The COVID-19 pandemic created lingering challenges related to enrollment and made transparent the need for institutions to examine processes and remove enrollment barriers. Higher education may be perfectly poised to implement deep and lasting change that could result in increased access and improved retention. As student populations become…

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…

This multi-site, embedded case study drew on qualitative data to uncover how Black Student Unions (BSUs) within a large California university system bridged or buffered Black student experiences. The central purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the Black students' experiences within the BSU, framing the overarching research…

The undocumented student experience has been a topic of interest for educational institutions since the passing of AB 540 in 2001 and has become an increasingly prevalent phenomenon amid emergent legislation, ever-changing political climates, and the rise of Dream Centers and undocumented student liaisons across higher education systems. However,…

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Summer Bridge Programs (SBP)across the California State University (CSU) system vary in design and delivery. This mixed-methods study investigated six CSU SBP designs, delivery, and 4-year graduation rates of SBP participants during the 2015 through 2019 years. The qualitative portion of this study consisted…

With 23 campuses serving nearly 500,000 students, the California State University (CSU) is the largest and most diverse university system in the country. Annually, 3,500 service-learning (SL) courses are offered to more than 67,000 students, 17% of whom are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. However, there is little…

A number of social and ecological justice educators have long recognized the need for educational institutions to foster the development of a critical interest in civic engagement. They also have recognized the lack of appropriate education for students who are already civically engaged. One popular way to address this context in higher education…

Through a narrative approach, my research study focused on highlighting the experiences of Black and Latino men adult learners who are 25-years old or older as they describe their engagement in the transfer process from a California Community College to a California State University. Schlossberg's theory of adult transition and CRT served as…

Students believe mathematics is best learned by memorization; however, endorsing memorization as a study strategy is associated with a decrease in learning (Schoenfeld, 1989). When the world changed with the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, instruction transitioned to fully remote instruction where many assignments and examinations became…

This case study documents a large, 4-year university magazine's transition to virtual instruction during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using theoretical frameworks from Kuh's work on high impact practices (HIPs), this analysis offers empirical evidence that virtual student newsrooms may provide impactful learning experiences during…

Higher education institutions position education abroad as an effective way to engage students internationally and develop critical intercultural competency skills. Education abroad also represents a major portion of campus internationalization at higher education institutions, globally. An ever-increasing understanding of how students engage in…

While scholars have noted the levels of educational attainment of Hmong Americans compared to East Asian Americans as well as the overall population, this focus has undermined the achievements of Hmong Americans. To shift the discourse on Hmong American students and provide a liberatory perspective, I examined the student-initiated organizing…

This report responds to the key questions raised by educators regarding English as a second language (ESL) practices, programs, and support services across the three California postsecondary systems: the California Community Colleges (CCC), the California State University (CSU), and the University of California (UC). Though there is unanimous…

Although overall access to higher education has improved for underrepresented minority students (Engstrom & Tinto, 2008), there remains a persistent equity gap in college educational attainment for men of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In particular, Southeast Asian male students demonstrate higher attrition rates (Museus &…

This study develops a three-stage adoption framework to measure the impact of selected factors on a student's learning experience and evaluates the effectiveness of service learning in each learning stage. The agribusiness service-learning course utilized in this study matches groups of students with non-profit agribusiness entities to identify…