Upward Bound Program Supports Success of Low-Income and/or First-Generation College Students at a STEM-Focused HSI

Abstract

A deeper understanding of low-income and first-generation college student experiences is essential to advancing diversity and equity in higher education. Due to a significant gap in college enrollment and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation college students, specifically after COVID-19, it is important to identify factors affecting their success. The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program at New Mexico Tech (NMT) supports high school students who are either first-generation college students and/or from low-income families to prepare them with the skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and enter and succeed in a program of postsecondary education. These students face unique challenges during their time at college. To identify the factors that affect the success of these students, we surveyed several of our UBMS program participants who chose to attend NMT after completing high school. All participants said support from UBMS staff was critical when starting college at NMT. Participants also mention building a support system with their fellow UBMS alumni to deal with the struggles that being at STEM-focused institutions brings. This study also resulted in several suggestions for faculty and staff members to improve academic outcomes for all students.

1. Introduction

The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program is a US Department of Education grant-funded program to support high school students who are either first-generation college students and/or from low-income families [1]. New Mexico Tech (NMT) has continuous funding through two grants to support the UBMS Program. The goal of the NMT UBMS Program is to prepare program participants with the skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and succeed in a program of postsecondary education. The project features activities such as daily courses taught by a licensed teacher at the school, or afterschool tutoring, financial aid workshops, college entrance admissions, and testing preparation, college campus visits, and a six-week summer residential program including a bridge (for seniors or graduates) and the internship programs held on the main campus of New Mexico Tech (NMT), Socorro, NM or University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

New Mexico Tech (NMT or Tech) is a Hispanic Serving Institute (HSI) and a STEM-research-focused university that spent over $89 million on research last year. This is significant due to the small size of NMT with only 146 full-time faculty members and 1169 full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students enrolled (NMT IPEDS data 2022–2023 [2]). Unfortunately, the 6-year graduation rate from 2018 (pre-pandemic) to 2023 ranges between 50–56%. This warrants an urgent change in the academic approach. The institution is predominantly male with only 31% degree-seeking female undergrads (NMT IPEDS data 2022–2023 [2]). NMT is rural, and the surrounding public school district is supported by federal Title I funding due to a high number of low-income students [3].

The US Department of Education defines a “low-income individual” as an individual whose family’s taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount. More specifically, in 2024, a student from a family of four whose taxable annual income was less than $46,800 will be categorized as low-income [4]. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center 2021 report, only 79 percent of low-income students returned for the second year of college compared to 88 percent from higher-income high schools. Moreover, the six-year completion rate for students from high-poverty high schools is only 24 percent compared to students from low-poverty schools with a completion rate of 60 percent [5].

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), New Mexico ranks eighth in the states with the most first-generation college students. The US Department of Education defines first-generation students as individuals having no parent with a bachelor’s degree. The percentage of first-generation college students is 42.8%. However, the enrollment for this cohort is not growing across the US. Some states have seen a decrease in enrollment between 2016 and 2018, and enrollment fell −14.85% in New Mexico [6]. This adds to a persistent issue that first-generation college students are less likely to apply to and attend college. Moreover, first-generation college students face more challenges at research universities as identified by Stebleton and Soria [7].

Going from high school to college is challenging for students and for making adjustments in one’s life. Hazard and Carter (2018) believe there are six adjustment areas that first-year college students experience: academic, cultural, emotional, financial, intellectual, and social. Academic adjustment means that a student will be faced with the increased demands of learning [8,9]. This could mean that a student may need to adjust how to learn and take the time to understand their own learning styles to meet the demands of coursework. Cultural adjustment means that students may experience more diversity on campus and must learn or adapt to “college language”, for example, “syllabus, registrar, advisor, and office hour”. Another adjustment that students may experience is emotional. There is a range of emotions that first-year students may encounter at the beginning and during a semester or over the course of a year. A financial adjustment can also be experienced, especially for low-income first-generation students who need financial aid to continue with their studies. Having to think of how to pay for college can be very stressful. Students will have the opportunity to join others intellectually when on campus and in study groups, which can lead to new relationships allowing for social adjustments.

As indicated by several studies, a deeper understanding of first-generation college students’ experiences is undoubtedly essential to advancing diversity and equity in higher education [10]. When applied to first-generation college students, the premise of Social and Cultural Capital Theories is that because the parents of first-generation college students did not go to college, the families tend to be of lower socioeconomic status, and the students are unprepared for college and/or are “lacking” the support and resources that are needed for a successful college career [11,12]. However, cultural capital can be acquired through formal education. Education was noted as the most powerful mechanism for achieving upward socioeconomic status [13]. Knowledge intentionally learned at school and the acquisition of degrees would represent cultural capital acquired educationally. Thus, first-generation/low-income college students can gain social status by attending college and completing a degree. Other theoretical perspectives included family support [10]. Roksa and Kinsley [14] refined the previous theories and argued that those students who get involved with the college community and have more family support will have stronger commitments to their educational goals. These strong commitments would, in turn, increase students’ wanting to complete their degrees.

