One of the main pressing issues that face American Universities is that there is a high number of students that do not graduate. The low graduation rates vary with respect to ethnic groups and gender. Latino male students have experienced the lowest graduation rates for any group. In order to solve the problem of graduation rates, several researchers have analyzed some of the supports and barriers that could aid or hinder Latino college students when graduating. The review of literature revealed that support factors include interaction with faculty/counselors, support programs, and capital while barriers to college completion include awareness, financial, resources and cultural.
Support
Interaction with faculty/counselors
Interaction with faculty/counselors provides a way which students can interact with individuals that can inspire them to academic achievement. One way that students can achieve this is by holding meetings with professors outside the classroom setting. Such a contact has been shown to improve the academic integration of the students (Tovar, 2015). It helps the students to feel a sense of belonging and enables them to persist with their education until graduation. Students would feel more connected to the university when they have a working relationship with their professor, a member of faculty or counselors. This will keep them more engaged with their coursework which enables them to succeed.
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Tovar (2015) carried out a study on the role of played by counselors on Latino community students and how it influenced their intention to persist with a college education and their success rate. The study analyzed the nature and type of interactions that different students with faculty members or members of staff. The findings indicated that the quality and type of interactions that the students had with counselors and faculty members had a significant influence on the success rate of Latino students. They noted that there were improved attitudes about the perception of the institution and faculty members. Such positivity encouraged better engagement with their academic work and helped the students persist through the difficult times in college.
Support programs
The literature study also revealed that student support programs are designed to help students gain additional knowledge that is different from that of provided in the basic classroom. Student support programs could provide mentors for students that inspire them towards academic excellence in college. Mentors that are included in the program could provide emotional support for students that may be stressed up by their classes. The programs also come with a variety of academic learning resources that can help college students to become more successful in their school work (Wibrowski, Matthews, and Kitsantas, 2017). The programs can help students gain important information about various ways to gain funding such as through ways to find financial aid programs, benefits, and resources to locate scholarships, and even assistance when completing financial aid applications. All these factors provide adequate support for the students and it provides them with an easy time as they go through their college education.
Tovar (2015) analyzed the role that support programs have on Latino community college students. The study found that participation in an academically rigorous program and a counseling-intensive support program would have a significant influence on the success of the student and their intention to persist with their education. Wibrowski, Matthews, and Kitsantas, (2017) carried out a study on 137 students from ethnically diverse backgrounds that went through a Skills Learning Support Program (SLSP) throughout the college education. The findings from the study showed that students that enrolled in the SLSP had higher levels of motivation and better study skills compared to students that did not. They also showed higher levels of academic achievement compared to their counterparts. The study had a strong implication on the need and the benefits that support programs can help Latino male college students through their college education.
Capital
The provision of capital through financial aid can have a significant influence on academic success and college graduation rates for different individuals. Capital provision, especially through grant money, can help students achieve more and make them more likely to graduate compared to students that use loan money. Wood and Harris (2015) carried out a study to understand the factors that played a big role in the persistence of Black and Latino males in community colleges with their studies. The study found that financial matters and the provision of financial aid motivated students and propelled them in completing their college education. Additionally, the financial aid had to be adequate and the expenses at the institution had to be low for the students to display better performance.
A study by Stewart, Lim, and Kim (2015) analyzed some of the factors that influenced the college persistence of first-time students as they pursue their college education. The study was carried out among first-semester students where 3,213 students were studied. Their academic achievement and their backgrounds were taken into account when carrying out the study. It was revealed that financial aid assistance was one of the main factors that could be used to differentiate high achieving students that completed their education from those that did not proceed with their education after the first year.
Barriers
Awareness
The review of literature showed that One of the barriers that face male Latino college students is the lack of awareness of strategies for college success. A large number of students do not have a strong support network to enable them to become aware of the various strategies that could be used to succeed in college. Glaser and Warick (2016) showed that awareness is a great determinant of the success factor of Latino students. Results from their study revealed that the idea of awareness would include various elements such as the availability of financial aid, scholarships, the economic value of higher education, and the career paths to choose. They noted that students that are not aware of the availability of resources in the institution already start behind compared to their peers. Their study revealed that the population that faced the most difficult challenge were low-income Latino students. The lack of awareness made them have limited choices which made it difficult for them to progress with their college.
In trying to understand and find various interventions that can be used to improve the social awareness and skills of Latino students, Cerezo and McWhirter (2012) examined the effects of an intervention designed to enhance college retention among Latino students. 40 students were investigated with a social awareness program while another group did not participate in the social awareness program. The results of their study revealed that the social awareness program significantly improved the social adjustment to college and had a positive effect on college completion.
