Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of First-Generation College Students
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Terrell L. Strayhorn
First-generation college students face a number of unique challenges in college. These obstacles may have a disparate effect on educational outcomes such as academic achievement. This study presents findings from an analysis of the Baccalaureate & Beyond Longitudinal Study using hierarchical multiple regression techniques to measure the influence of first-generation status on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college, controlling for precollege and college variables. Findings suggest that firstgeneration status is a significant predictor of GPA controlling for an extensive array of background and intervening variables. Initially, background variables accounted for a small but significant proportion of college GPA variance. Final results suggest that first-generation status significantly explains differences in cumulative GPA, accounting for nearly 22% (p < .001) of GPA variance. Findings are congruent with college impact theory and support prior conclusions. Still, a number of important relationships and implications for future research are discussed.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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- Aspiring Social Justice Ally Identity Development: A Conceptual Model
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- Book Review
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Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Table of Contents
- Correlates of Open and Closed Value Systems Among University Students
- Cultivating Multicultural Competence Through Active Participation:
- Aspiring Social Justice Ally Identity Development: A Conceptual Model
- Institutionalizing Academic Integrity: Administrator Perceptions and Institutional Actions
- Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of First-Generation College Students
- Teaching Ethical Copyright Behavior: Assessing the Effects of a University-Sponsored Computing Ethics Program
- Intentional Professional Development: Feedback from Student Affairs Professionals
- Gathering Together: A View of the Earliest Student Affairs Professional Organizations
- Parents of Suicidal College Students: What Deans, Judges and Legislators Should Know About Campus Research Findings
- Scholarship in Student Affairs Revisited: The Summit on Scholarship, March 2006
- Book Review
- NASPA Journal Volume 43, Number 4
