Students attending a community college in an urban setting plagued by violence are subject to experiencing or witnessing one or more traumatic events. The purpose of this action research study was to increase faculty and staff's understanding of the prevalence of trauma, how it may manifest at colleges within students, oneself, classrooms, and…

A total of 174 Latinx undergraduates attending a predominantly White institution provided online responses regarding motivating persons, processes, and factors that helped them persist in college. Using a multi-step, content-based qualitative approach, there were three meta-themes (i.e. family, friends and peers, and self) with 15 themes developed…

This dissertation shines a light on the indomitable spirit of African American male students, who exhibit remarkable resilience despite facing persistent challenges such as underrepresentation, academic underachievement, and racial and socioeconomic disparities. It delves into the critical role of programs and services in promoting academic…

This hermeneutic phenomenological study aimed to explore the experiences of community college professors working with dual-credit high school students in northern Texas. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory guided the study to delve into the professors' experiences working with dual-credit high school students. The central research question of this…

The experience of transferring to a 4-year college, especially in STEM programs, can be particularly challenging for students. While much of the onus for preparing students for transfer has been placed on community colleges, the 4-year institutions to which students transfer have critical roles to play. With this in mind, we established the…

Most higher education institutions in the United States are bound to the triad's regulations, but their methods for integrating external policies with internal ones are unstudied. Employing a single-case, embedded design, this qualitative study centers on a midsize public, research institution in the eastern United States to explore how one higher…

Disparities in academic performance and degree attainment continue to affect systemically marginalized (SM) college students. Amidst these persistent inequities, this qualitative study aimed to better understand how SM students at a competitive university navigated their choice to engage with support and how they conceptualized success. The study…

As higher education faces challenges in low enrollment, soaring prices, and individuals who question the need for a degree, these institutions must transform into flexible-minded and innovative centers of excellence. The purpose of this study is to explore how empathetic and collaborative practices inherent in design thinking methodologies can…

Student support is seen as a necessity to better students' progress. For students to succeed when studying at a distance, they need a great deal of support to adjust to the institution of higher learning. Independence theory was used as a lens to understand the role of student support staff in providing services to students. A qualitative case…

Background: Suicide attempts and suicide completion are on the rise for children and adolescents and even more so for LGBTQ+ youth. Despite some social progress, LGBTQ+ individuals still face oppression socially and legally. With much of the restrictive LGBTQ+ legislation occurring within educational settings, school counselors have an important…

Students with disabilities encounter challenges through higher education and into employment. Despite holistic disability paradigms, higher education institutions continue to view disability as a human quality, providing support services through a medical lens. Through participatory action research, students with disabilities, in collaboration…

Background: The benefits of friendships among peers with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities are well supported by research. However, little is known about the nature of these inclusive friendships in inclusive college courses. Method: We explored the perspectives of peers on the development of authentic friendships among peers…

While the number of individuals in the United States between the ages of 25-44 with a bachelor's degree has been increasing, so too has the number of individuals who have started college and dropped out. Higher education has numerous societal and individual benefits that are not being actualized because there are simply not enough individuals with…

Alternative education is broadly defined in the United States and includes variability around reasons for enrolling, choice in attending, and experiences once enrolled. In order to better understand these factors within alternative schools, this qualitative interview study, based in critical theory, included 22 current and former students from 12…

The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize existing empirical research on physically chronically ill college student well-being, focusing specifically on individual- and institution-level factors that could become targets for future intervention and research. This review was conducted to answer the following research question: What…