Historically, postsecondary education experiences have been limited due to barriers that some students face. These barriers include being the first to go to college, college readiness, financial challenges, racial disparity, lack of self-esteem, and college adjustment [15]. Due to these barriers, there is a huge gap in graduation rates for students with two parents with at least a bachelor’s degree with a graduation rate of 82% to 20% for students with no parent with college experience (according to PEW research analysis of 2019 survey [16]). It is critical to identify these barriers to improve the graduation rates for low-income and/or first-generation college students.

In order to help identify these barriers, we surveyed participants as several of our UBMS program participants chose to attend NMT after completing high school. We invited current NMT students who participated in UBMS to interview with us about their experiences and how they overcame the limitations of being low-income and/or first-generation college students at a STEM-focused HSI, i.e., NMT. Self-efficacy questions were asked about their overall support of entering college, and their feelings about the coursework for three general education areas including English, Mathematics, and Basic Laboratory Sciences during their first couple of years at NMT. Other questions included support received for successfully transitioning through all six adjustment areas: academic, cultural, emotional, financial, intellectual, and social. Our two main research questions (RQ) are (1) What are the barriers faced by low-income and/or first-generation students at a STEM-focused HSI and how are they being supported? and (2) What are some of the ways to improve the graduation rates of all students?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Context

New Mexico Tech (NMT) has continuous funding through two US Department of Education grants to support the Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program. The first grant supports up to 55 students per year from Manzano and West Mesa High School in Albuquerque (located 75 miles from NMT). The second UBMS grant serves up to 61 participants from Socorro High School in Socorro, NM (same town as NMT). All three high schools demonstrate high need and have a large population of eligible students (low-income and/or potential first-generation college students). Some of these UBMS participants chose to attend NMT after high school graduation.

2.2. Purpose of the Study

This study aims to identify factors affecting the success of low-income and/or first-generation college students at a STEM-focused Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)—specifically, at NMT. Graduation rates for low-income and/or first-generation college students have significantly dropped after COVID-19. Two Department of Education TRIO grants fund the Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program at NMT. The UBMS program aims to increase the rate at which low-income and/or potential first-generation students complete high school and enroll in colleges or universities. For the UBMS grant’s annual progress reports, we collected data for the number of high school graduates who attend colleges or universities the following academic year. We tracked new college enrollees using the National Student Clearinghouse [17] for the next six years and report their college attendance or graduation status. For example, students who graduated from high school in 2012 were tracked until 2017–2018. Based on tracking information between 2012–2014, we had 33 high school graduates who attended any postsecondary institutions within the next academic year. Their six-year timeline culminates between 2017–2020, and we refer to this as the pre-COVID-19 bachelor’s degree completion rate in Figure 1. Pre-COVID-19, out of 33 students who enrolled at a college/university, only 15 (45%) completed a bachelor’s degree. As depicted in Figure 1, post-COVID-19 bachelor’s degree completion rate dropped to 31%. Between 2015–2017, 35 high school graduates started college the following academic year and only 11 (31%) graduated with a bachelor’s degree within the next six years. These results suggest college students from low-income and/or first-generation families (UBMS participants) were significantly impacted by COVID-19-related disruptions.

2.3. Participant Selection

Our UBMS program serves students from Socorro High School, as well as Manzano, and West Mesa High Schools. After high school completion, several UBMS students pursued a higher education at NMT and the grant project employs some of them. We contacted all current NMT students who participated in the UBMS program and invited them to interview with us in person. Only eight currently enrolled NMT students and past UBMS participants responded and agreed to interview with us.

2.4. Interview Process

The individual interviews were conducted in person and in an office setting in the Fall 2023 semester. The interviews started with the IRB disclaimer and permission was taken to record. The responses to the questions were audio recorded and simultaneously noted using Google Doc voice typing. Some interview questions were adopted from [18].

2.5. Data Analysis

The data was analyzed through MAXQDA24 (VERBI Software, Version 24). This software is designed for qualitative and mixed-method data analysis. MAXQDA24 assisted us with our data analysis by organizing the eight participants’ answer documents and recorded interviews to easily access the needed information. Some of these summary data sets were transferred to Excel to produce graphs or tables to further aid our investigation. Author B.H. did the initial data analysis. Authors T.A. and M.K. independently validated the data. The authors met and discussed to reach a consensus in describing the final results. Each question was individually analyzed and the results are presented accordingly.

2.6. Comments from the Participants

All direct comments from the participants are italicized. Personally identifiable information was removed. To further help keep the identities of the participants private and to help with the organization of the paper, pseudonyms were used to identify the eight participants. The text was corrected for grammatical errors and edited (summarized or provided contextual information) to improve readability.

2.7. Positionality Statement

We intend to be transparent by stating our positions and acknowledging that the authors’ backgrounds and experiences may have impacted some of the data interpretations in this study.

Author B.H. is a student at New Mexico Tech (NMT) working towards a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in secondary education. B.H. was introduced to NMT by her high school chemistry teacher in Bloomfield, New Mexico who is an alumnus of NMT. Yet, in her first semester, she was the only student from her high school’s graduating class to attend. Her hometown is approximately 4 hours’ drive from Socorro, which proved to be challenging due to the far distance away from family and friends. In her immediate family, she will be the first to graduate college. These factors proved challenges in navigating her college experience, but nonetheless, she will graduate successfully. Her experience as a first-generation college student at a STEM-focused Hispanic serving institution may have consciously or subconsciously shaped some of the data analysis and interpretation in this study.

