This study explored why academically qualified African American students, those eligible to attend four-year institutions, choose to attend community colleges and are, thereby, undermatched. This qualitative study investigated how these students navigated the college choice process, what influenced their decision to attend a community college, what their experience at a community college was like, and their aspirations to obtain a baccalaureate degree. Purposeful sampling was used to gather a sample of 19 African American students attending community college in Dallas, Texas. The sample included 14 females and five males. Data were collected through 40-60 minute semi-structured interviews and a brief demographic survey. The conceptual frameworks for this study included Kassie Freeman’s predetermination model that includes cultural considerations in college choice and the Somers et al. model that addresses factors that increase the likelihood of a student choosing to attend a community college. This integrated framework captures the role that family and culture play in African American community college choice. Findings suggest that the community college choice influences for academically eligible African American students vary from traditional college choice models. Whereas factors such as cost, location, and the role of peers played somewhat of a role in their choice, participants were …

The purpose of this study was to describe graduate courses and programs of professional education at selected institutions which emphasized the preparation of educators to work with Blacks, Indians, and Spanish American (EISA). Information from a survey of college and university graduate catalogs and the review of literature was used to select three institutions for an in-depth study. The institutions selected for study were East Texas State University (ETSU) at Commerce, the University of Texas at Austin (UT/Austin), and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Although only three institutions were selected for in-depth study, there seems to be evidence to support the following conclusions: (1) there seem to be more courses and programs with emphases on preparing educators to work with BISAs when outside funding is available, (2) continuation of courses and programs to prepare educators to work with BISAs seems to be directly influenced by the interest and involvement of individual instructors, (3) the instructors who were the most interested in preparing educators to work with multicultural groups seem to have larger classes, (4) the ethnic background of the instructor also seems to influence the effectiveness of a course, (5) a nonthreatening learning atmosphere seems to influence …

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine early warning indicators of college readiness among early college high school students at selected Texas institutions of higher education. Participants in this study included 134 of the class of 2010 from two early college high schools. The graduates were 86% Hispanic, 8% African American, 3% White, 2% Asian, 1% American Indian and 72% economically disadvantaged. A causal-comparative research design using multiple regression analysis of the data collected revealed that each one unit increase in world history was associated with a .470 (p < .05) increase in college GPA, while each one unit increase in Algebra I was associated with a .202 (p < .05) increase. Therefore, student grades in high school Algebra I and world history were the strongest statistically significant indicators that a student will maintain a 2.5 college GPA during the first year of college. According to the early warning indicators, students who maintain a grade of A or B in Algebra I are 10 times more likely to be college ready while having a 78% chance of maintaining a 2.5 or better in college courses. Further, the findings from this study found no significant relationship between TAKS assessment, …

This study examined the extent and sources of primary revenue for Hispanic-, African-American-, and Caucasian-serving public community colleges in Texas. The study also examined differences between and among primary revenue streams for these institutions. The public community colleges were identified as Hispanic-, African-American-, and Caucasian-serving based upon the percentage of enrollments for each ethnic classification. A comparative model was developed for the primary revenue streams of in-district student tuition, out-of-district student tuition differentials, out-of-state student tuition differentials, ad valorem property tax revenue per in-district contact hour, and state appropriations. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized to conduct multiple-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data set to examine differences between and among the several variables. Post hoc tests were performed where necessary. Difference was identified in in-district student tuition. Post hoc analysis demonstrated that difference existed between Hispanic-serving and African-American-serving community colleges. No difference was identified in the remaining primary revenue streams.

