Non-parent mentoring relationships are important protective factors for first-generation college students. Previous research has focused on singular mentoring relationships measured at one time point, failing to capture the breadth and dynamic nature of social networks. The current study is a longitudinal investigation of first-generation…

The rising cost of higher education has led to increased tuition costs for students and their families, forcing more students to secure larger amounts of debt to finance their educational pursuits. Although scholars have explored how student loan debt accumulation influences higher education persistence and graduation, an unexplored area of higher…

Resilience is of utmost importance for first-year undergraduate students to persist and flourish throughout the course of their studies. The researchers explored the comparative and simultaneous effect of two factors, i.e., emotional intelligence (EI) and critical thinking (CT) disposition in predicting the resilience of first-year undergraduate…

First-year seminars (FYS) comprise one of 11 researched interventions in postsecondary education known as High-Impact Practices, but few rigorous studies report significantly high impacts. This study examined a FYS employing propensity score matching to link cases and controls in a quasi-experimental design. One semester later cumulative grade…

More research is needed to understand the relationships between imposter syndrome, perfection, and stress, as well as how they might be similar or different among first- and continuing-generation college students. This research study examines the relationships among imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and stress among first- and…

This study uses an asset-based lens to explore the support college students give to others in their social network. Retention literature often categorizes students as passive receivers of social support. Qualitative data comes from a 3-year longitudinal study of college students who graduated from the same urban school district, drawing from a…

Research suggests that achieved ethnic identity has positive implications for the adjustment of Adolescents of Color. However, researchers know very little about whether (or how) the impact of achieved ethnic identity extends into college years. To explore this, our study examined the effects of ethnic identity on both social and academic…

The current study was designed to investigate the influence of COVID-19-related worry and online learning attitudes on enrollment behavior using the Reasoned Action Model. Participants (N = 246) completed measures of other-focused COVID-19 worry, self-focused COVID-19 worry, attitudes, perceived normative pressure, perceived behavioral control,…

The Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) is amongst the most well-known and generous tuition-free policies. This study advances the understanding of Promise student performance and persistence. We used a weighted-least square means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) SEM approach and k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) to deal with missing data. The main model suggested…

Research has yielded much evidence that investing in postsecondary interventions increases retention and success for Hispanic/Latinx undergraduates. This study examines one such intervention, funded by Title V and implemented at a large public Hispanic-Serving Institution, developed to improve semester-to-semester retention. Faculty and peer…

Literature shows that undocumented students in the United States experience significant challenges to and through higher education. Only a few studies have uncovered the mechanisms that undocumented students use to persist in college; in particular, the role that family plays on their postsecondary success is understudied. In this qualitative…

Approximately 30% of students who enter the postsecondary education system do so through 2-year colleges. The majority of these students intend to earn a bachelor's degree, but most leave college before earning a diploma from a 4-year institution. The discrepancy between bachelor's degree aspirations and degree attainment rates of students who…

While mindfulness intervention research is prevalent, it is limited in (1) relation to college students' grade point average (GPA) and retention and (2) minimum dosage recommended for the intervention. This repeated-measures quasi-experimental nonequivalent control groups study investigated differences in mindfulness, stress, flourishing, GPA, and…

Despite evidence for the academic and psychological benefits of racial/ethnic minority (REM) students enrolling in minority-serving institutions, REM college students' graduation rates have been consistently lower for White students across institutions. The current study examined REM graduation rates and associated risk factors in a campus with…

Texting has been identified as a tool that has the potential to enhance informational exchanges between academic advisors and students. We use focus group and survey data from a recent texting intervention to assess student and advisor receptivity to texting as a new mode of communication. The data reveal that most students immediately saw the…