Evidence suggests that college preparation programs successfully support students through college preparation and application process. However, most research into college preparation programs does not attend to students' collegiate experiences once they leave college preparation programs. This dissertation explored the long-term influence of Small College's College Preparation Program (CPP) on students' collegiate academic, cultural, and social experiences, following college preparation program graduation. This research is a multiple-case study that used phenomenologically oriented interviews. The source of participants was students who completed CPP in 2006 and 2007 and who were enrolled in a university. Using purposeful sampling to achieve maximum variation among CPP graduates, I conducted three tape-recorded interviews of seven participants. Interactive interviews followed Seidman's (1998) recommendations for interview content. Positioning theory was used, in conjunction with social and cultural capital, to analyze data throughout data collection. Positioning theory served as a useful lens for examining the first year college experiences of CPP graduates because it allowed the researcher to explore participant experiences with their agency in mind. Much of the literature on university outreach college preparation programs places students at the center of the research. Often, though, within the research, students are positioned as passive recipients of college preparation services. Viewing the college admissions process as a discourse, participants reflexively self-positioned, but they were also engaged in interactive positioning. In either role, participants assumed an active role, rather than the passive role that most research positions assigns to students. This dissertation finds that participants actively self-positioned as they applied both dominant and non-dominant social and cultural capital during their college preparation and after matriculation. The ability to navigate complex and exclusionary contexts speaks to participants' strengths, perseverance, and motivation. Supportive relationships mitigated the impact of stereotype threat, interpersonal and institutional microaggressions. Moreover, participants self-positioned in ways that built on participants' wealth of insights, experiences, relationships, and capital, leading to academic success. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]