Chinese immigrants in community college: Institutional condition that promote their academic success

The purpose of this case study was to examine the institutional conditions that Chinese immigrants who are first-generation U.S. college students reported had promoted their academic success in a community college setting. The conceptual framework for this study was Tinto's (2012) Institutional Action: The Conditions for Students' Success. To retain college students and improve their graduation rates, Tinto posited that colleges must focus on institutional conditions known to promote these outcomes. Synthesizing the research on factors that led to college completion, Tinto identified four necessary conditions: (a) expectations, (b) support, (c) assessment and feedback, and (d) involvement. According to Tinto, administrators and faculty are responsible for setting high expectations for students and for communicating and shaping students' beliefs about their own potential. He further noted that college personnel must ensure students have the necessary support (e.g., financial, academic, and social) to meet these expectations.;The population of interest in this study was Chinese immigrants who were first-generation community college students (referred to in this study as Chinese immigrant college students). The sample for this study was recruited from Queensborough Community College (QCC), a unit of the City University of New York (CUNY). QCC was selected because it is one of the most diverse colleges in the nation. The students are from 139 countries and speak 87 different languages. Close to 30% of the students were born outside of the United States and 25% identified as Asian/Pacific Islander (Call, 2014).;Two approaches were used to collect information from study participants: a paper-pencil survey and an in-person interview. The survey was administered first. The interview was conducted immediately after the survey was completed. The interview guide included 10 open-ended questions that were designed to elicit participants' perceptions of the people, programs, and other conditions at QCC that helped them to achieve academic success.;The study was guided by four main questions. What are Chinese immigrant community college students' perceptions of how expectations promoted their academic success? What are Chinese immigrant community college students' perceptions of how support promoted their academic success? What are Chinese immigrant community college students' perceptions of how assessment and feedback promoted their academic success? What are Chinese immigrant college students' perceptions of how involvement promoted their academic success?...