First-generation college students face unique challenges in higher education compared to students whose parents are college graduates. These students tend to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and face difficulty enrolling and persisting in higher education (Horn, 1998; Ishitani, 2003; Latino et al., 2018; Nunez & Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998; Warburton, Bugarin, & Nunez, 2001). They rely more on financial aid and employment to pay for college (Choy, 2001; Pratt, Harwood, Cavazos, & Ditzfeld, 2017), and are highly susceptible to attrition as a result of lacking the financial means to pay for college (Eitel & Martin, 2009). Postsecondary transition and academic support programs were designed to address factors affecting first-generation college student success, postsecondary transition and academic support programs (Almaraz et al., 2010; Kezar, 2000; Tate et al., 2015; Thayer, 2000; Walpole et al., 2008). Effective programs target students with the greatest financial need, assist students with navigating college, and adapt programming to student characteristics (Perna, 2015). Participants of these programs tend to have greater levels of student success compared to first-generation college students who do not participate (Ackermann, 1991; Almaraz et al., 2010; Carey, 2008; Garcia, 1991; McGlynn, 2009). At Florida State University (FSU), the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE) is a comprehensive transition and academic support program designed to increase access and student success for first-generation college students. In 2015, FSU developed the CARE Grant to provide a minimum of 75% of the cost of attendance to CARE students in an effort to reduce the level of unmet financial need and increase student success. The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of awarding the grant-filled financial aid package on the persistence and academic achievement of first-generation college students enrolled in an academic support program. CARE provided a unique context to explore the effects of financial aid on academic performance and retention of students in an academic support program. This study is grounded in research relating to retention, first-generation college students, factors relating to their postsecondary persistence and academic success, transitional and academic support programs, financial aid and college costs, and relevant theories relating to the impact of financial aid and college costs on student retention. The research framework is influenced by Reason (2009), who developed a conceptual framework that included organizational context as an element contributing to retention. In the conceptual framework of this study, student demographics and pre-college characteristics contribute to a student’s persistence at FSU through the context of CARE participation. Financial aid and college costs variables are additional influences to a student’s persistence through to graduation. Through linear and binary logistic regression, the study analyzed the effects of multiple background, academic, and financial variables on FSU GPA, Overall GPA, and first-to-second year retention. The sample consisted of 1,425 students enrolled in CARE between summer 2013-2016 who reenrolled and received financial aid for the subsequent first term. The control group was students who enrolled in CARE in 2013 and 2014 who did not receive the CARE Grant. The study collected data on student GPAs and first-year retention to analyze the effects of the awarding the CARE Grant using data collection procedures native to FSU. The study’s findings suggested the grant had no statistically significant effect on academic performance and retention when controlling for other variables. Only high school GPA was statistically significant and positive for both FSU GPA and Overall GPA. High school GPA and Black/African American classification were statistically significant and positively related to retention. The findings are significant in advancing knowledge of first-generation student success, financial aid, and postsecondary academic support programming. Recommendations for future research include examining graduation rates for the population studied, adding additional variables to better explore what elements contribute to academic performance and retention for CARE students, and using mixed methods research to capture additional qualitative factors influencing academic performance and retention. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2019. / April 10, 2019. / academic performance, financial aid, First-generation, persistence, Retention / Includes bibliographical references. / Tamara Bertrand Jones, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine Deloris Jones, University Representative; Shouping Hu, Committee Member; Toby Park, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_709830 |
| Contributors | Starke, Tadarrayl M. (author), Jones, Maxine Deloris (University Representative), Jones, Tamara Bertrand (Professor Directing Dissertation), Hu, Shouping (Committee Member), Park, Toby J. (Committee Member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (102 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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