Author T.A. is a professional educator with 29 years of teaching experience. Since she was in second grade, she dreamed of becoming a teacher. However, her start to obtaining a higher education was not easy. Along with being Hispanic, she grew up in a low-income household with no guidance on continuing education after high school. Out of a family of six, only her mother, one of her three brothers, and her graduated from high school. Fortunately, a few years after high school, she met a cohort of friends who were in college and they guided her in applying for college, registering for courses, and seeking financial aid. It is there she learned that despite not having money, she could still attend college and make her dream of becoming a teacher a reality. Against all odds, she became the first in her family to attend college and eventually completed three higher education degrees. After teaching middle school for over two decades, she accepted a position to become an Instructor of Education at NMT in 2020. Because of her struggles as a low-income and first-generation college student, she understands that these students require additional support, and they need to be shown that help is available to succeed.

Author M.K. is an immigrant and a first-generation graduate student in the US. She completed her PhD in Chemistry at a land-grant Hispanic serving institution in 2013. Afterward, she worked as a high school science teacher. She has been supervising Teacher Education Programs at NMT since 2017. In Fall 2023, she accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Education at NMT. Throughout her career, she has worked with underrepresented and underserved students including low-income and potential first-generation college students. To improve educational outcomes for this student population, M.K. submitted and received funding from the US Department of Education for NMT’s two Upward Bound Math and Science grants in 2022. She would like to acknowledge that her struggles with a new education system and being so far away from family as well as her work experience at NMT may affect the data interpretation for this study.

3. Results

3.1. Common Themes Identified

Participants’ answers to questions fell under one or several of the adjustments previously mentioned by Hazard and Carter (2018): cultural, academic, emotional, financial, intellectual, and social. These adjustments were identified as common themes to better understand how the students were doing.

3.2. Background Information for Participants

Eight current New Mexico Tech (NMT) students participated in our interviews. As shown in Figure 2, all eight students participated in the Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program and identified themselves as Hispanics when asked, “What is your primary race/ethnicity or choose not to answer?” Six out of eight participants were first-generation college students. We did not ask if they were from low-income families because, to be a part of the UBMS program, they are potential first-generation college students and/or from low-income families. Interestingly, six out of eight students identified themselves as female even though NMT female students make up only 31% undergraduate population according to IEPDS data from 2022–2023.

Participant Jade had an excited and nervous outlook on her college experience. She is a first-generation college student. Jade has experienced much support from her family, teachers, and Upward Bound with her transition into college. Jade worked for Upward Bound and was involved in research at NMT. She did well in school and graduated in Spring 2024. Jade is using her bright spirit and mind to conquer her goals. She was driven by the difficulty of Tech and enjoys the challenges she faces.

Participant Meg is a first-generation student and had an excited but nervous outlook on her college experience. Meg had much influence and support from her high school, and her counselor helped her with college admission. She has also experienced much support from Upward Bound with her transition into college and has worked for the Upward Bound grant project while at Tech. She learned to continue to strive for success and her experiences thus far have shown that she does well in school.

Participant Kim had a neutral outlook on her college experience and is not a first-generation college student. Kim was initially looking at other schools and had some doubts about Tech, but with the support of mainly Upward Bound, she started to embrace Tech and sought help along the way. She was employed by the Upward Bound program. Her experiences thus far have shown that she does well in school and is driven by her goals.

Participant Greg had a confident outlook on his college experience even though he is a first-generation student. Greg has experienced much support from his mother and Upward Bound with his transition into college. He took action in reaching out for help in making his experiences positive, and he has thus far done well in school. Greg is involved in student clubs and internships, which he says gives him his purpose and drive. He is also driven by his educational desires. Because of his engineering club’s involvement, he already sees potential career opportunities in the near future.

Participant Sam had a confident outlook on his college experience and he is also a first-generation student. Sam has experienced much support from his family, teachers, and Upward Bound with his transition into college. His experiences thus far have shown that he does well in school and took the initiative in reaching out for support. Sam has had a lot of influence from his friends who attended Tech and Upward Bound, and he believes this is the push he needs to keep working toward his goal. He has had great experiences thus far and foresees many more to come.

Participant Cleo had a nervous outlook on her college experience and mentioned she did not come from a first-generation college family. Cleo has experienced much support from her parents and Upward Bound with her transition into college. Her experiences thus far have shown that she does have struggles, i.e., got suspended due to not meeting the minimum GPA requirement, but since then has successfully returned. Although Cleo experienced some intense struggles with Tech and took a major fall with the help of her friends, family, and Upward Bound, she is back on track for her degree completion. The Upward Bound grant program supported Cleo with a part-time job when she returned to college.

Participant Kylie is a first-generation student and had a nervous outlook on her college experience. Kylie has experienced much support from Upward Bound with her transition into college. At the time of this interview, Kylie had been a student for three months. She has recently accepted a summer job with Upward Bound. To overcome the stress of the first semester, she mentioned receiving mental health counseling services at Tech.

Participant Tory is a first-generation college student and, like other female participants, she had a nervous outlook on her college experience. Upward Bound has helped with her transition into college. However, her experiences thus far have shown that she struggled and got suspended in 2024 because of not meeting the minimum GPA requirements. She is trying to work her way back to college and is getting support from a temporary job with Upward Bound.

