The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate further the factors that lead first-generation Latino/a students to pursue a college education. Study participants included ten first-generation Latino/a students. Five participants attended a Hispanic-Servicing Institution (HSI) and five attended a non-HSI. The following research questions…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid for first-time, full-time Hispanic economically disadvantaged students selected from a South Texas Hispanic-serving institution. The dependent variable, college persistence, was measured by…

Hispanic Serving Institutions are designated by the United States Department of Education with the purpose of increasing the educational attainment of the Hispanic population. Designation is determined by the percent of the population of full-time undergraduate students at the institution of higher learning. While this federal policy has…

Chicanas and Latinas are still severely underrepresented in higher education. Much of the previous literature focuses on the barriers to their success. This article highlights studies related to Chicana Feminism and the ways this perspective can positively impact college attainment and success. The authors conclude by discussing implications of…

Although studies have investigated educational attainment of groups of students professing low and high educational self-expectations, groups of noncommittal students, rather than being studied as a discrete group, have been treated as missing and ignored. This study investigated the differences between students of noncommittal, low, and high…

Background/Context: Students designated as English Learners (ELs) account for 10.4 percent of all students nationwide but have historically been provided unequal access to educational resources (Gándara et al., 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Further, education policies are often blind to ELs' strengths and challenges,…

Maternal education has been shown to be associated with the number of children a woman has during her childbearing years, as well as maternal and infant health (1-5). Using 2017 national birth certificate data, this report describes educational attainment of mothers aged 25 and over, overall and by race and Hispanic origin and state, and the mean…

The Latino-Ethnic group are an ethnic group that have been overlooked in research studies for many years now. Researchers have addressed needs to increase higher education rates in various ethnic groups across the nation. However, the Latino-ethnic group continues to remain with lower higher education success rates. The purpose of this study is to…

Autistic adults in need of long-term services and supports spend months on waiting lists before receiving such services through Medicaid. Data from a state-wide survey of adults and their caregivers on a waiting list for autism waivers suggest that the majority have unmet needs for functional skills services (63.6%), employment or vocation…

This study examines the educational outcomes of Latino men in Texas by conducting a descriptive policy-focused disaggregate analysis of longitudinal data from the 8th Grade Cohort Longitudinal Study and the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). Based on our analysis, we provide context and understanding of the progress made towards meeting…

Reading motivation may help explain some discrepancies in higher education attainment among Latinx adolescents. Using a person-centered approach to understand underlying reading motivation profiles among N = 254 Latinx adolescents, results identified four ordered classes of reading motivation including, (a) a "High" class characterized…

There are limited empirical studies examining career-related activities for Black and Latino/a students during the middle school years. Using a constant comparison method, this study examined the narrative data of 63 Black and Latino/a middle school students regarding their perceptions of work and life success. The results of this analysis…

Background: Compared to other racial groups, Hispanic/Latino(a) adolescents experience higher rates of alcohol (ab)use and alcohol-related problems. Evidence suggests there are gender differences in alcohol use patterns indicating the likelihood of gender differences in how various determinants influence alcohol use among the genders. Assessing…

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities are the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders in children and often coexist. Previous research has suggested that the prevalence of these conditions may differ by race and Hispanic origin. Using timely, nationally representative data, this report examines the…

Health inequities by race are ubiquitous and persistent in the U.S., and structural racism is understood to be the cause. However, there has been relatively little research on structural racism as an exposure. This dissertation will describe three ways to conceptualize and measure structural racism with the end goal of intervening to reduce health…