Background: Low-income students face cultural and social challenges navigating college environments that privilege middle- and upper-class norms, knowledge, and values; these challenges lead to difficulty transitioning to college and disparities in student success for low-income students relative to their higher-income counterparts. Peer…

Both society- and individual-level factors serve to make persistence through one's university career more difficult, especially for students with disadvantaged financial and academic backgrounds. Using a rich dataset of students at a rural, 4-year university in Pennsylvania, we compare GPA and persistence outcomes of two groups of students in…

Underrepresentation in engineering disciplines remains a significant issue in higher education and the workforce. This paper presents a quantitative analysis comparing the academic success of participants in an engineering-focused Summer Bridge Program (SBP) to non-participants with similar characteristics. The study evaluates first-year…

Although research has established that students enrolled in pre-sessional English for academic purposes (EAP) programs make gains in English reading ability, the evidence base for whether gains made during this period of instruction make a difference to future academic outcomes is nonexistent. We report a multi-cohort longitudinal study of a…

The transition to high school often induces feelings of discomfort among students, potentially leading to stress and challenges, especially given their diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. If left unaddressed, these difficulties may contribute to disengagement, classroom challenges, and, in some cases, academic setbacks or dropping out. This study…