Increasing numbers of students with disabilities attend colleges and universities after graduation from high school, but studies show that students with disabilities lag behind academically and fail to make progress and complete academic programs at a level and a timeframe comparable to their peers without disabilities. Studies are needed that…

Over the past four decades, advances in medicine have decreased the mortality rates of many previously fatal chronic diseases. Children who would have died early in life are now living well into adulthood, and many are matriculating as college students. Data regarding the prevalence of chronic illness among college students, the college experience…

Undergraduates (N = 2,823) at 6 universities were surveyed longitudinally to examine the relevance of student home setting on the transition to university. Preliminary results indicated that rural students seem less likely to attend large, ethnically diverse universities. Hierarchical linear models revealed that "proximal rural" students…

The purpose of the study was to estimate the relationship between academic achievement in college, as defined by first-year grade point average (GPA), and self-authorship among African American first-year students at an HBCU (N = 140), using hierarchical linear regression techniques. A single research question guided this investigation: What is…

Research on supportive communication was examined in relation to students' goals of earning a college degree and their intent to persist. Theories of student departure (Bean, 1985; Tinto, 1993) informed research questions assessing the impact of how social support from family members and friends affected commitment to the goal of graduation…

While leadership development is considered an important goal of education on many campuses, very little is known about how leadership skills develop in a diverse environment, which most colleges will be in the future. We compare causes for Socially Responsible Leadership (SRL) at the end of college students' first year in one diverse liberal…

As student populations continue to become more diversified, institutions must understand students' academic preparedness to better serve them. A significant amount of research and literature focuses on experiences of students whose parents had little or no college education. Although these first-generation students have much in common with…

This study focused on the dispositions of entering first-year students, their perceptions of classroom and institutional environments, and their subsequent academic engagement. Total variance explained by variables included in the path model for academic engagement was 30%. The results of this study found evidence to support the theoretical model…

In this study we investigated whether African American students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) differ from African American students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in academic motivation and judgment, and whether type of academic institution (HBCU, PWI) moderates relationships between these differences and…

Intercession into collegiate alcohol misuse by the Department of Resident Life (DRL) in freshmen dormitories at one large Mid-Atlantic, diverse, public university was examined. Freshmen dormitory resident drinkers (n = 357), 71% of whom reported alcohol misuse, were surveyed. Student self-report and DRL documentation, respectively, revealed that…

Approximately 80% of college students drink alcohol; almost half of these students reporting that they drink to get drunk and over 22% engage in heavy episodic drinking. Heavy alcohol consumption during the transition from high school to college is associated with negative personal and academic consequences. Sixty-seven freshmen volunteered to…

This study made use of a model of college success that involves students achieving academic goals and life satisfaction. Hierarchical regressions examined the role of six psychosocial factors for college success among 579 first-year college students. Academic self-efficacy and organization and attention to study were predictive of first semester…

Understanding the developmental issues first-time college students face is critical for scholars and educators interested in learning and development. This purpose of this study was to investigate the differential impact of first-year college experiences on the moral reasoning development of 1,469 students in moral transition versus those in moral…

This study examined incoming first-year students' normative perceptions of alcohol use and alcohol-related attitudes of other students of the same gender living on their residence hall floor. Male and female residents overestimated the alcohol use behavior and related attitudes among their floormates. Results also showed that perceived norms were…

Despite the importance of religion in many college students' lives, little is known about how religious affiliation is associated with student growth and development. This study examines the relationship between college students' religious affiliations and well-being using a longitudinal sample of 14,527 students at 136 institutions. Analyses show…