academic and institutional barriers. The current research is replete with studies highlighting why students leave higher educational institutions. However, African American students throughout this nation persist and graduate despite some seemingly insurmountable odds. Through the use of Critical Race Theory and phenomenology as the methodological framework, this study examined the lived experiences of African American students' academic and social engagement and how they have impacted the retention, persistence and graduation of participants. Purposeful sampling procedures were employed to recruit thirteen participants and the researcher adhered to Seidman's (1998) model of a three-interview sequence and arrived at five overarching themes that emerged. A) Not my first Choice, B) Fitting in and being isolated, C) Racial Aggressions, D) Resilience/Personal strength and/or "I have something to prove", and E) What's missing. A Conclusion and recommendations for research practice and policy is also discussed within the context of this study.
Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2013
Although research shows college preparatory programs' effectiveness regarding academic achievement and college awareness, much less is known about whether programs affect college attendance and persistence. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) and other college preparatory programs claim that this is a primary outcome, yet very few studies on persistence in higher education have been done. Through the use of an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, our study found that significantly more students (including low-socioeconomic background) from a GEAR UP college preparatory program showed greater college attendance and persistence outcomes over those who did not participate and also provides potential explanations why this may be the case. Mixing quantitative and qualitative data allowed for meta-inferences about the isolation of poverty, goal setting, resilience, and program impacts on minorities to be drawn.
Mathematica Policy Research Reports, 2018
Community colleges serve as the gateway to career success for many people, allowing them to compete in an environment that increasingly demands higher skills and education beyond high school. Yet for many low-income students and students of color, financial and other barriers can derail their efforts to complete a postsecondary credential. In addition, students often have work and family responsibilities that compete with their educational goals. Although financial aid is widely available, other types of supports may also help such students succeed. In 2014, the Working Students Success Network (WSSN) was launched by a group of philanthropies-the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Lumina Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Kresge Foundation, MetLife Foundation, and Bank of America. WSSN is a consortium of 19 community colleges in Arkansas, California, Virginia, and Washington, led by the national reform network, Achieving the Dream. This innovative strategy seeks to support colleges as they create pathways and provide integrated services to improve students' academic, employment, and financial stability in the short term, while laying a foundation for long-term economic success. The colleges were charged with addressing low-income students' widespread needs by offering group-based and more intensive, one-on-one services in three pillars. (Figure
This qualitative study explored the Lived University Campus Experiences of Low Income Students Pursuing Baccalaureate Degrees with Private Foundation Scholarship Assistance. The findings emerged as the themes Experiences of Affirmation, Cautious Engagement, Vulnerability, and Transformation. Experiences of Affirmation explained the positive words and acts that established and strengthened participants' confidence in their academic abilities. Supporting themes clarify the connection of affirmation to participants' commitment to pursue four-year degrees. Cautious Engagement described the guarded manner in which participants' embraced college and college choices, attitudes, and actions. Supporting themes connect their behavior to accomplishing their college goals. Vulnerability demonstrated participants' feelings of susceptibility to criticism and loss of opportunity and depth of feeling about succeeding. Transformation described how participants' were changed by the lived experience of attending college through financial assistance from a private foundation. Findings were consistent with theories of student success and persistence.