Perspectives on What May Contribute to Six-Year College Completion Rates of African American and Hispanic Students at George Mason University
Date
2012-06-18
Authors
Scruggs, Alisha K.
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Abstract
This study explored what graduating seniors and university staff perceived contributed to high college completion rates of African American and Hispanic students at George Mason University (Mason). To understand what Mason may have been doing to support African American and Hispanic students toward college completion, in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed. Through application of constant comparative analysis (CCA), two cultural models resulted as an overlay following data analysis. The themes evident in the graduating seniors‘ cultural model included: (a) how graduating seniors elected to describe Mason‘s campus environment, (b) how graduating seniors described Mason‘s campus personnel, (c) how graduating seniors chose to describe campus resources, and (d) how graduating seniors chose to be involved on Mason‘s campus. The themes evident in the university staff members‘ cultural model were: (a) how university staff members described Mason‘s campus environment, (b) how university staff members depicted campus offices, (c) how university staff members depicted campus personnel, (d) how university staff members described campus resources, (e) how university staff members described retention strategies, and (f) how university staff members described student involvement. These themes represented what participants in this study perceived to contribute to the high college completion rates among African American and Hispanic students at George Mason University.
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Keywords
College Completion, Minority Students, College Persistence