Research has indicated that family social class, college readiness, and college affordability are factors for post-secondary barriers (Freeman, 2005). The term family social class refers to sociocultural aspects, behaviors, knowledge, and lifestyles into which one is socialized by one's family (Bourdieu, 1979). Bordes-Edgar et al. (2011) define college readiness as students' beliefs about themselves strongly related to their persistent decisions to obtain postsecondary education. College affordability can potentially increase access and lower barriers to postsecondary education (Ross et al., 2012). Improving postsecondary achievement for low-income and first-generation students and financial, informational, behavioral, and academic barriers to college access are not mutually exclusive (Stephens et al., 2014). Inadequate resources in high schools often create obstacles for low-income and first-generation college students (McLoughlin, 2012). Families encountering escalating financial barriers to college access exemplify challenges in achieving educational opportunities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2022), mandatory undergraduate fees across all institutions have risen by an average of 6.7% in the past five years. The fee increase at four-year institutions was 7.9%, while the increase at two-year institutions was 2.3%. Fees range from $100 to $975 annually at two-year colleges and from $963 to $3,847 annually at four-year colleges (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). Research by McLoughlin (2012) revealed how outreach activities and postsecondary information impact the likelihood of first-generation college students attending higher education institutions. According to the research, pre-college access programs influence high school achievement, college readiness, postsecondary enrollment, and postsecondary persistence (Glennie et al., 2015). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]