Enrollment of vertical transfer students across four-year colleges and universities has been increasing over the past decade (Shapiro et al., 2018). From 2012 to 2017, data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) survey showed that White students represented the largest group of transfers to four-year colleges and universities. Racial and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the lived experiences of graduates of a Black Male Initiative (BMI) mentoring program at one associate-level College in the southeast region and the impact mentoring had on the participant's success at the college and its impact on obtaining their degree. Critical Race Theory (CRT) was the…

Reflection is a practice used in education that encourages metacognition and can provide instructors with regular feedback. This qualitative research study explored the ways that community college students used reflections and what they chose to share. These reflections occurred during the fall 2021 semester, when many classes returned to in…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how high-achieving African American males attending community college describe how social support contributed to their academic experience in the United States. The theoretical foundations included The Self-Efficacy Theory and The Scholar Identity Model. There were three research…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of students formally enrolled in a California community college promise program at Mountain View Community College, Lakeview Community College, Hillcrest Community College, and Ocean Valley Community College, each located in Southern California. The…

Community college students are less likely to complete their educational objectives than are students who attend 4-year institutions. Students who opt out of the recommended remedial coursework in the foundational subjects of reading, writing, and math may be further disadvantaged when attempting college level coursework. As one way to reduce this…

Faculty-led, in-class mentoring is an opportunity for larger numbers of undergraduate students to receive additional support. Specifically, this case study researched how embedding mentoring activities in community college business courses would change student perceptions of mentoring. The study addressed three questions: (a) in what way do…

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges to students across the United States, particularly those who are parents enrolled in community colleges. California's community college system serves a diverse student population, including a significant number of non-traditional, working adults who are also parents. These students have faced…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Technology (STEM) fields face challenges with underrepresented minority (URM) student achievement and retention. White students earned 59% of bachelor's degrees in science and engineering, while LatinX and African American students earned 16% and 9% respectively (National Center for Science and Engineering…

Twenty-two percent of United States undergraduate students are parents (Cruse, et al., 2020). Referred to as student-parents, they are most likely to have low-incomes and attend community colleges (Cruse, et al., 2019; Gault et al., 2014). They tend to reduce their course loads and drop out of college due to work-life balance challenges even…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to examine how African international students describe their lived validation experiences with academic advising and cultural adjustment in one Midwestern community college. It was not known how African international students experience validation with academic advising and cultural…

The fastest-growing population of Latinx students across California Community Colleges calls for an analysis on institutional practices to ignite change and improve the overall educational achievements of this student population. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of first-generation Latinx students by employing the…

The emergence of college autism transition programs, aimed to support students' needs and leverage their strengths, is illuminating the rise of autistic students in academia. Raising acceptance of autistic college students, and truly understanding their experiences in navigating higher education, has been minimally addressed. Even more, few…

Some community colleges lack the socioemotional support required to help underprepared students grow into autonomous, college-ready learners (Callahan, 2004; Capt et al., 2014). Black and Latinx students could benefit from the inclusion of positive, emotionally supportive programming that acknowledges their personhood, cultural capital…

Objective/Research Question: This research explores how community college students, who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and aspire to vertical transfer in STEM make choices about majors and transfer destinations. The question is important to advancing equity in STEM, which continues to…