3.3. Deciding Factor to Attend College

Because the majority of our participants were first-generation college students, asking about their decision to attend college was deemed important to our study. Therefore, we asked participants to “Tell me about when you first decided to attend college. Any key players in the journey and how they were/were not supportive?” As shown in Figure 3, six out of eight participants said their parents were supportive (displaying emotional aid); one of the comments: “Mom was the key player, she never got to finish college so I’m doing it for her” (commented by Kylie). Only three out of eight participants said their high-school teachers were supportive of their decision to attend college, suggesting academic outreach. One significant comment: “Chemistry teacher from sophomore year, very influential, also an elementary gifted teacher” (commented by Jade). Six out of eight NMT students said their decision to attend college was supported by the Upward Bound program staff, suggesting strong academic support through this program. Some student comments: (1) Started doing upward bound and had a tour that really sold me on NMT, I like being a little bit away from home. The Director at UBMS reached out a lot and gave lots of contacts (commented by Meg) and (2) During Upward Bound Bridge summer (after high school graduation) the Residential Assistant (RA) helped with college selection and banweb and other stuff since I enrolled at the very last minute (commented by Kim). Six out of eight students mentioned they were self-motivated to attend college, aligning with an intellectual theme. Some of the comments from these students: (1) I always knew I wanted to go to college, the only way I wouldn’t be able to would be for financial reasons (commented by Tory); (2) I knew that when I was done with high school it was time for college (commented by Cleo); and (3) I read a book about forensics that made me fall in love with it. I wanted to pursue a forensic science degree but attended NMT due to financial reasons (commented by Kim).

3.4. Reasons to Select New Mexico Tech (NMT) for Postsecondary Education

Once students decided to attend college, we wanted to know why they chose NMT. Their reasons included emotional and financial support. Hometown’s proximity to the university played a significant role in seven out of eight participants’ decision to attend Tech (as shown in Figure 4 below). Three out of eight participants stated that not only was Tech close to home, but it would help save money (financial adjustments). Comments are as stated: (1) At first, I wanted to get out of town away from Socorro, but the financial part of staying home was super useful (commented by Kim); (2) It affected it due to being able to stay home and save money and also have my family close by (commented by Greg); and (3) Huge decision maker because I could save money on housing and don’t really pay much for bills and food, financial reasons were a big deciding factor (commented by Tory). A total of three participants mentioned family as a reason to choose NMT (emotional support). Most participants stated that being close to home was the number one factor in deciding to attend Tech; however, saving money was important to them as well. The choice to attend NMT was a balance of both emotional and financial reasons.

Academic reasons were also apparent as to why participants chose NMT. At least for the past two decades, NMT has been hosting state-level competitions for the Science Olympiad and Science Fair. Each year, many middle and high school students from across the state of New Mexico participate in these events and get exposed to the NMT campus. We wanted to know if being at the NMT campus through these events encouraged them to pursue their postsecondary education at NMT, so we asked, “Did your participation in UBMS, Science Olympiad or any other events help your decision to attend NMT?” Being involved with UBMS played a significant role in all eight participants’ decision to attend college, specifically Tech. Three of the comments are as follows: (1) Helped with exposure to Tech and figured out what classes look like, and I figured out where every building was (commented by Kylie); (2) If I didn’t do upward bound I wouldn’t have come to Tech (commented by Kim); and (3) At first, I thought I was going to go to Colorado for school but then once I stayed at NMT during the UBMS summer program and I saw a lot of different departments and I was like oh maybe I do want to come here cuz they have Environmental Engineering what I wanted to do (commented by Meg).

3.5. Conversations before Starting College

Being a first-generation college student, one may need added support in preparing for college, therefore participants were asked about conversations they had as they were preparing for their first semester at New Mexico Tech (NMT) and with whom. Preparation and who gave advice varied amongst the answers; however, emotional adjustments were apparent when having these conversations. Two out of eight participants stated that a family member helped them prepare for their first semester; their comments are as follows: (1) My older sister helped me prepare for how stressful classes are and how to handle the faculty at Tech (commented by Kylie) and (2) Lots of conversations with my mom and UBMS faculty (commented by Greg). Support from an academic perspective was received from UBMS and/or high school staff. One participant commented that they had conversations with a career guidance counselor at high school that helped them get ready for college. Two out of eight participants had conversations with “a lot of people”, including UBMS staff. One of the comments reflects this: “I had lots of people including my middle and high school teachers who were previous NMT students that helped my transition, and upward bound staff who were helping, I also had conversations concerning ‘adult things” (commented by Tory). This suggests that participants received social assistance through their transition period. One participant did not recall: “Can’t recall any conversations, and was pretty unaware of the situation I was going to be in” (commented by Cleo).

Emotional and intellectual adjustments were apparent when participants were asked about how they felt when preparing for their first semester at NMT; three stated they were excited but nervous or scared. A significant comment from a participant was “I felt super nervous and was scared of failing but realized that I am human, NMT is a hard school and I’ve given myself grace” (commented by Meg). Two participants did not feel nervous, excited, or scared. One comment, as noted, was “Felt like it would be a breeze, and then was totally shocked as to how hard it was, but I was super motivated” (commented by Greg). Interestingly, all female participants (six out of eight) said they were either nervous or scared, and on the other hand, the two male participants did not use these terms.

