Placement into preparatory courses presents a significant challenge related to access and equity in higher education; it connects to conversations around college readiness, particularly in geographical areas that have been underserved, or which have larger minority populations and underprepared students. At the same time, the research points to…

This study examined phenomenal gender and racial representation disparities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields -- specifically, a convergent parallel mixed study of the factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women and minorities. The research participants totaled 657 and included college students…

I conducted this study to determine if rural scholars faced unique challenges as applicants to medical schools. I created a 34-question, novel survey, "Challenges of Medical School Applicants," and broadly distributed it to medical schools across the country. I collected and analyzed a total of 178 responses. Rural and urban cohorts were…

Background: First generation college students, whose parents' highest earned degree is a high school diploma, go on to earn postsecondary degrees less often than their peers whose parents have a college degree. A current approach to addressing this problem is making sure "first gens" are ready to succeed in college. Purpose: There are…

With increased public accountability implemented by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the academic success and graduation of student-athletes, colleges and universities are compelled to consider the influential factors of academic success or failure for collegiate student-athletes. This study explored pre-college academic and…

This study explores the high academic achievement of Excelencia Early College High School (EECHS), located along the Texas-Mexico border. An open-enrollment public school, EECHS serves students who are characteristic of the lower Rio Grande Valley. These include students of low socioeconomic backgrounds, minorities, first-generation, and those…

Demand is high for engineering students and educators must identify factors affecting persistence and graduation of engineers. Retention and graduation rates remain problematic for many institutions. Higher education research focuses on these two issues as many students head to engineering programs with a wide range of attributes, characteristics,…

This work comprises three articles centered around access and equity in California with a lens toward school inputs, interrogating the extent to which coursework as well as local planning efforts support student learning and progress. Using descriptive analysis, Chapter 1 examines the availability and accessibility of rigorous English courses for…

Researchers have postulated that math academic achievement increases student success in college (Lee, 2012; Silverman & Seidman, 2011; Vigdor, 2013), yet 80% of universities and 98% of community colleges require many of their first-year students to be placed in remedial courses (Bettinger & Long, 2009). Many high school graduates are…

The purpose of this narrative study is to understand the educational experiences of academically resilient, first-generation students from low-income backgrounds who demonstrate first-year success in college. Through a framework based on academic resilience, this study aims to provide a strengths-based exploration of the contributing factors that…

Despite the need, persistence in remediation hovers at 50% (NCES, 2002) while nearly one third of community college enrollees arrive under-prepared (Hess, 2009). Persistence is correlated with academic preparation (Nash & Kallenbach, 2009), and barriers to persistence include a number of demographic barriers (Education, 2006; Labaree, 2006).…

This research uses national survey data from the Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (National Secondary Education Exam-ENEM) in Brazil to explore the impact of racial discrimination on high school students between 2004 and 2008. The analysis shows that being a victim of racism can reduce a student's ENEM scores, as well as diminish the perceived…

This study had two purposes. The first purpose of the study was to describe the perceptions of first-time in college high school students, specifically early college students, in regards to factors that enabled them to be successful. Secondly, the perceptions of first-time in college high school students, specifically early college students, were…

This study presents the results of a study of first-generation college student predictors of persistence at Christ-centered baccalaureate colleges. Data were obtained from 5 institutions that administered the CIRP Freshman Survey from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA and were matched with persistence data. Multiple regression…

A substantial amount of research examines the benefits of high school college-credit attainment programs against non-participation. The growth in popularity of these programs, particularly Advanced Placement (AP) and dual enrollment (DE), has them competing against one another for student attention. However, students, schools, and policymakers do…