Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Hilda Silva

Second Advisor

Dr. Marie Simonsson

Third Advisor

Dr. Velma Menchaca

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid for first-time, full-time Hispanic economically disadvantaged students selected from a South Texas Hispanic-serving institution. The dependent variable, college persistence, was measured by completed college credit hours per academic year. Predictor variables included family income, collected from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and parental education level, collected from the FAFSA for Parent 1 and Parent 2, as provided, indicating level of schooling received. Type of financial aid was the category of aid received, such as grants, loans, scholarships, work-study, or other.

A quantitative design was useful to examine the impact of family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid on college persistence for first-time, full-time college students attending a Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas. A multiple linear regression analysis was the statistic used to determine if there was a relationship between the dependent variable, college persistence, and the predictor variables: family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid. Testing for the null hypothesis occurred using a level of significance, or alpha level, of .05.

The literature review includes a historical Hispanic population growth background, how researchers have historically measured persistence, Hispanic student persistence, understanding the college price, and loan debt impact. The theoretical framework comprised Tinto’s (1975) theory of student departure and Becker’s (1975) human capital theory. This study focused on the persistence section of the theory of student departure and the relationship between persistence and financial aid variables, with human capital theory used to tie the economic aspect of financial aid, particularly student loans, to student persistence.

The results showed a relationship between persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid. The multiple linear regression, conducted independently for enrolled students for 4 academic years, showed grants and scholarships consistently among the top three contributing variables of the total variance in predicting persistence. All seven predictor variables were significant in the first year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence. Six of the seven predictor variables were significant in the second year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence and family income next; parental education level was not significant. In the third year, six of the seven predictor variables were significant, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence and family income next; parental education level was not significant. Seven predictor variables were significant in the fourth year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence followed by scholarships. Work-study was not significant.

Comments

Copyright 2022 Griselda C. Castilla. All Rights Reserved.

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