3.6. Support from NMT

The transition from high school to college is a critical period for students who may need support not only from family and friends but also from the university staff. The support coming from New Mexico Tech was dependent on different departments with the main goal of aiding students. Participants were prompted to give us their thoughts on five departments: housing office, office of admissions, registrar’s office, financial aid, and department for their major. We asked a series of questions about various offices that provide student support. The participants were asked to rate the department on a Likert scale of 0–3 or 0–4 and give comments related to their respective scores. However, during our independent analysis of the data, we recognized that the ratings were not aligning well with their comments; therefore, in describing their experiences in this section, we only focused on their comments, finding that all six themes were apparent with emotional being the dominant adjustment. Students’ original rating scores are listed in Figure S1 in the Supplementary Information document.

Each of the five departments has a mission statement showing what they aim to provide for New Mexico Tech students. “The housing department creates a safe, supportive, and equity-minded environment by creating holistic growth opportunities that align with the Division of Student Life’s Mission” [19]. Most of our participants (six out of eight) said they did not need housing support due to the proximity to their hometown.

“The NMT Office of Admissions assists students as they progress through the admission process and helps students decide if New Mexico Tech is the right fit for them and their academic journey” [20]. When asked about “Admissions support”, all participants mentioned that they did not receive much support from NMT’s Admission Office. One participant mentioned receiving early admission during their sophomore year of high school. Two students mentioned getting help from the UBMS staff with comments: (1) I did not have any help from NMT, only from UBMS (commented by Greg) and (2) I did not get much help from NMT, but at the same time, I didn’t need much help because of the college bridge program from UBMS (commented by Tory). One participant also mentioned “I didn’t need them” (commented by Sam).

“The registrar’s office upholds academic policies, preserving the integrity of academic records, and provides ample support for students from the application stage to degree completion” [21]. When we asked about “Course registration support from the Registrar’s Office”, one significant comment from a participant: “Doesn’t feel like me or my peers got a lot of support from the registrar’s office. Feels like they just throw forms at you and tell you to talk to someone else. Also, mostly I did my own registration” (commented by Jade). It is important to note that all three authors had similar experiences with this office over the years. During the last seven years, the registrar’s office went through a high turnover with four different registrars; however, the issues persist.

“The financial aid office assists with financial barriers for those who wish to pursue a post-secondary education. New Mexico Tech makes an effort to help education be affordable for everyone through institutional scholarships, financial aid, and student employment” [22]. When participants were asked about “Financial Aid office support”, we received some positive and other jaw-dropping responses including (1) They were always open to answering questions, and super responsive with emails. Been able to speak with someone in person and they’ve always helped with scholarships (commented by Jade); (2) They gave me two different student ID numbers, which created issues with registration, and I actually had to pay back $500 for their mix-up before I could register again (commented by Greg); and (3) They switched up on how they did business after my first year, they stopped processing my FAFSA and now I’m paying out of pocket without financial aid due to their mistakes (commented by Tory).

“The department for individual major’s aids with student education by inspiring diverse students to challenge themselves by setting goals, making informed decisions, developing professionally and personally, and taking ownership of their education” [23]. When we asked about the “Ease of choosing a major and support from the department”, four participants mentioned either they already knew their major or did not need help from the department. Three students mentioned that their advisor or department was really helpful with the following comments: (1) I registered super late and got a lot of assistance with that process from my advisor (commented by Kim); (2) There was the ease with switching from biomedical to biology (commented by Cleo); and (3) My first advisor was not helpful but when they switched to a more senior faculty advisor I had a great experience (commented by Tory), suggesting strong academic support from a majority of NMT faculty members.

3.7. Adjustments to New Mexico Tech

The demands and pressures of being a first-year college student are stressful not only for first-generation college students but also for all other students as well; therefore, asking about how their first semester went was important. Academic, intellectual, emotional, and social adjustments were identified from the students’ comments because of the intensity of the coursework. When asked about how their first semester went, six out of eight participants said the transition was hard due to the workload (academic adjustment). Some of the comments we received include (1) Rough at the beginning, every class needs your undivided attention, and everything is time-consuming. Feels like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done (commented by Greg) and (2) I thought the adjustment would be quick, but it felt like the wave of responsibility was intense and I had no security, hard to deal with the transition into adulthood (commented by Meg). Participants mentioned they found various support systems, and their comments were (1) Family, love, and work balance. Hybrid classes during my senior year were definitely a transition to being in person and having responsibility but still working to find a happy balance between work and life (commented by Tory) and (2) Adjusting was aided by finding a support system here (commented by Jade, who started NMT in the Fall of 2019). The participants mentioned academic, social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual adjustments.

