College Student Survey Highlights the Pride and also the Challenges of Starting College

The EastBridge Foundation and the Chinese American Planning Council held focus groups and completed a survey of new college students to understand their experience with the transition to college

In September 2018, EastBridge Foundation (EBF) partnered with Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) to assess college readiness, persistence and success among Asian American youths from low income and immigrant families. Our goals are to identify factors influencing college persistence and develop interventions/programs to improve college graduation success.

In follow-up to the focus groups (completed in August 2018), CPC/EBF developed a comprehensive survey to further evaluate the key findings from the focus groups with larger cohorts. In September 2018, CPC/EBF conducted 2 on-line surveys; one involving incoming college freshmen (n=81) and another involving rising college sophomores (n=81) to assess their perceptions and feelings about college including college readiness and any challenges e.g., academic, social and financial they expected or experienced.

The students surveyed were recruited from participants of CPC youth programs. Most of the students were US born and from immigrant families. Most were first generation college students (83% of freshmen and 75% of sophomores). Key findings from the surveys were that the students generally felt well supported during the college application process and most felt academically prepared for college. Most students expressed positive feelings about college such as excited (69% of freshmen and 53% of sophomores), happy (49% of freshmen and 46% of sophomores) and proud (35% of freshmen and 28% of sophomores). However, fewer felt socially prepared and most found college to be overwhelming (62% of both freshman and sophomores) and stressful (feelings of scared, anxious and uncertain). Reasons may include lack of knowledge/insights about the college academic or social experience, lack of support systems as they leave their high school and home environment, lack of a sense of belonging to the college community as they leave high school friends behind and have to make new friends. These findings were consistent with those from the focus groups.

These focus groups and surveys show a need to build resilience for high school students and facilitate the transition to college. There is evidence that short programs during the summer prior to starting college can facilitate a smoother transition and potentially improve graduation success.. Interventions such as providing practical information about college life,

sharing academic/social resources and building a support network of peers and mentors can help the students have an improved understanding of the college experience to anticipate expected changes and deal with common challenges.