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An Initiative Of NASPA and The Suder Foundation

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.

33 Simple Strategies_Book
33 Simple Strategies for Faculty: A Week-by-Week Resource for Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students

33 Simple Strategies for Faculty is a guidebook filled with practical solutions to this problem.

Nunn / October 2018
tired student in library
The Role of Academic Distress, Financial Stress, and Support

The authors analyzed data from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health 2013–2014 database to provide insight about student anxiety as reported by students and their counselors.

October 2018
two latino students studying
Factors Predicting College Outcomes for Students Participating in the College Assistance Migrant Program

This article examines factors associated with college outcomes in a migrant Latina/o college student sample enrolled in the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP)

October 2018
First-generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis

Across higher education, engaged communities of university leaders, practitioners, scholars and students are working tirelessly to craft approaches that unlock the vast potential of first-generation students.

The Center / October 2018
Living a Motivated Life- A Memoir and Activities
Living a Motivated Life: A Memoir and Activities

This memoir follows the author through forty years, revealing how he selected vocational pursuits guided by his understanding of intrinsic motivation and transformative learning.

Wlodkowski / October 2018
striped shirt female studying with friend
Two-Stage Predictive Modeling for Identifying At-Risk Students

This study proposes an analytic approach which combines two predictive models (the predictive model of successful students and the predictive model of at-risk students) to enhance prediction performance for use under the constraints of limited data collection.

September 2018
University of Michigan Med School
Association Between a Holistic Review in Admissions Workshop and Student Populations

The authors tested for an association between the Association of American Medical Colleges' holistic review in admissions (HRA) workshop and the compositional diversity of medical school accepted applicants and matriculants in schools that held workshops compared to those that did not.

September 2018
ACT-Digital Divide Report
The Digital Divide and Education Equity

This brief takes a closer look at one particular group: students who have access to only one device at home, a group representing 14% of all survey respondents.

ACT / August 2018
Balancing Learning and Work
Balancing Work and Learning: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS

Balancing Work and Learning: Implications for Low-Income Students finds that while working and studying generally helps students from higher-income families, low-income students face steeper challenges when combining work and college.

Center on Education and the Workforce / August 2018
first gen programs
Evaluating Education Policy & Program Costs

In this chapter, readers are introduced to complementary methods for estimating educational policy and program costs.

August 2018
first gen students a snapshot
Student Voice and Linguistic Identity

This article describes the role that linguists can play in the retention of first year and first generation college students through both collaborative and cross-disciplinary work.

August 2018
Students Studying Outside
Brokering College Opportunity for First-Generation Youth

This case study employs Mario Small’s organizational brokerage theory to investigate social capital formation among college-bound first-generation youth in an urban high school.

August 2018
First generation college students and non-first-generation college students

The purpose of this study is to analyze differences between first generation and non-first-generation college students based on a mattering survey.

August 2018
Development of a Novel Pathways Program for Pre-Health Students

The Alliance for Health Sciences, a partnership between DePaul University and Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS), was formed to address these issues and has created the Pathways Honors program.

August 2018
students in classroom standing with teacher
Supporting Inclusive Campus Communities

This chapter draws from important lessons learned within the Multicultural Center and International Student Affairs (MCISA) at Webster University.

August 2018
On the Borders of the Academy
On the Borders of the Academy

This book offers insight into the challenges of first-generation status, as well as practical tools for navigating the halls of the academy for both academics and their institutional allies.

Standlee / August 2018
Students Sitting Outside Talking
A Qualitative Study of University Reacculturation

To understand the challenges and experiences of first-generation undecided students transitioning to a new and unfamiliar academic environment, we applied a reacculturation process to this qualitative exploratory case study of 35 students.

July 2018
tired student in library
How Valid is Grit in the Postsecondary Context?

College admissions leaders increasingly desire to incorporate non-cognitive factors like grit into admissions decisions.

July 2018