Education Commons^™

Cultural Capital, Habitus, College Persistence And Graduation Among Black Immigrant-Origin Undergraduates: A Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study, Erica M. Richards Chew

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Black immigrant-origin students are a significant sub-population of the total Black college student population, and they are persisting and graduating more frequently than Black U.S.-origin students. This study explored cultural capital and habitus and how they shaped the college persistence and graduation of Black immigrant-origin undergraduates and alumni from four-year postsecondary institutions. A basic interpretive qualitative design, guided by cultural capital theory, was used to explore thirteen Black-immigrant-origin students’ and graduates’ perspectives in-depth; and to describe their subjective meanings, actions, and social contexts from their point of view. Participants grew up with a habitus of achievement that came from the …

Persistence Of General Educational Development And Advanced Diploma Recipients At A Southeastern Public Community College, Ann Underwood Smith

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

With the current emphasis on accountability and the importance of a college education in today's economy, the success of nontraditional students at community colleges is critical. How to improve the success of high-risk students such as GED recipients is a complex challenge for college leaders. While the GED is widely accepted for admittance to college, GED holders have experienced low levels of postsecondary success and clearly face many complex challenges. Lack of persistence has been found in most studies of all nontraditional adult college students, but there is no consensus on whether or not traditional high school graduates perform better …

Institutional Factors Supporting The Enrollment And Persistence Of African-American Males In Virginia Community Colleges, Alfred A. Roberts

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The participation and persistence rates of African-American males in American institutions of higher education consistently trail those of other ethnic and gender subgroups. These national enrollment, graduation, and transfer statistics are reflected in the member institutions of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The purpose of this study was to determine which of the 23 member colleges of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) have been able to enroll and graduate or transfer the highest proportional number of African-American male students and to identify the institutional characteristics and practices that best predict the enrollment and persistence of African-American males.

The …

Predictors Of Persistence Among Community College Adult And Traditional-Aged Students, Kellie Crawford Sorey

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Previous literature has documented the high attrition rates for community college students. Beyond raw data, research has demonstrated that predictors of higher education persistence may include a student's background characteristics, a student's external commitments, institutional influences, and a combination thereof. However, empirical research on the persistence of community college students is scarce, and even fewer studies address the differential predictors of persistence between adult and traditional-aged students. The present study examined the predictors of institutional persistence among adult and traditional-aged degree-seeking, first-time enrollees at a public, multi-campus two-year community college in southeast Virginia.

A random sample comprised of 350 traditional-aged …