3.8. Did the Student Reach Out?

To be successful at New Mexico Tech (NMT) or any university, students need support, especially with academic, intellectual, and social adjustments, therefore reaching out to different entities can help. Students were prompted to look at their own initiative with NMT and the help it offers. Each student has access to an academic advisor, the Office of Student Learning (OSL), and tutoring at individual departments. These are the three main contributors to success at NMT. Each student within their department is assigned a random faculty advisor who will help them with their schedule and college degree plan. There are required/encouraged visits once a semester to talk about the following semester’s course load and the overall progress of the degree. OSL offers tutoring and helps students organize review study sessions. Tutoring for a variety of subjects is available for students. Various departments also offer additional tutoring hours. We asked participants how many times they met their advisor and if they attended any tutoring sessions during their last semester. As shown in

Table 1. This table shows each of the eight student participants and the number of times they attended their advisor’s office, office of student learning (OSL), and tutoring services at the departments during their previous semester at New Mexico Tech.

Students	Advisor	OSL	Tutoring	First Semester at NMT
Jade	2–3 Times	0 Times	0 Times	Fall 2019
Meg	2–3 Times	2–3 Times	1–2 Times	Summer 2022
Kim	2–3 Times	3–5 Times	1–2 Times	Fall 2022
Greg	1–2 Times	0 Times	0 Times	Fall 2021
Sam	1–2 Times	0 Times	0 Times	Fall 2021
Cleo	1–2 Times	0 Times	0 Times	Fall 2021
Kylie	3–5 Times	0 Times	0 Times	Fall 2023
Tory	2–3 Times	1–2 Times	1–2 Times	Fall 2021

, all students attended meetings with their faculty advisor; however, only three out of eight students attended tutoring sessions. Interestingly, the students who mentioned attending tutoring at OSL also attended tutoring sessions at the departments. Although everyone mentioned the NMT coursework was hard, only three out of eight students reached out to obtain additional tutoring help. Our data suggests that universities need to find unique approaches to encourage more students to utilize these academic success resources.

3.9. Student Experience with General Education Courses

NMT is a STEM-focused institution, and it is widely expected that the workload is intense, therefore academic adjustments were needed to meet the demands of the preliminary courses. However, because of the difficulty level, emotional adjustments were also needed to be able to adapt to the stressors that come with the coursework; therefore, we asked about the general courses that all NMT undergraduates had to take. General Education core curriculum requirements include courses in Humanities, Mathematics, and Basic Laboratory Sciences, which all undergraduate students must complete to graduate [24]. Participants were asked about General Education courses. The three-course areas included in this research are Communications, Mathematics, and Basic Laboratory Sciences. For each area, participants were asked five questions: (1) if they completed the course, (2) what was the level of difficulty, and (3) how easy it was to approach the instructor. These two questions used a Likert score scale with 1 being the least to 4 being the most difficult for the answers: (4) how many times have you attended office hours and (5) how many times have you attended tutoring sessions for a certain course with a scale of 0 to 6 or more times. The detailed information is available in a Supplementary File. In this section (

Table 2. This table shows the scores of participants who completed the general education courses. A Likert scale of 1 (easy) to 4 (difficult) was used to obtain a numerical score from students for the level of difficulty and ease of approaching the instructor.

General Education Courses	Level of Course Difficulty (Scale of 1–4)	Ease of Approaching Instructor (Scale of 1–4)	Office Hours (0, 1–2, 3–5, 6 or More Times)	Tutoring (0, 1–2, 3–5, 6 or More Times)
English 1	3 said 2 4 said 1 1 didn’t take	2 said 2 5 said 1	3 said 1–2 4 said 0	1 said 1–2 6 said 0
English 2	1 said 1 4 said 2 1 said 4 (took it twice)	2 said 1 2 said 2 2 said 4 (first time 4, second time 1)	2 said 1–2 4 said 0	All 6 said 0
Technical Writing	2 said 1 2 said 2	3 said 1 1 said 2	1 said 3–5 3 said 0	All 6 said 0
Gen Chemistry I	5 said 2 2 said 3	4 said 1 1 said 2 2 said 3	2 said 1–2 2 said 3–5 3 said 0	2 said 1–2 2 said 3–5 1 said 6+ 1 said 0
Gen Chemistry II	1 said 1 1 said 2 4 said 3 1 said 4	3 said 1 3 said 2 1 said 3	1 said 1–2 2 said 3–5 4 said 0	4 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 1 said 0
Physics I	1 said 1 2 said 2 2 said 3	All 5 said 1	2 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 2 said 0	2 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 2 said 0
Physics II	1 said 2 2 said 3	All 3 said 1	2 said 1–2 1 said 0	1 said 3–5 1 said 0
Calculus I	1 said 1 1 said 2 4 said 3	3 said 1 1 said 2 2 said 3	3 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 1 said 6+ 1 said 0	2 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 3 said 0
Calculus II	All 3 said 4	2 said 2	1 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 1 said 0	1 said 1–2 1 said 3–5 1 said 0

), we will summarize and compare the average level of course difficulty to the number of office hours or tutoring sessions attended. The total number for each response reflects the number of students who have taken this course as of Fall 2023.

