Trouble in the pipeline

Abstract

The number of minority students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs at for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) has steadily increased over the last decade. Although increased college enrollment normally indicates greater access, FPCUs have failed to ensure that minority students, a growing population on campuses, successfully complete their degree programs. Scant scholarship exists concerning academic and social integration related to minority persistence to degree completion at FPCUs. This qualitative research study explores the influence of academic and social integration on persistence to degree completion for minority students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs at a FPCU. The findings suggest that academic and social integration are important factors in the persistence to degree completion of minority students enrolled at FPCUs. The findings also suggest that minority students enrolled in baccalaureate degree programs at FPCUs are influenced more by social integration than they are by academic integration. Findings of this study are critical to the development of policies and practices to ensure the success of minority students who choose to pursue a postsecondary degree at a FPCU or in other sectors of higher education.