Dr. Graziella McCarron, Assistant Professor with the School of Integrative Studies, and Dr. Amber Holton-Thomas, Director of the First-Generation Center, have received a grant from the American Talent Initiative.
Their research topic will be examining first-generation college student success: A multi-cohort study of summer bridge program participants, student mentors, and administrators.
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) was founded in 2016 on the belief that high-graduation-rate institutions can collectively expand access for tens of thousands of high-achieving, lower-income students across the country. When lower-income students attend these institutions, we know that they are more likely to earn a bachelor's degree, leading to stronger wages and better job prospects throughout their lives.
While gaps in access to the nation's leading colleges pre-dated the pandemic, these disparities have only widened in the past year for lower-income students and their families. At the same time, the pandemic and economic crisis have tested the ability of higher education institutions nationwide to serve their students and expand access. As we look to move forward as a nation, ATI's goal to increase socioeconomic diversity - by enrolling, supporting, and graduating 50,000 additional lower-income students by 2025 at our nation's high-graduation rate institutions - is more important than ever.
October 17, 2022