3.10. The Student’s Experiences Thus Far

It was important to ask students about their low and high points because it determined if the students had the desire to persevere through challenging and stressful times. To identify ongoing issues for first-generation and or low-income students, we asked them to give us examples of low and high points during their time at NMT. Seven out of eight students said failing a class/exam/test was the low point, suggesting emotional and intellectual adjustments. One student who started college about three months ago mentioned that issues with FAFSA and the internet were their lowest points so far. One specific comment highlights that these students do not reach out for help, especially in the beginning: “Not performing well my first year and isolating myself from the stuff NMT offers and didn’t connect me with any peers or took advantage of OSL or meeting an advisor” (commented by Cleo). High points included building community and support systems, being able to do research, finding campus jobs, activities such as Swing Dancing, and BAJA, as well as getting good grades and passing tests, all pointing towards academic, social, emotional, intellectual, and financial adjustments. Overall, one participant graduated in the spring of 2024 and six students are on track. One of these participants returned to NMT after being suspended due to not meeting the minimum GPA requirement. Upon their return, this participant was supported by a part-time job through the UBMS grant, and they are now on track to complete their degree program. Unfortunately, one other participant was suspended for the Spring 2024 semester due to the same academic reasons. However, the Upward Bound program supported them emotionally, socially, and financially by providing them with a temporary job. The UBMS staff is committed to continuing to help until this participant successfully returns to college.

3.11. Ways the Students Felt Supported

Being a student right out of high school and into college can be a tough adjustment in itself, much less being a first-generation/low-income Hispanic student. In general, more support is needed for these students to be successful, especially for emotional, academic, and financial adjustments, so participants were asked what support they received from NMT and how they can be better supported. Support for the eight participants varied in their answers. Some participants were vague about the support they received, and others were too specific. One comment was both: “There is security in asking questions or doubts because I know that there is help no matter what, however, most of my support came from UBMS” (commented by Meg). For the most part, the participants stated that NMT had the support that they needed, as reflected in these comments: (1) Teachers will always care about your success and there are clubs and student peers that have been supportive. There is a lot of comradery with students (commented by Greg); (2) advisor is helpful and so are study groups and other support systems (commented by Cleo); and (3) OSL (Office of Student Learning) was a big help with different classes (commented by Kim). Two out of eight participants didn’t seek much support: (1) didn’t really look for support (commented by Sam) and (2) didn’t need a lot of support, but the counseling office was helpful (commented by Kylie who started college about three months ago).

Participants were then asked how they could be better supported, and, according to their answers, academic and emotional adjustments were dominant. Five out of eight students gave ideas on what could have been done to help their first semester go smoothly. Two out of the five stated that NMT should offer summer classes so that they could be better prepared for higher-level courses. The comments were (1) feels like students like me who weren’t as prepared as others, maybe Tech should offer starter classes or more summer classes (commented by Jade) and (2) Offer online classes during the summer so people can catch up and be at the same level as other students and be on track (commented by Kim). One student wanted students to be treated differently: “They have a lot of steps to get to an answer and feels like admin, registrar, etc., should be more forgiving with paperwork and the process they make you go through that makes you feel like a subject rather than a person” (commented by Meg). One of the five stated, “More funding for more design clinics and projects for students” (commented by Greg); and another “Later hours of working, later tutoring hours like 8 or 9 pm, hard to finish stuff at night when there’s no one to ask” (commented by Tory). Three participants stated that there is nothing to better support them. One commented, “In the first semester there’s not much you can do for the transition of students, just have to do it” (commented by Sam) and the other two simply said, ‘none’ (commented by Cleo and Kylie).

3.12. Barriers to Success

Barriers can be a challenge for college students. Participants were asked about any barriers faced while being at NMT and anything affecting their desire to stay. When asked about any barriers they faced while being at Tech, all eight participants stated that the classes were difficult or they didn’t feel prepared academically and intellectually. One participant did not do as well as they hoped but persevered: “Got suspended, had to readmit and get the financial situation settled before I could come back, Tech was very understanding of my situation” (commented by Cleo). One participant felt that her main barrier was cultural: ”It’s hard to find any Spanish-speaking people on campus, I feel isolated from my culture” (commented by Tory). This is surprising since NMT is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). One participant did not discuss the classes being difficult but felt hindered emotionally: “Being scared of being wrong, feels like Tech and the peers aren’t forgiving with being wrong” (commented by Meg). Since Tech is male-dominated (69%), one of the participants experienced this by stating, “Having to face difficult classes I didn’t feel prepared for also being a female here and the challenges of dealing with men looking down on me” (commented by Jade). All three authors being female on a male-dominated campus felt somewhat similar to the comment from Jade at some point during their time at NMT.

Continuing college to completion for first-generation/low-income Hispanic students is challenging; therefore, we asked the participants if there was anything that has affected their desire to stay at NMT. All eight participants answered that they have the support to continue, and, therefore, adjusting emotionally. One participant gave two perspectives in their answer: “Negative: getting annoyed with several things at Tech is something that’s hurt my desire. Positive: my support has helped me to push through and keep going” (commented by Meg). Another participant stated, “Sources of support have helped me stay in school; the barriers did not affect my desire because barriers are part of life” (commented by Greg). Finding support was one of the commonalities noticed in our study. All participants claimed that UBMS helped guide their way to attend college, and finding support systems drove them to remain in college thus far.

