A pedagogy of engagement links faculty and students to the needs of local communities while promoting academic success through higher retention and graduation rates in higher education. This work describes engaged scholarship and shares guidelines for documenting student engagement and critical reflection across the higher education curriculum.…

Students from farmworker families are often cited as having deficits that prohibit completion of undergraduate degree program. Statistics regarding graduates of the College Assistance Migrant Program in a southwestern university have shown graduation rates that are similar to the general population of graduates at that university. This qualitative…

Lack of financial resources to pay for postsecondary education--perceived and actual--has been cited as a barrier to student access and persistence, particularly for Latino students. This study investigates the following question: "To what extent does financial aid affect the educational attainment of Latinos enrolled in Associate's…

In many public U.S. universities, Hispanic undergraduates are underrepresented in terms of enrollment and graduation. This mixed-method geographical study investigated whether some public universities outperform others in recruiting and retaining Hispanic undergraduates. The quantitative findings showed that the effect of financial aid and…

As the population of college-aged Latinas/os grows, the number of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) increases. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the percentage of Latinas/os has an effect on the institutional graduation rates of Latina/o students attending HSIs, emerging HSIs, and non-HSIs. Data were drawn from the Integrated…

This article sought to identify factors related to high school completion rates and college enrollment among Hispanic students. Hispanic students were found to have high attrition rates in institutions of higher education. Implications for the development and implementation of retention programs for Hispanic high school students, such as…

A Latino scorecard is presented for higher education institutions using an index of eight measures for "resources", "effectiveness", "diversity", "equity", "affordability", and "access". It is applied to public 4-year institutions in Texas and shows that institutions located in South Texas and those with higher resources do better relative to…

In this essay, the authors accomplish three tasks: (a) identify common limitations of programs designed to increase the success rates of Latina/o college students; (b) describe the common characteristics of programs that exhibit effective practice; and (c) provide a framework to guide colleges and universities in designing effective program…

Learning communities are designed to increase student persistence and academic achievement and are a retention strategy to increase these outcomes for 1st-year college students. This article examines the educational outcomes for a learning community specifically designed for nontraditional Latina(o) students enrolled in a grant-funded program to…

Migrant farmworker students have been underrepresented in research studies. Many scholars have written about Latinos and immigrants in higher education (Becerra, 2010; Mendiola, Watt, & Huerta, 2010; Nevarez, 2001) but little literature relates to how farmworker students are able to enter into higher education. Using community cultural wealth…

Engineering, a field that has shaped the world's industrial and technological base, is ripe for an influx of Latino undergraduate students. Given U.S. Latino population increases, what is the trajectory of Latino participation in engineering education? Using an interdisciplinary lens, we critically examine Latino trends in undergraduate…

This article examines how the denial of financial aid constrains undocumented students from pursuing higher education and discusses the interlocking relationship between federal immigration and higher education policies. Reporting on research data identifying that undocumented students pay for their education through work, family contributions,…

This article uses descriptive analyses of data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to examine the status of equity for Hispanic students in public higher education institutions in Florida and Texas. The analyses show substantial inequities for Hispanics in enrollment, full-time faculty, and executive, administrative, and…

Notwithstanding years of retention efforts, graduation rates of Latinas/os remain alarmingly low. The purpose of this review is threefold. First, the authors go beyond traditional theory and highlight those scholars who shed new information on retention for Latina/o students. Second, they summarize factors that specifically affect Latina/o…

This study focuses on college students of Latina/o heritage - one of the fastest growing college student groups, but with a slowly increasing graduation rate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between university-based mentoring experiences and Latina/o students' perceived comfort in the university environment.