This study used qualitative research, particularly life history analysis, to determine the personal pathways of success for Latino students who chose to enter a health science center for graduate study and who graduated. By giving voice to individual success stories of Latino students, some of the influences on the life pathways of these graduates were determined. For the purposes of this study, success was defined as graduation from a health science center with either a doctor of philosophy, doctor of public health or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. Four research subjects agreed to participate in this study from a possible 11 students from the graduating class of 2004-2005 at this health science center. Data were gathered through multiple in-depth interviews of the students themselves over a period of no more than one month for each participant. Data were analyzed using the mind mapping technique and Padilla's unfolding matrix. Findings indicate that each participant traveled a different pathway to achieve educational success although similarities did exist across participants. The influences of family background, cultural background, educational background and personal perceptions and goals did affect the pathways of these four Latino graduates. While three of four participants indicated that family was the …

In Texas, Hispanic populations (people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race) have increased from 6.7 million in 2000 to 7.4 million in 2005, or by approximately 10.5%. This growth trend is expected to continue with estimates that Hispanics will represent approximately 37% of the state's population by 2015. The problem this research addressed is that participation in higher education by Texas Hispanics is not keeping pace with the growth in the Texas Hispanic population. If allowed to continue, the state could be in danger of realizing devastating economic and societal consequences. The present study utilized regression analysis to determine how well four institutional characteristics explained the variance in Hispanic enrollment and graduation percentages of students attending public 4-year institutions in states with prevalent Hispanic populations. Findings indicate that while local Hispanic population is a strong, positive predictor of Hispanic enrollments, it has a negative impact on Hispanic graduation rates. The independent variables of average cost of attendance and average financial aid package are the strongest predictors of Hispanic graduation percentages. Implications for the state of Texas include stress on public 4-year institutions in coping with Hispanic population increases, …

This study describes the experiences of doctoral students in education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The study focused only on the 14 HBCUs that offer doctoral degrees in education. Twelve of the 14 eligible institutions agreed to participate in the study. A total of 47 doctoral students who were in their third year of study or close to completion participated in the study. These doctoral students completed a survey that was utilized in a national study of doctoral students at predominately white institutions and Ivy League institutions conducted by Golde and Dore in 2001. The purpose of this study was to determine if doctoral students in education at HBCUs are receiving a quality education and if they are being adequately prepared for their careers. This study offers 368 findings from which the doctoral experience in education at HBCUs can be comprehensively evaluated. It was determined that doctoral students in education at HBCUs do receive a quality education and are being effectively prepared for their careers.

The purpose of this study was to describe the passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and to evaluate faculty development programs at selected black institutions in light of the objectives and guidelines established for the use of Title III funds.

When students are academically qualified to attend a four-year college or university but instead enroll at a community college, they are considered academically undermatched. Research suggests that Latinx students are more likely to academically undermatch than their peers yet they remain the least likely to complete an upward transfer to a university and earn a baccalaureate degree. The purpose of this study was to explore the enrollment decisions of, and familial influences on, Latinx students who were admitted to a university but who initially enrolled at a community college. Using community cultural wealth and funds of knowledge as theoretical frameworks, I examined the narratives of 13 Latinx students and the parents of five of those students. Nine student participants were female and four were male, ranging from 19 to 31 years old. Parent participants were four females and two males, ranging from 43 to 52 years old. Findings from this study are divided into two parts. Student findings revealed navigating the pathway to college was fraught with limited information, even though students acknowledged they had access to resources and their high school counselors and teachers helped in the college search process. However, students still did not feel that crucial information …

This study determined the relationships among English oral communication apprehension, social interest, and locus of control of Far Eastern students, and examined whether differences exist in these variables, compared to gender, age, academic classification, major field of study, employment status, and length of study in the United States. Four instruments, including a demographic questionnaire, the Adapted Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 (AFRCA-24), the Social Interest Scale (SIS), and the Rotter's Internal-External (I-E) Scale, were used to collect data from the sample of 240 Far Eastern students enrolled at North Texas State University in the fall semester of 1986.

