The 1st-year retention rate of the Structured Education Program (SEP) is 90%, yet the 6-year graduation rate of SEP students is 29%. The gap between SEP 1st-year retention and graduation rates is the problem that this study addressed. The low graduation rate of SEP students is an important issue because graduation rates are used to measure the…

The purpose of the qualitative exploratory study was to explore the perceptions of successful first-generation (FG) community college graduates to further understand their lived experiences. Community colleges are able to serve the general public yet achieve great status in helping FG students attain their degree. The specific problem was the high…

California community colleges are facing serious obstacles in relation to students of color achieving academic success. African American men see the community college as a pathway toward economic and social mobility; however, collectively they have disparate outcomes in every conceivable marker of success; persistence, achievement, transfer,…

Many students who begin their higher education journey at community colleges are academically underprepared and lack the skills necessary to begin college-level courses. As a result, underprepared students are required to begin a remedial course sequence designated as "learning support". The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore second year college students' experiences with academic support programs and their personal academic coping strategies. The research questions were designed to collect data regarding the experiences with academic support programs of U.S. Midwest public college students who were continuously…

The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods study was to explore senior student affairs officers' reports of joint intra-institutional efforts within the past three years to achieve the common goal of supporting the academic and personal success of college students with mental illness. The 20 factors identified by Mattessich, Murray-Close, and…

This qualitative study examined how Multi-tier System of Supports (MTSS), a systematic approach to providing academic and behavioral supports to students, was implemented and experienced by macro and micro levels of educators in the Bermuda Public School system. I asked three research questions regarding: (a) how MTSS was being implemented in the…

The purpose of this single case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the supports provided by postsecondary education institutions to students in Educational Opportunity Programs (EOPs). EOPs provide typically low-income, first generation, academically underprepared, and underserved students, who are often overlooked but show potential,…

In recent years, researchers have noted disparate academic achievement outcomes among different ethnic groups in higher education. The complexity of this phenomenon is, arguably, nowhere more pronounced than among Black male students/student-athletes (BMSA) at Division-I Predominantly White Institutions. A central aspect of the research on BMSAs…

The academic achievement gap persists in spite of much concern and talk in both the educational and political arenas. Moreover, literature on the education of African American male students at the college level is scarce; the existing literature is on the achievement gap issue in general. In this phenomenological study, the academic achievement…

Tragic shootings in classrooms on the campuses of Virginia Tech (2007), Louisiana Technical College (2008), and Northern Illinois University (2008) where 39 students and faculty members lost their lives shattered perceptions of the college campus as a safe haven (Dungy & Roberts, 2010), brought heightened awareness to the decade-long increase…

The purpose of this study, "A Qualitative Study of Elementary Afterschool Teachers' Perceptions of the Impact of Afterschool Programs on Students Receiving Special Education Services," was to assess elementary afterschool teachers' perceptions of the impact of afterschool programs on students receiving special education…

The focus of this study was the experience of students who had successfully achieved the transition from foster care to enrollment in Virginia Community Colleges. The following questions guided the inquiry: How do students who are emancipating from foster care describe their transition to enrollment at one of the Virginia Community Colleges? What…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of older adult dislocated workers who participated in community college non-credit workforce training programs. The research questions guiding the study were: (a) what are the experiences of older adult dislocated workers who attend community college non-credit workforce…

This study examined the experiences of 10 former proteges, six female and four male participants between the ages of 18 and 24, who were identified as at-risk and subsequently participated in the Youth Enrichment Program (YEP) in central Georgia for a minimum of two years. This study was designed to investigate proteges' beliefs and perceptions…