Though many colleges and universities claim to be driven by missions that highlight access, equity, and student success, academic policy and practice do not always mirror these claims. American higher education institutions are "obsessed with smartness" (Astin, 2017), yet fail to support educational attainment in an equitable manner.…

In 2022-2023, The RP Group surveyed over 7,000 African American/Black students across the California Community Colleges (CCC) system to further explore their transfer experiences. This report offers a selection of highlights from this comprehensive, statewide survey and specifically elevates findings related to the four core student experiences:…

Studies of academic recovery courses (ARCs) focus almost exclusively on academic outcomes, such as postcourse grade point average (GPA) and academic standing. This study explores the role of noncognitive factors--specifically attribution perspective, shame resilience, and academic identity--for students engaged in ARCs. Pre- and postcourse data…

In seeking to close equity gaps within a first-year student seminar course, course designers leveraged emerging research on intrapersonal competency cultivation, known to significantly predict student success across diverse students (NAS, 2018). After re-designing the course to intentionally cultivate specific intrapersonal competencies,…

Many higher education institutions have implemented protocols for students on academic probation, a status generally triggered by a grade point average (GPA) of below 2.0. For this study, the effects of the revision of a previously created protocol for working with such students at the University of Connecticut was examined. The revised protocol…

Undergraduate retention and persistence are richly discussed topics in higher education, and deservedly so. One specific area of study is how to increase four- and six-year graduation rates, and the usage of learning analytics to determine student pathways of success. At a flagship Midwestern US university, we studied at-risk populations…

Latinx undergraduate students on academic probation after their first semester of community college risk further course failure and dropping out. As the largest minority on college campuses, it is important to understand Latinx college students' experiences with academic probation during freshman year to develop strategies that can support them in…

First-year students often struggle with self-regulated learning, particularly in monitoring and accurately assessing their level of understanding and translating that into appropriate preparation for rigorous post-secondary coursework. When their academic struggles become extreme, they can be placed in probationary programs. An intervention…

Higher education retention research has taken on renewed importance in recent years with support for standardized entrance exams waning and student loan debts commanding social and political attention. Economic pressures have further exasperated college attrition and pushed researchers to better identify at-risk students before they experience…

Since its inclusion as a qualitative research approach in 1993, self-study has offered an opportunity for faculty members to merge two components of their position involved in tenure and promotion decisions: scholarship and teaching. This paper portrays a yearlong self-study of four probationary faculty members, in the same college of education…

This benchmark report provides insights into college student persistence, progression, and retention for first-year, second-year, and transfer students at four-year private and public institutions, taken from a survey of college and university officials. This report features 14 key benchmarks in four major categories: (1) annual expenditures on…

Academic support services such as coaching and mentoring programs have shown the most promise, but only when they are implemented in a very proactive manner--when they provide students with personalized follow-up and attention. Unfortunately, these programs are often expensive, making them hard to implement or scale at a regional or national…

We examined three large freshman cohorts from Texas State University, a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), to identify risk factors that might affect academic retention. Risk factors supported by empirical studies such as first-generation, ethnicity, gender, financial aid need, high school performance, and living off campus were examined. We also…

This qualitative research study sought to understand how African American and Latinx students overcame academic failure to achieve good standing. In this study, Latinx and African American students' academic readiness was a marginal factor in academic success. The following research questions framed the conversation: What are African American and…

College tuition costs have risen 33% in the past ten years (NCES, 2016a), forcing college administrators to refocus their efforts on student retention in order to stay competitive (Alarcon & Edwards, 2012; Sanders, Daly, & Fitzgerald, 2016; Tinto, 2006). Although universities have implemented support programs to help students in these…