Contrary to the model minority myth that portrays Asian Americans as academic all-stars over-represented in elite four-year institutions, half of all Asian American college students do in fact attend community colleges, and many experience myriad challenges. This exploratory study investigated the community college pathways of Asian American community college students, the role of family and culture in shaping expectations for higher education, and participants’ perceptions of the model minority myth and the degree to which this myth influenced their college experiences. Institutional practices and policies, or lack thereof, that support the success of this highly diverse population were also studied. Purposeful sampling was used to gather a sample of 28 students, who self-identified as Asian American and attended one of the three largest community college districts located in North Texas. The sample included 16 males and 12 females, whose ages ranged from 18 to 49 years old, with a mean age of 24. Data collection involved a demographic questionnaire and semi-structured individual interviews. The participants represented 13 different ethnicities, and nine were members of more than one ethnic or racial group. Ten participants were foreign-born citizens, and all of the participants had at least one foreign-born parent. Qualitative data provided …

Since the inception of the Higher Education Reauthorization Act of 1998 by the United States Congress, there has been limited research conducted on parental notification policies on campuses of Higher Education concerning alcohol and drug offenses committed by students. This study surveyed parents of incoming freshmen at the University of North Texas regarding their perceptions of Parental Notification policies and their perceptions of underage alcohol offenses by gender, age, ethnicity, and parental status. The relationship between parental notification and underage alcohol offenses was also examined. This study, conducted in the summer of 2002, at the University of North Texas had 539 respondents. An instrument developed to determine parental perceptions of underage alcohol use and parental notification consisted of 20 dichotomous questions. Chi-square tests of independence were used to analyze the data because it could calculate the relationships between two sets of nominal data. Data show that most parents want to be notified in all situations involving underage alcohol offenses and their offspring. Generally, parents do not believe their offspring will use alcohol underage as they enter college and that they are not binge drinkers. Females want to be notified about their student's underage alcohol offenses at a higher rate than …

Developmental education courses are typically defined as courses offered at postsecondary institutions below college level instruction. More than 60% of community college students are deemed non-college ready and required to enroll in non-credit bearing developmental education courses. Research shows that developmental education can be either a bridge or barrier to degree attainment for racial/ethnic minority students, particularly African Americans, who require developmental education more than any other racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of African American community college achievers who were required to enroll in two or more developmental education courses. Achievers were defined as students who passed all developmental education courses and were enrolled in their final college gateway course at the time of the interviews. Utilizing a phenomenological approach and anti-deficit framework, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture the essence of how African American achievers described, interpreted, and understood their journeys from developmental education to becoming college ready to completing college level courses. Twelve participants were female and three were male, ranging from 20 to 52 years old. Results revealed seven major themes. The first research question addressed how achievers described their developmental education experience from pre-collegiate years through inside …

This study was the first to examine the impact of immigrant-focused public policy on the educational outcomes of Latinx students in professional nursing. Between 2001-2020, 34 states adopted policies that either provided or prohibited in-state resident tuition (ISRT) and/or state financial aid (SFA) to undocumented students. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA) passed in 2012 gave a new group of largely Latinx, college-age immigrants unprecedented access to public higher education and employment. A rapid increase in the proportion of nursing degrees earned by all Latinx students, not just those who were undocumented, occurred concurrently with these federal and state-level policy changes. This study utilized fixed-effects panel analysis to estimate the relationship between DACA, ISRT, and SFA policies for undocumented students on the percent of nursing degrees earned by Latinx students between 2005-2020. None of the policies analyzed in this study were significant predictors of Latinx nursing degree completions. Broad cohesion among all models instead pointed toward the importance of gains in overall degree production among all Latinx college students, underscoring the important role of higher education in the creation of environments that support the success of students from this target population.

The problem of this study was to develop a model for the administration of auxiliary enterprises in Texas higher education as a cooperative effort of administrators and input from other sources. The purposes were to determine which administrators currently have the responsibility for the management of auxiliary services, to evaluate the correlation between the type of administrator and the concern for fiscal and student needs, to identify problems and opportunities for useful administration, and to develop a model integrating the strengths of each administrator and the implementation of new ideas to improve auxiliary enterprise management. A survey instrument consisting of three types of questions was mailed to both Vice Presidents of Fiscal Affairs and Student Affairs at all 26 four-year public institutions in Texas. Part I questions were informational, designed to determine who administers auxiliary services. Part II consisted of 20 questions on a Likert scale to obtain both opinions on the theories of the research, and specialized knowledge of the administrators. Part III was free response to solicit ideas from the administrators for the construction of the model. Paired t-tests were performed to determine knowledge strengths of the administrators. All other information was presented in frequency tables or narrative …

