In the past few decades, increased use of federal student loans has created an enormous financial burden for many first-generation and low-income students who attend 4-year public postsecondary institutions to attain a degree. Reaching those educational goals for many undergraduate students and how they reach their goals has been at the heart of…

Participation in higher education affords low-income students with a pathway out of poverty. The federally funded Upward Bound program aims to improve the college-going rate of low-income and first-generation students. Relevant studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the program. There is a gap in the research regarding whether some types…

Historical influence in present day education contributes to the continuous conversation of equity in higher education systems. In the process of understanding inequalities and exploring the academic achievements of first-generation low-income students (FGLI), this paper summarizes generational effects on the academic journey within the community.…

This phenomenological qualitative study examined the intersection between TRIO Upward Bound participation and resilience theory to determine how participation in TRIO Upward Bound impacted the resiliency of its at-risk youth participants. Accordingly, the participants of this study are alumni of the federally funded TRIO Upward Bound program, a…

The higher education access of poor, low-income, and working-class students is a powerful lever in combating poverty, promoting social mobility, and enhancing quality of life across socioeconomic strata. The college access of low-income students has been studied primarily through examinations of support infrastructures and the college-going…

This research uses first-generation college students' scores as reported on the Ruffalo Noel Levitz College Student Inventory (CSI) pre-college survey to investigate if attitudes students hold before starting college impact their academic outcomes. Additionally, CSI data is disaggregated by first-generation students' participation in a TRIO…

This dissertation, titled "Families, Culture, Community: Expanding Understanding of What Catalyzes Student Success in a Pre-College Upward Bound Program," investigates the critical factors influencing student success in the Upward Bound program through a funds of knowledge framework (Moll et al., 1992; Rios-Aguilar & Kiyama, 2012).…

Efforts to broaden participation and access in graduate education have proliferated in recent decades, with federally funded interventions established to increase the number of historically marginalized students in graduate education (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008). The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a notable…

Upward Bound is a federal program for first-generation and/or low-income students to develop the skills and further motivation to enroll in postsecondary education. Previous research has established that participating in Upward Bound frequently leads to increased postsecondary enrollment. However, the mechanisms through which these outcomes were…

The purpose of the current study was to determine if participation in a TRIO program at the community college would lead to academic success for transfer students at the 4-year university. Specifically, the researcher collected data for students who participated in a TRIO program at a community college from 2010-2020 to see if they had higher…

Research on first-generation college students' (FGCS) is centered around cultural, demographic, and personal characteristics and structural barriers that adversely impact their persistence and graduation from postsecondary institutions. Literature is limited in its examination of how FGCS' utilize their personal strengths and assets, institutional…

This critical historical narrative sought to understand how secondary and postsecondary educators can best engage community partners in providing access to a college education--and the opportunities associated with it--for students who have been systemically excluded. Based on extensive archival research and 21 oral history interviews with Upward…

College access programs provide middle and high school students with essential skills to prepare them for a successful transition to postsecondary education. TRIO Talent Search (TS)and Upward Bound (UB) are federally funded programs established to strengthen the likelihood that students from underserved groups will graduate high school and pursue…

This intrinsic case study investigated the experiences of select low-income and first-generation students who participated in the Upward Bound program throughout high school to understand how participation influenced enrollment at a postsecondary institution. Two theoretical frameworks guided this research study: Astin's (1984) I-E-O model and…

The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program at Temple University (TU) seeks to guide first-generation, low-income high school students from Philadelphia in their quest to obtain postsecondary STEM degrees that lead to related careers. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the program by analyzing its students' performance in light of…