Journal of College Access

Welcome to the <em>Journal of College Access</em>, a peer-reviewed, academic, open access, online journal with a focus on how students aspire to, gain access to, enroll in and persist in higher education institutions. The Journal is published periodically.

List of Papers (Total 117)

Student Preferences for College and Career Information

This study examined the preferences of high school seniors (N = 2901) for receiving college and career information, an area not well-studied previously. Key findings are: Parents and peers are rated to be very helpful sources of college and career information; school counselors are a helpful source of information for first-generation and low-income students; and the internet is a...

College Admissions for L2 Students: Comparing L1 and L2 Readability of Admissions Materials for U.S. Higher Education

Advancements in computational linguistics have allowed educational researchers to examine large amounts of text and assess the reading difficulty of that text for speakers whose first language is English (L1), and speakers whose first language is not English (L2). Considering L2 students exploring higher education, extant research suggests these L2 students do not access United...

Integrating Social Emotional Skill Development throughout College Access Program Activities: A Profile of the Princeton University Preparatory Program

In a prior study we demonstrated that college access program participants have positive views of the extent to which the program supports the development of their social and emotional skills and related college help-seeking behaviors in college. In this follow-up study, we explore the extent to which participant views vary by length of participation in the program in high school...

Will I Get In? Using Predictive Analytics to Develop Student-Facing Tools to Estimate University Admissions Decisions

A sizable number of low-income high school graduates enroll in colleges less selective than their academic qualifications would allow or forgo postsecondary altogether despite being college-ready. One potential cause of this “undermatching” is that some students have limited access to information about their college options. We hypothesize that providing students with more and...

Directory of College Access & Success Programs

By Hannah McIntosh-Burke, Published on 06/07/18

Research Report Critique: A Primer on the College Student Journey

By Mary Cantor, Mariam Mustafa, Asia Rivers, et al., Published on 06/07/18

Lessons Learned from a Summer Melt Prevention Program

The overarching goal of CACAN is to increase college enrollment, with an emphasis on closing the existing gap between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students. The pilot of the summer melt prevention program accomplished that. Students who participated in the program were 1.4 times more likely to go to college the fall after high school graduation...

Book Review: Courtrooms and Classrooms: A Legal History of College Access, 1860-1960

Issues of college access are increasingly met with resolutions within social and economic contexts. Models such as cost of production output, and race and socioeconomic-conscious strategies form the basis of such analyses (Jenkins & Rodriguez, 2013; Henriksen, 1995; Treager Huber, 2010; Schmidt, 2012). We can expect retooling and reinventing of such models with increasing college...

Reconsidering Policy Barriers for Justice-Involved College Students

Student affairs professionals are concerned about the access and success of diverse groups of students in U.S. higher education, but systematic barriers continue to confront one understudied population of college students. Justice-involved people–those who have experienced the criminal justice system–face unique challenges on our campuses but are often ignored in discussions of...

Conceptualizing Latina/o College-going Behavior in High School

This study examined the influence of participation in school and extracurricular activities on Latino males’ intention to pursue a bachelor’s degree in relation to their Latina peers. Using nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study data from 2012, researchers developed two factors and three dichotomous variables focused on academic, non-academic, or pre-college...

Preparing Students Experiencing Homelessness for College: Considerations for Counselors and Other Supportive Personnel

This article describes the unique college and career preparation challenges faced by students experiencing homelessness (SEH), framed using a Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) lens. The experience of homelessness presents barriers for secondary students, which can impact their college self-efficacy, outcome expectations of attending and succeeding in college, and goal setting...

The Effects of Purpose Orientations on Recent High School Graduates’ College Application Decisions

Using the 2002 Educational Longitudinal Study database, the authors examined the different types of purpose orientations amongst a nationally representative sample of adolescents and the effect of these purpose orientations on high school graduates’ college application decisions. Results indicated four types of purpose orientations: career, interpersonal, altruistic, and self...

The Relationship Between Perceived Career Barriers and Career Decision Self-Efficacy on Initial Career Choice Among Low-Income, First Generation, Pre-Freshman, College-Bound Students

This study was an investigation of the predictive value of perceived career barriers and career decision self-efficacy on the certainty of initial career choice among low-income pre-freshman college students, an under-studied college population with respect to career development (Winograd & Shick Tryon, 2009). The moderating effects of certain cultural characteristics (race...

Career Decision-Making and College and Career Access Among Recent African Immigrant Students

The number of African immigrant youth in American classrooms is on the rise. School counselors are uniquely positioned to help these students to be college and career ready. Using the Social Cognitive Career Theory framework, this article aims to address the unique career development needs, college and career access challenges faced by African immigrant students with an emphasis...

English Language Learners’ (ELLs) Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Course-Taking, Achievement and Attainment in College

Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002, the present study examined the effects of demographic variables, high school math course-taking and high school GPA on ELL students’ STEM course-taking, achievement and attainment in college. Regression analysis showed female ELL students were more likely to take more STEM courses and get higher GPAs in STEM, but less...

Increasing College Access through the Implementation of Naviance: An Exploratory Study

High school counselors play a key role in increasing students’ access to college. With increasing student-to-counselor-ratios as well as demands on their time, school counselors often lack the ability to provide adequate college counseling. In this article, we explored how school counselors can use educational technology, specifically the online program Naviance, to supplement...

School Counseling Intervention Research on College Readiness, College Access, and Postsecondary Success: A 10-Year Content Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Research

Recent demands from educators and policymakers require school counselors to ensure that students are college and career ready. In this 10‐year content analysis of peer reviewed research, investigators sought to review and describe the available intervention research designed to improve post‐secondary success. Ten (n = 10) articles published between 2007‐2016 met the inclusion...

Guest Perspective: The Kresge Foundation

By Caroline Altman Smith, Published on 01/01/17

Guest Perspective: U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr.

By John King Jr., Published on 01/01/17