This dissertation is an examination of the limited number of Pacific Islander students that advance from high school to higher education. It also examines the percentage of Pacific Islander students that attend higher education, but do not acquire their degree. Pacific Islander students informally recognize the dominant United States culture and curriculum as not culturally relevant and colonizing in nature. Thus, they struggle to adhere to colonizer culture and rely heavily on their culture (true culture), which has a set of norms that do not align with American cultural values. Pacific Islander culture is collectivist, which is in opposition to individualistic American culture and includes up to four or five generations who share responsibilities and resources and where all of the elders within are treated with the same respect given to their parents. When a major event happens within a family (death, wedding, graduation, etc.), the family (including "extended family") is responsible for contributing both financially and with their time. This is an expectation that pulls an enrolled student away from their school responsibilities. The limited number of Pacific Islanders graduating from higher education has strong economic implications. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much work done by those in the colonizer culture to get to the bottom of this issue and implement a plan to improve access. Despite these issues being constant for Pacific Islanders, there are several gaps within the research and areas that have been studied do not always reference current data. These gaps make it clear that there is a strong need to explore Pacific Islander students' challenges, needs and ways to best support their progress. For the purpose of this study, Pacific Islanders are defined as Melanesians, Micronesians and Polynesians. The study participants are all residents of the United States. This study sought to understand whether or not Pacific Islander culture lacks alignment with the American educational system and will ask participants perspectives on challenges, barriers and cultural impacts to advancing to higher education. The results (chapter 4) section of this dissertation contains the most valuable information: pieces of the stories of the survey participants. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https:// etd.ohiolink.edu). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]