3.13. Additional Comments from Participants

To provide students with additional avenues to include any other information based on their experiences so far at NMT, it was important to ask, “Is there anything else I haven’t asked about that you feel would be relevant to your story and pertinent to share?” Three students did not provide any additional comments. The remaining comments are summarized here: (1) Being a first-generation college student has made me who I am today, helps me help others, and I want others to reach for the stars (commented by Jade); (2) Tech should focus more on art departments and show more incentive to support creativity, I feel like art helps with every degree (commented by Meg); (3) Being able to communicate with teachers and peers is so important, it’s very important to communicate. (commented by Greg) (4), Readmission was simple, and Tech is understanding (commented by Cleo); and (5) Coming to Tech was hard because I felt like I didn’t know if I belonged, it’s more so about being hardworking than it is being super smart (commented by Tory).

4. Discussion

This study is based on detailed one-on-one interviews with eight current New Mexico Tech (NMT or Tech) students who participated in the Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program as a high school student. NMT is a small STEM-research-focused Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with only 1169 full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students enrolled (NMT IPEDS data 2022–2023 [2]). We acknowledge that this is a pilot study; however, based on NMT’s smaller total undergraduate population, our total participant number of eight is significant.

RQ#1: What are the barriers faced by low-income and/or first-generation students at a STEM-focused HSI and how are they being supported? Our participants adjusted to a new way of life once they decided to attend college and once they began coursework at NMT. All six adjustment areas that first-year college students experience, including academic, cultural, emotional, financial, intellectual, and social [8,9], were touched on at some point during the students’ interviews. Displaying academic and emotional adjustments was evident in the comments from participants when they described the intense workload and their struggles with the various challenges of adulthood. Adjustments for intellectual and social aspects were made by finding support groups and reaching out to family and fellow students or staff. Financial factors were mentioned by the majority of participants when they were selecting a college close to home. A cultural factor was mentioned by one student when not finding Spanish-speaking people on campus given that NMT is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Several participants mentioned some support from NMT faculty advisors and other campus offices. However, the majority of participants were dissatisfied with the academic support offices, specifically the Office of the Registrar and Financial Aid. All female participants (six out of eight) mentioned they were either nervous or scared, and on the other hand, the two male participants did not use these terms and appeared confident in their overall college experience. Two of the six female participants were suspended for a short period due to not meeting minimum GPA requirements. This is to be expected due to NMT being a male-dominated (69% undergraduate population) institution as also shown by previous recent research [25] that STEM programs are less popular among female students, and they are less likely to graduate on time. Institutions should review their policies to provide more support to reduce this achievement gap.

Six out of eight participants worked for the Upward Bound grant program at some point during their time at NMT. Through this, they not only found financial aid but also built a community of fellow low-income and/or first-generation students to support each other’s academic, social, emotional, intellectual, and cultural adjustments. The Upward Bound program helped all participants during their transition to college. Moreover, the program helped at least two participants when they struggled academically to persevere and return to college. These results align with the recent findings that low-income and/or first-generation underrepresented college students persevere in STEM when they develop a sense of belonging and academic hope [26,27].

RQ#2: What are some of the ways to improve the graduation rates of all students? Even with a small study, several outcomes for the institution came out clearly when multiple students mentioned the same concerns. Student support services, specifically the Office of the Registrar and Financial Aid, need to improve practices to better support all students. Students mention not being prepared for classes, although at NMT, a typical practice is that students complete a math competence test before their first semester, and based on the results, they are placed in appropriate courses. This practice needs to be reevaluated. Offering basic-level courses the summer before the academic year starts and some additional support from faculty members will improve outcomes for first-generation/low-income students. Based upon evidence-based models, Pearson et. al. recommends several strategies to improve outcomes for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented STEM-degree support programs [28].

Another important finding from this study is that first-generation students do not reach out to ask for help, as shown by their attendance during office hours or tutoring in Table 1 and Table 2. Faculty members need to reach out more to make sure students feel welcome and talk to them when they need help as this approach has previously been shown to improve student outcomes [29]. For example, as an instructor at NMT, T.A. noticed a student was absent for several classes and contacted them to see if they were doing okay and to let them know that she was worried about them. It turned out that the student was okay and thankful that someone cared enough to reach out to them. On several occasions, T.A. helped students deal with personal issues they were going through, and they successfully completed the class. M.K. noticed most students do not come to faculty offices to ask questions, so she scheduled office hours right after her classes. If students are struggling in class, M.K. invites them to talk outside the classroom and ask how she can help them. In her short time teaching at NMT, M.K. noticed students perform better once they realize that instructors care about their success. Simply reaching out by showing that faculty cares and supports students in any situation will help students keep up their morale to continue to do well in college. More data and expanded studies are needed to provide further recommendations on improving outcomes and to increase NMT’s overall graduation rate of ~55% from the last five years. One example of a new strategy for next academic year, Author M.K. is going to transform a first-year Chemistry seminar course into a College Success course. She plans to utilize relevant strategies from recent education research [30,31].

The most positive outcome of the study was that the Upward Bound program was the single most important factor in all eight participants’ decision to attend college. The UBMS program not only provides initial support during student’s transition to college but, later on, supports them in various other ways. Six out of eight participants were employed as student workers by the UBMS grant program. Eventually, these students found a community of fellow students through the UBMS program and built their campus support systems. As shown by previous research, peer support networks mitigate many challenges that first-generation students face [32,33]. In conclusion, NMT’s UBMS program not only helped students get admitted to college but it is also helping first-generation and/or low-income students’ retention and persistence.