Hispanics represent the greatest U.S. population growth, yet Hispanic women are the least educated of all U.S. ethnic female groups and reflect the lowest college enrollment as a percent of their total population. Since nearly half of Hispanics enrolled in college are served by community colleges, this research sought to understand if marianismo, i.e., the cultural expectations that Hispanic women females must focus on caretaking and mothering while reflecting passivity, duty and honor, and self-sacrifice, might provide some explanation for the low levels of degree attainment among Hispanic female community college students compared to their female peers from all other ethnic groups. Marianismo was once a construct that limited the role of women to the home. However, today’s Hispanic female is expected to juggle home priorities along with other roles in which she may engage. These various role demands may influence Hispanic female college persistence and success. Using secondary data analysis of the national Educational Longitudinal Study 2002 (ELS), this study examined the relationship between marianismo and persistence (semester to semester enrollment) of Hispanic females (n = 368) enrolled in community colleges. To create a marianismo scale, 13 items were selected from the ELS and reviewed by individuals familiar with …

This research describes what motivates Vietnamese students to come to the U.S. to study for a degree, what outcomes they expect, and what they experience academically and culturally while studying in the U.S. Currently the surge of international students from Vietnam has reached an all time high of 13,112 students to the U.S. This moves the relatively small South East Asian nation to the ranking of ninth among all nations for the number of international students sent to the U.S. in depth interviews were conducted fall semester 2011 with 11 students enrolled in two large public universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton Metro area. the participants were students from Vietnam holding J-1 or F-1 visas who were in their sophomore year or beyond. Interviews were conducted with these undergraduate and graduate students on the campus where each was enrolled. Interview transcripts were provided to participants for their review and comments. Ethnograph qualitative research software was used to analyze and code the data. These students reported that the increased number of students coming to study in the U.S. is because of the reputation of higher education in the U.S., relatives living in the U.S. who create a support system, and economic growth …

Ellis County has been the home to one or more institutions of higher education almost since its existence as a county. The attraction for these schools to Ellis County included one or more of the following: a small town atmosphere and setting, a proximity to large centers of population, a strong economy based largely on agriculture, a dry county (free from alcoholic sales) except in Ennis, a strong religious influence, and a desire for educating the citizens of the county. The early schools included: Waxahachie Academy, Marvin College, South West Normal College, Waxahachie Institute, Ferris Institute, and Polytechnic Academy. They were all entrepreneurial in nature. Located in every part of the county, they provided college level work, while some provided all levels of education. The next three schools, Texas Presbyterian College for Girls, Trinity University, and Southwestern Assemblies of God College, were religious in nature. Trinity and Southwestern were both located in Waxahachie and Texas Presbyterian located in Milford was a college for girls only. Navarro College is the only public institution and is a two-year community college. The benefits to Ellis County as a result of the establishment of these institutions of higher education can be seen by their …

The problem of this study concerns ethnoviolence on the campus of a predominantly white, state-supported university in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. In order to study ethnoviolent behavior, the effects it has on the victims, and the perceptions that minority students have of the campus climate, all African-American, Hispanic, and international students enrolled at The University of Texas at Dallas were mailed a questionnaire.

This study sought to identify components of the institutional transformation of Southwest Texas Junior College from its participation in the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) The RCCI was centered on increasing access to educational opportunities and regional economic development in four historically poor regions of the United States. It was felt that this two-pronged approach to increase access and economic development would ameliorate poverty and provide opportunity. The pilot colleges were chosen from Appalachia, Delta South, Northern Plains (Tribal colleges), and the Southwest. Southwest Texas Junior College in the southwest border region of Texas and Mexico was chosen in 1994 as one of nine pilot college participants in the Ford Foundation project. Documentation of the college's characteristics were conducted during the 1994 and 1995 preliminary visits by Stephen G. Katsinas at the request of the Ford Foundation to find suitable rural community colleges in historically distressed areas of the United States to be invited to participate in RCCI. Follow-up site visits were conducted by Christopher Thomas in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Data was collected during all site visits by open-ended questionnaires, interviews, content analysis of documents, and observation. Extended site visits and living in the college's residence halls increased the …

