The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine the frequency of marijuana use by California university students based on gender and ethnicity. This study was important because marijuana is the most used illicit substance in the United States, and there is limited research regarding the demographic characteristics of…

Using structural equation modeling, this study identifies the direct and indirect relationships among campus diversity climate, faculty attitudes, student--faculty interaction, and cognitive skills development, examining how the relationships differ by students' race/ethnicity. With data from the University of California Undergraduate Experience…

With 1.8 million students, California Community Colleges (CCC) are often the primary point of access to higher education for low-income, Black, and Latino students. Given the role of community colleges in creating a strong pipeline of college graduates, improving transfer rates to four-year colleges has become an increasingly important policy…

Objective: To examine whether policies prohibiting smoking on college campuses contribute to greater decreases in smoking. Participants: This study compares smoking prevalence and perceptions of prevalence pre/post a smoking ban enacted in 2015 by using repeated cross-sectional surveys administered at a university in 2011 (n = 1.548), 2013 (n =…

Objective: The beginning of college marks a decline in physical activity and racial/ethnic minorities have disproportionately lower rates of physical activity. This study examined the association between perceived stress and physical activity among an ethnically diverse sample of college-attending young adults. Participants: 2,396 students (36%…

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government responded by expanding the country's safety-net programs, including through stimulus payments. There were also significant federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Benefit amounts were increased,…

Though online course offerings have expanded to meet the needs of student access in the context of funding constraints, research has shown worse student outcomes in online classes, with significant inequities by race and ethnicity. Consequently, the proliferation of online course offerings could have vast implications for equity in the California…

We highlight how community colleges implement equity-oriented reform to address inequities facing Latinx students. Through counterstorytelling, we provide lessons learned on the implementation and impact of equity-oriented reform in community college. Key findings revealed that the reform is necessary, but not sufficient to improve racial equity…

Existing research indicates that underrepresented-in-STEM racially minoritized students with similar academic preparation are less likely than their counterparts to persist in STEM, raising the question of factors that may contribute to racial disparities in STEM participation beyond academic preparation. We extend the current literature by first…

Stratification in selective college admissions persists even as colleges' criteria for evaluating merit have multiplied in efforts to increase socioeconomic and racial diversity. Middle-class and affluent families increasingly turn to privatized services, such as private college consulting, to navigate what they perceive to be a complicated and…

In one of the most diverse states in the nation, it is not surprising that public college students in California are incredibly diverse--71% of the student body is racially/ethnically diverse, with nearly half (45%) of students identifying as Latinx and only about one in four (23%) identifying as white. Unfortunately, that diverse representation…

Five years after our 2019 analysis of student borrowing rates across the University of California (UC) system, TICAS partnered with the University of California Student Association (UCSA) again to evaluate the state of affordability and student debt for undergraduates at the UC, and their implications for student success. While our analysis finds…

Community colleges serve nearly half of all undergraduates, including a disproportionate share of African American and Hispanic students, and are a key point of access to higher education for students who face socioeconomic disadvantages or other obstacles to participation in higher education. Community colleges stand to play a pivotal role in…

To assess the self-reported professional identity of healthcare majors at a large public university, and to understand the degree to which the students perceive their healthcare programs support the development of this identity. An online, modified version of the Professional Identity Five-Factor Scale (Tan, Van der Molen, and Schmidt [2017]. 'A…

Objective: We assessed the impact of bearing multiple marginalized identities, experiencing discrimination and perceived social status on the prevalence of depression in college students using an intersectional approach. Participants: Public health students at a diverse urban public university in Northern California (N = 338, response rate = 85%;…