The campus built environment is an omnipresent force at an institution of higher education. That force is influential during a student's transition into the post-secondary system. Literature on this subject suggests that understandings of the relationship between the campus built environment and the student experience are limited and demand…

This study examined the journeys of first-year undergraduate theological students during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to figure out what, if anything, aided the students in completing their coursework with passing grades. COVID-19 has impacted organizations and individuals around the world, prompting changes to ensure that things kept…

This qualitative phenomenological inquiry aimed to explore the experiential dimensions of first-year, first-semester college students' perceptions of their college readiness from high school to a junior college in Belize. Employing Leedy and Ormrod's (2016) methodology for data analysis, the researcher engaged a purposeful sample of 30 first-year,…

Freshman seminar courses aim to address dropout rates, college achievement, increase persistence rates, and student adjustment in approximately 94% of colleges and universities in America. First-generation college students make up nearly a third of higher education students and are likelier to drop out of college within the first 2-years of…

Foundational to this evaluation study, the participating institution aspired to improve its retention rate. Students' perceived sense of belonging has been identified as an important variable related to student retention and persistence (Bean & Eaton, 2000; Strayhorn 2012; Strayhorn 2019; Tinto, 2017). For students to succeed beyond their…

The nurturance and development of the whole person should be fundamental to the institutional and educational goals of colleges and universities across the United States. However, for reasons that continue to elude many institutions, freshmen continue to struggle with successful transition to the world of academia otherwise known as the…

Whereas many college freshmen succeed during their first year, some struggle with transitioning. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive generic study was to examine the difficulties some high school graduates experience adapting to the college social environment. First-year college students often have feelings of homesickness, isolation,…

School leaders and policymakers seek various pathways to help minority, low-income, and other historically underrepresented populations matriculate to college after graduating high school. However, many students are not fully prepared academically or non-academically to transition to college, making it challenging to persist through completion and…

The growing number of U.S. engineering jobs signifies a need for more students to pursue engineering degrees. To increase access to engineering education, in 2015, Texas A&M University established Engineering Academies (EA) in cooperation with selected community colleges. The problem addressed in this study was a lack of knowledge about why…

This study examined how students perceive the impact of a mandatory first-year seminar course on their success and persistence at a 2-year institution. Specifically, the study focused on the influence of the course curriculum and objectives to promote success and perseverance and how the campus community supports student success and persistence.…

Declining enrollment of African American 1st-year students at a predominately White institution (PWI) may indicate an unwelcoming campus culture. For the last 5 years, African American 1st-year enrollment has decreased at a local PWI. The purpose of this study was to better understand how the campus climate may influence the enrollment decision…

This study examines the relationship between retention and customer satisfaction at a historically black college and university (HBCU). Using a mix-methods approach, which includes surveys, interviews, and focus groups with first year college students, we analyze the factors that contribute to student satisfaction and the extent to which…

Students with disabilities are an underrepresented demographic in higher education institutions that is often overlooked and excluded with limited engagement strategies. It is imperative for postsecondary institutions to actively foster a more inclusive and welcoming environment for this student group. Little is understood about the impact of…

This study examined how first-year, gay, male undergraduate students attending Jesuit Catholic institutions make sense of their transition to college experience. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants included seven gay, cisgender, male individuals who were current undergraduate students at a Jesuit university and…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of full-time first-year college students residing on the college campus and understanding the students' perceptions of college readiness prior to and during attending college. Fifteen first-year college students were sampled for interviewing and interview…