Research & Policy

Dedicated first-generation research allows for evidence-based decision-making that is critical to student success. This section highlights both foundational research and recent scholarship that informs understanding of the student experience, institutional approaches to programming, and identification of supports and barriers for first-generation students. Timely updates on public policy discussions shaping first-generation student success are also provided. In addition to the filters below, please utilize the “search” bar in the top, right corner to search by keyword, author name, or publication title.

First-Year College Students’ Behaviors and Characteristics

This study examined the differences between first-year students who continued to Year 2 and first-year students who did not return to the second year at a mid-size, public, research university in the mid-south.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / October 2019

Study Examining the Positive and Negative Achievement Emotions of the FYE

This article reports on the results of a pilot study using the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire involving 10 (n = 10) mostly ethnic minority undergraduates at an urban 4-year university.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice / October 2019

Pursuing performance goals fosters the emergence of the achievement gap

The paper considers the advantages associated with the experimental manipulation of relative social class, and discuss how educational practices and policies may jeopardize—in an invisible way—the potential of lower social class students.

Journal of Educational Psychology / October 2019

Fact Sheets on First-generation College Students

These fact sheets provide national statistics about first-generation and continuing-generation college students.

The Center / October 2019

A Qualitative Study of Low Food Security Among College Students

This report explores the lived experiences of students with low food security, how students cope with its challenges, and how these strategies influence academic performance.

Trellis Company / October 2019

The Chemistry Women Mentorship Network (ChemWMN)

Women typically do not receive the same level and frequency of mentorship as their male counterparts, and this mentorship group addresses the gender disparity within the academy.

American Chemical Society / October 2019

The Impact of a Comprehensive Program on College Success

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the effects of one such university’s comprehensive support program on public high school graduates’ success in college graduation and persistence.

Journal of International Education and Practice / September 2019

"Understanding the Experiences of Provisionally Admitted Black Male College Students in the State of Georgia"

The purpose of the study was to explore perceptions of first-time, full-time Black male provisionally accepted students to achieve a clear understanding of factors that contribute to their academic success.

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs / September 2019

Breaking Down Barriers

This report describes Hispanic students’ and their parents’ views and concerns about their college preparedness.

Heisdorf / September 2019

My Time Among the Whites

This book examines the sometimes hopeful, sometimes deeply flawed ways in which many Americans have learned to adapt, exist, and—in the face of all signals saying otherwise—perhaps even thrive in a country that never imagined them here.

Capó Crucet / September 2019

Ensuring Success Among Students: Developing a Unified Community of Support

This study of integrated programs at several California State University campuses indicates that successful integrated programs are effective because they create what we term a unified community of support for students, faculty, and staff.

American Behavioral Scientist / September 2019

Moving Up without Losing Your Way: The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility

This book looks at the ethical dilemmas of upward mobility faced by students as they strive to earn a successful place in society.

Morton / September 2019

Supporting Students’ Transitions to College Through Comprehensive and Integrated Programs

Integrated programs link students to several existing supports on campus so that they essentially become a comprehensive support program. This volume of articles focuses on two major comprehensive and integrated programs.

American Behavioral Scientist / August 2019

Lucia's Journey of Bridging Two Worlds: Counseling Latinx First-Generation College Students

In this book chapter, the author utilized a case study to discuss her counseling approach for helping Latinx first-generation college students navigate the terrains of higher education.

Tello / August 2019

A Cross-Cultural Organizational Framework to Scale Access to Learning-Ready Classrooms That Support Student Success

The authors propose shifting learning space discussions away from building an historically small number of active learning spaces, towards a larger number of what they term “learning-ready classrooms,” which apply universal design principles to support the multiple teaching identities and philosophies of faculty and the physiological, cultural, and cognitive needs of all students.

Journal of Teaching and Learning With Technology / August 2019

Peer Coaching Program Development: A Framework of First-Year Latina/o Student Persistence Pursuing STEM Pathways at a Hispanic Serving Institution

This study developed and examined the implementation of an intrusive peer-to-peer coaching program model at a private 4-year master’s degree granting Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) located in South Texas.

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education / August 2019

The College Dropout Scandal

This book outlines the scale of the problem and shows that it's fixable - -we already have the tools to boost graduation rates and shrink the achievement gap.

Kirp / August 2019

First Generation Students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

This study was conducted to better understand who the first-gen students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are, the experiences they are having, and how to better serve them.

Center for Student Success Research / August 2019