Financial
Latinos are one of the most impacted group when it comes to raising funds for tuition (Goldrick-Rab et al., 2015). The study by Goldrick-Rab went on to reveal how Latinos have been the group that has been most at a disadvantage because they receive the lowest amount of financial aid compared to any other ethnic group. They receive the smallest amounts in terms of grants, large loans, and study awards. The result is that Latinos become the group that is mostly affected by the rising prices of tuition and the scarcity in their financial aid. Goldrick-Rab also noted that the fact that Latinos do not receive an adequate amount of money in terms of grants could mean that they finish their college education with more debt compared to any other racial group. The result is that they are highly disadvantaged throughout their college education and find it difficult to cope up with various financial challenges.
Chen and Hossler (2017) identified some of the negative effects of the lack of a financial aid among nontraditional students. Their study showed that nontraditional students were most likely to drop out at the third year of their college education. The main reason for the dropout was as a result of the lack of adequate financial support. The study revealed that financial aid appeared as one of the most effective ways that can be used to reduce drop out risks and to encourage timely completion of college education among the participants.
Resources
The review of literature identified educational resources as one of the barriers that limit college completion of students in general. Hilton (2016) noted that students from low-income families usually face significant challenges and lag behind students from high-income families as a result of the availability of educational resources. The study revealed that a large number of Latino students that came from low-income families did not have adequate access to educational resources such as books and adequate computer access. Hilton noted that the increasing prices of textbooks have led to many low-income students staying without adequate course materials. Students without adequate resources thus try to get by their school education by the minimum.
Culture
The review of literature indicated that the culture and the background of the Latino college students can play a big role in determining their success. Murphy and Murphy (2018) noted that one of the factors that can influence college success is cultural factors and family characteristics. The explanation was that an individual with a parent or family member that has gone through college would provide proper advice based on their first-hand experience. They could also offer the children with a network of college graduates through forums like that of alumni forums. Students that have such a kind of support find it easy to go through their college education since they have a close support.
Perez (2017) identified that most Latino male students lacked someone in their past that had previously gone through college. These individuals do not thus face significant pressure and motivation from their parents or their community about the importance of graduating from college. The study by Perez noted that a large number of the individuals lived in communities where college education was not regarded as something important. The students themselves thus failed to fully appreciate the opportunity of attending college education that had been presented to them.
Summary
The review of literature showed that there are several support and barriers that can aid or hinder the success of Latino male college students. The research showed that interaction with faculty/counselors ensures that students can feel a sense of belong in the institution. The interaction with faculty such as professors can lead to an increase in their academic achievement and hence college success. Support programs were also identified by various research to improve college success by equipping the Latino male students with the right skills to ensure that they can find several resources to aid with finding scholarship and financial aid. Capital through the provision of financial aid was found to have a direct effect by improving the college success of students. The review of literature further revealed four critical barriers for the college success Latino male students. Reduced awareness decreased information on strategies about college, poor financial support made most students drop out, inadequate resources resulted in a poor performance, and culture worked negatively against the students.
References
Cerezo, A., & McWhirter, B. (2012). A brief intervention designed to improve social awareness and skills to improve Latino college student retention. College Student Journal , 46 (4), 867-879.
Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development , 64 (4), 573-590.
Glaser, E., & Warick, C. (2016). What does the research say about early awareness strategies for college access and success. Washington, DC: National College Access Network .
Goldrick-Rab, S., Kelchen, R., Harris, D. N., & Benson, J. (2016). Reducing income inequality in educational attainment: Experimental evidence on the impact of financial aid on college completion. American Journal of Sociology , 121 (6), 1762-1817.
Murphy, J. P., & Murphy, S. A. (2018). Get ready, get in, get through: Factors that influence Latino college student success. Journal of Latinos and Education , 17 (1), 3-17.
Pérez II, D. (2017). In pursuit of success: Latino male college students exercising academic determination and community cultural wealth. Journal of College Student Development , 58 (2), 123-140.
Tovar, E. (2015). The role of faculty, counselors, and support programs on Latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. Community College Review , 43 (1), 46-71.
Wibrowski, C. R., Matthews, W. K., & Kitsantas, A. (2017). The role of a skills learning support program on first-generation college students’ self-regulation, motivation, and academic achievement: A longitudinal study. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice , 19 (3), 317-332.
Wood, J. L., & Harris III, F. (2015). The effect of college selection factors on persistence: An examination of Black and Latino males in the community college. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice , 16 (4), 511-535.
