Higher education institutions in the United States commonly offer first-year seminars to assist students with their transition to college. Seminars are one of several types of first-year interventions based on findings from persistence research identifying variables affecting student success. Diverse student populations such as international…

Learning communities, designed primarily to increase student persistence and academic achievement, are a common first-year initiative on university campuses. Assessments of learning communities frequently examine indicators that are easily quantifiable such as student persistence and academic achievement, but also examine factors thought to affect…

As diverse student populations expand in colleges and universities in the United States, attention must be given to preserving students' cultural integrity. Dominant theories of student persistence contend that integration, not cultural preservation is necessary to student success. This qualitative study examines the experiences of one group of…