Browsing by Subject "Community college"
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Item Cost of Attendance: The Development of Financial Literacy for First-Generation, Low-Income, Community College Students of Color(2018-02) Wallace, Nicholas LesterFirst-generation, low-income, community college students of color represent one of the fastest growing segments of the undergraduate student population in the United States. With college costs continuing to rise, student debt levels at record highs, and socioeconomic disparities that include growing income and wealth gaps, it is particularly important to understand the development of financial literacy for these students. This qualitative research is a critical phenomenology and is rooted in critical race theory. Employing a semi-structured long-interview protocol, textural-structural themes and invariant constituents gleaned from the coded responses in 22 interviews were used to create 22 sub-thematic categories that organized the findings. A portion of these data are presented as ten counterstories, organized in four main themes that address the three questions presented in this research. The first theme that emerged from the data is that first-generation, low-income, community college students of color demonstrate tremendous resilience from early socioeconomic challenges in the development of their financial literacy. Second, first-generation, low-income, community college students of color expand understanding of students who attend community college by challenging flawed sociocultural assumptions of deficit. Third, a focus on financial assets versus financial deficits is key to development of financial literacy for these students. Finally, in the development of financial literacy for first-generation, low-income, community college students of color, structural racism originates and harms from inside as well as outside communities of color. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of theoretical implications for the development of critical race method as well as practical implications for financial aid and student services professionals, faculty, and other institutional administrators.Item Dynamics that Influence Current Student Retention of Students Who Have Transferred(2017-06) Rondeau, Heather MThe purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of current students who have transferred from a community college over a two-year period of time. Three students were interviewed one-on-one for sixty minutes at a four-year, medium sized, regional, comprehensive, public university in the upper Mid-west region of the United States. Four themes emerged across the three participants' experiences at the four-year university which were: support, both academically and socially; financial aid which includes FAFSA and scholarships; transfer credits and the transfer credit policies that influence how credits transfer; and connections to faculty, students, and staff on the four-year university campus. The present study found that although Tinto's (1993, 2012) theories on student retention have similarities, there are differences between the experiences of first-year students at a university and students who have transferred. To ensure the retention of students who have transferred, different methods and techniques should be considered by practitioners and administrators when creating retention plans.Item Engagement Means...: Community College Students' Understandings and Applications of Engagement(2017-06) Lee, CrystalThe engagement culture at many community colleges is viewed as limited because of the existence of barriers that are less common at four-year institutions. Such barriers include: commuting to and from campus, obligations to family, and work outside of school. Much of the literature on student engagement blames community college students for low levels of engagement, but what is commonly overlooked in these arguments are students’ own definitions, beliefs, and applications of engagement. It is imperative to consider community college students’ narratives in student engagement research in order to create and facilitate equitable engagement opportunities, reflect on current institutional practices, and explore better ways to serve students with diverse engagement experiences. This study used grounded theory as a framework to examine the lived experiences of 11 community college students from an urban community college in the Midwest. Participants were asked to discuss their understandings and applications of engagement in interviews. Implications for practice and research, as well as an informal theory of community college engagement will be explored.Item We are Prepared for You: Advancing the Success of Students of Color in Developmental Education through Equity-Minded Institutional Agents at Community Colleges(2021-09) Yang, PakouA disproportionate number of students enrolled in developmental education courses are at community colleges and are students of color. Applying critical race theory (CRT) as its theoretical framework, this study explores the racialized institutional structures that affect the experiences of students of color. As institutional structures are formed and maintained by institutional agents, this study focus specifically on how institutional agents’ understandings of developmental education and the experiences of students of color influence the developmental education programs implemented at their college. Using a comparative case study approach, this study completed interviews and focus groups with 43 faculty members, staff members, and administrators across three community colleges. Applying a conceptual framework that connects Bensimon’s minority student success paradigm and Barhoum’s developmental education promising practices techniques, the findings from this study suggest the beliefs of institutional agents about developmental education and about students of color experiences can affect how they and their colleges allocate resources and implement reforms in the areas of structural changes, curricular designs, and professional development for course placement and developmental education programming. Institutional agents also face challenges that can prohibit how they and their colleges advance their developmental education reforms. The study offers a model for equity-minded college developmental education reforms and provides theoretical, practical, and policy implications for postsecondary and community college leaders, educators, researchers, and policymakers.