As community colleges have gained more recognition as a viable pathway for students to enter higher education, they have faced greater accountability that has prompted both practitioners and policy makers to attempt to find solutions and tools, such as National Survey of Student Engagement, Community College Survey of Student Engagement, and Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), to aid in improving student success outcomes. This study addressed the validity and reliability of the SENSE instrument using a three-pronged approach via student data collected over 3 years of SENSE administrations at a large urban community college (n = 4,958). The instrument was first factor analyzed against the SENSE benchmarks for effective educational practice through generalized least squares and principal component exploratory factor analysis. Although the instrument did not deliver a chi-square factored fit for the six benchmark categories, consistent loadings were observed. Second, construct reliability was tested for each benchmark category, and the survey as a whole using Cronbach’s alpha. All categories did not yield sufficient coefficient scores for establishing construct reliability. However, the overall survey produced a Cronbach’s alpha of .85, clearly indicating construct reliability for all items combined. Third, correlations between SENSE perception scores and community college students’ grade …

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors that may have influenced the choice of major and the persistence to graduation of six African American accounting majors who attended and graduated from a private, predominantly white university from the academic years 2003 through 2009. A set of indicators based on several retention studies was selected for the purpose of identifying pre-college, off-campus, and on-campus factors that influenced students' choice of major and persistence to graduate with a major in accounting. The major findings of this study were that early skill development prior to the college experience, family support, and cultural socialization influenced the participants' ability to choose a major associated with their skill set. Their persistence to graduation was attributed to that choice. With regard to future studies, expansion of research on African Americans in higher education will give direction for administrators seeking to increase the number of under-represented students in fields where there is a marketplace need.

The purposes of the study were (a) to examine selected areas of knowledge perceived by collegiate basketball coaches as essential for inclusion within a masters degree curriculum for collegiate basketball coaches, then (b) based upon these findings, to construct a model curriculum for the masters degree preparation of collegiate basketball coaches. A survey instrument, Questionnaire on the Areas of Knowledge Essential to Collegiate Basketball Coaches, was constructed and mailed for the purpose of collecting data from NCAA coaches. There were 252 instruments returned (58%). The coaches were asked to respond to topics which they perceived to belong within a graduate curriculum for intercollegiate coaches. The areas of knowledge were extrapolated from the 1995 National Association for Sport and Physical Education National Standards for Athletic Coaches. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests and paired t-tests were performed on the data. Major findings of the study led to the conclusion that the areas of knowledge (a) training, conditioning, and nutrition; (b) skills, tactics, and strategies; and (c) teaching and administration mean rankings were not significantly different from one another but were significantly different from mean rankings from all other areas of knowledge. The areas of knowledge (d) social/psychological aspects of coaching; and (e) professional preparation …

The purposes of this research were to determine (1) the extent to which faculty are employed by the types of institutions from which they earned their doctorates in the United States, (2) the extent to which faculty have higher professional rank at employing institutions tat are the same type of institutions as those from which they earned their doctorates, (3) the extent to which female faculty are employed by the types of institutions from which they earned their doctorates, (4) the extent to which female faculty have higher professional rank at employing institutions that are the same type of institutions as those from which they received their doctorates, and (5) the extent of variability across academic disciplines in which faculty are employed by types of institutions from which they earned their doctorates. An exhaustive review of the literature on academic lineage was used to develop this research. All stratified random sample of 260 institutions from 2,873 colleges and universities was selected by Carnegie Foundation classification categories. Institutions were selected at random until the number of faculty members in each category corresponded to the estimated national distribution of faculty across Carnegie classification categories (n=3,940). The analyses revealed that the majority of …