The problem investigated in this study was the lack of persistence of 1st-year African American male students at a community college in a southeastern state. In the fall of 2018, only 55% of African American male students progressed through their 1st year compared to 70% of White male students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore…

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate how African American male students persist through or depart before the end of the second year of their college journey. African American male students tend to drop out of college after their first year and sometimes after their first semester of college. There were several variables and themes…

Rural undergraduates lag behind urban and suburban undergraduates across many measures of college success, even though they graduate from high school at a higher rate. While a small but growing body of research literature addresses the challenges and barriers rural students face during the college process, few, if any, studies have focused…

The transition to college, combined with abrupt changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning, has increased challenges for first-year college students. Resilience theory, defined as the study of how people rebound from adversity, can help us understand how students triumph over challenges during an unprecedented time of change and…

Black men suffer some of the most dismal completion rates in higher education due to the extremely hostile campus environments they experience at many institutions, particularly predominantly White institutions. Increased stereotypes, alienation, isolation, racialized incidents, and lack of support from peers, faculty, and administration can…

A Midwest community college's culinary arts program is experiencing a trending decline in student persistence to degree completion rates year after year. Low persistence to degree completion rates impacts post-traditional students, this community college, and employers. This research is needed, as this and other community colleges could inform…

There remains limited research on the gap between the participation and persistence to graduation rates for American Indian students in higher education. It is pertinent to explore the experiences of these students who did not persist to graduation to be able to gain a better understanding of the factors involved in this gap. The primary purpose…

Although in recent decades many of the outer Appalachian counties have stabilized economically, the central region of Appalachia continues to have the highest concentration of distressed and at-risk counties in the country. The geographic isolation and cultural characteristics of Appalachian communities have limited their ability to achieve…