Thesis advisor: Larry Ludlow / While there was a wealth of research in the 1970s and 1980s that suggests students’ on-campus college housing environment impacts student experiences and outcomes, interest has waned over the last several decades. Since then, the landscape of higher education has changed; a national focus on accountability and the rise in student-paid tuition costs has shaped higher education as a marketable good. These changes warrant a need to revisit the impact of on-campus housing environments as postsecondary institutions, often with limited financial and land resources, strategize ways to successfully meet incoming millennials’ housing needs while striving for recruitment, retention, and then students’ success during college. The present study took an exploratory approach to this understudied topic. This mixed-method study explored how residence hall location (i.e., living on the main campus or a satellite campus) and room type (i.e., living in a single, double, triple, forced triple, or quad room) impacted first-year college experiences and outcomes for traditional students. Findings show that housing conditions had an impact, particularly for those assigned less desired housing conditions (i.e., living on the satellite campus or in a forced triple room). Students in forced triple rooms did not frequently study in their room, felt crowded, had significantly lower GPAs than students who lived in double rooms, and engaged in fewer discussions with diverse others than those in triple rooms. In addition, while survey data found no differences in satisfaction by location, focus group participants who lived on the satellite campus expressed frustration with the university shuttle bus and felt removed from university-affiliated and other social activities and events. Focus group discussions suggest that entering college with clear expectations of housing conditions can prepare students to navigate housing challenges and ease the transition to college. Institutions should consider offering resources and support to students prior to matriculating and then once at college. Furthermore, institutions should be mindful of the social implications of geographically separating the first-year student cohort. Findings have practical implications for institution administrators and policy makers. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Early studies of school integration are limited to examining the impact of court-ordered integration on student outcomes. As districts are released from their court orders, the context within which integration operates has changed. As such, this study tests whether voluntary integration is a useful intervention for equalizing students' access to post-secondary education. I utilize data from the graduating class of 1997 from Jefferson County Public School District in Kentucky. Results indicate that student GPA is the largest and most influential predictor of both college attendance and prestige. Furthermore, results indicate that school diversity influences GPA differentially depending on students' race and economic background. Implications concerning the future of race-based integration policies are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / This study explored the relationship between pre-college and college racial environments and post-secondary outcomes for Asian American students at selective institutions. This research utilized a sample of API students (n=940) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman (1998-2003) which examined the pre-college and college experiences of students from 28 universities across five separate wave instruments from freshman through senior year. A series of blocked, linear regressions investigated the impact of homogeneity and heterogeneity of three racial environments (childhood, adolescence, and college) and the transition between adolescence and college on post-secondary outcomes in six categories (GPA, assertiveness, psychological health, satisfaction, cross-racial interactions, and racial microaggressions). Additional considerations included possible mediating effects of peer group racial composition and racial identity variables. The major findings reveal that (1) diversity in adolescence predicted lower academic assertiveness; (2) college homogeneity predicted lower academic assertiveness, higher psychological distress, and fewer racial microaggressions; and (3) high school-to-college transitions in racial diversity decreased assertiveness. Additionally, peer composition of racial environment was found to mediate between GPA and college homogeneity. Several control variables (gender, ethnicity, college type, immigration) were also strong predictors in the model. These findings add a new dimension to the literature on Asian American college students by identifying some potential links between their racial environments and post-secondary outcomes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

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