This qualitative descriptive study explored how first-generation college students (FGCS) describe their academic help-seeking (AHS) processes at a large first-generation college student serving university in Southern California. FGCS are less likely to retain than their counterparts and can benefit from support with academic help-seeking. This…

The fastest-growing population of Latinx students across California Community Colleges calls for an analysis on institutional practices to ignite change and improve the overall educational achievements of this student population. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of first-generation Latinx students by employing the…

International students face multiple challenges while adjusting to the U.S. academic culture. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore and identify the academic problems these students face and how these problems influence academic adjustment. The study also focused on identifying students' strategies to overcome these academic…

Latino/a undocumented students are among the population of students who are in danger of not graduating or pursuing college due to the unique set of challenges they face navigating education in the U.S. This study aims to understand undocumented students' experiences and the factors that impede them from furthering their education. As…

This qualitative, phenomenological study explored how transition challenges affect Chinese international undergraduate students' persistence in U.S. higher education institutions and identified the types of support schools should provide to improve students' persistence. This study conducted semistructured, open-ended interviews via telephone with…

This ethnographic case study examined how 16 Latinx community college students experienced the transition to a selective 4-year public research-intensive university. Participants encountered challenges with social isolation, adapting to a fast-paced quarter system and to large course sizes, limited access to information on resources, restricted…

Former and current foster youth transitioning to adulthood through a four-year university campus require special consideration. Identifying barriers to academic success is critical to the overall success of this unique student population. This study examined the relationship between mental health and academic achievement during the first year at a…

U.S. college institutions enroll international students from all over the world, and the difficulties and challenges international students face while studying abroad are issues that no one can escape. This study explored the experiences of international students at a faith-based university in Southern California with a qualitative…

This article learns from student voices about how their education abroad experiences were shaped by their agency. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 22 U.S. community college and university students and with U.S. faculty and U.K. senior staff who worked at a Study Abroad Center in London. The study focuses on what the students said…

In this article, I describe a program of research on the psychosocial benefits of racial/ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is hypothesized that greater diversity can benefit students' mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation via three mediating mechanisms: (a) the formation and maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships,…

This qualitative study investigated the challenges experienced by first-generation community college students as they navigated the process of transferring to a four-year university. Participants were from a pool of first-generation students who were in the process of completing steps to transferring. These participants all completed specific…

This case study explores the first year college transition experiences of a cohort of eight first generation Latinx students who graduated from the same low-performing urban high school. Drawing on Tara Yosso's (2005) model of community cultural wealth, I examine the challenges students confronted at their respective postsecondary institutions and…

Campuses across the United States continue to welcome a record number of Chinese students coming in pursuit of both academic and cultural goals. Yet, high levels of acculturative stress coupled with difficulties integrating into life abroad jeopardize accomplishing these goals. In this study, we examine Chinese students' Internet use both prior to…

This study examined how Mexican American youths' extent of sibling caretaking is related to their personal and school adjustment, and whether mothers' gender-role attitudes and youths' familistic beliefs moderate these associations. One hundred and ninety-five Mexican American youth ("M" age 14.8 years; 64% girls) and their mothers…

First generation Latino college students are under-performing and continue to have the lowest levels of educational attainment relative to other groups in the United States. This study utilized a positive deviance theoretical framework to uncover the challenges faced by first generation college students, as well as the strategies used to achieve…