"I feel like a bother": COVID-Era Experiences of College Students on Academic Probation and Financial Aid Warning Status
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58997/fa2Keywords:
undergraduate college students, COVID-19, academic probation, financial aid warningAbstract
Although there is a wealth of literature focused on how and why college students persist, less is known about a subpopulation of college students: students on academic probation and/or financial aid warning status, i.e., students who are potentially one semester away from academic suspension and/or lost financial aid eligibility. This study seeks to understand the experiences of students from this at-risk population in spring 2021 as many institutions reversed flexible COVID-19 policies, further complicating students' experiences. Through interviews, this study engages with students in an already precarious situation during the later stages of the pandemic to understand whether they exhibited behaviors to help them remain enrolled in college. Applying Bronfenbrenner's (1979; 1994) ecological systems theory, findings reveal how students interacted with peers and professors in the complex ecosystems of higher education and COVID-19. Students described COVID-19 as omnipresent despite the rollback of forgiveness policies. Students also showed avoidant behavior, often putting them more at risk to depart college. They struggled to develop social networks, though some participants described their academic and financial aid standing as a motivator to change their actions. We discuss implications to aid this student population.
References
Aguilera-Hermida, P.A. (2020). College students' use and acceptance of emergency online learning due to COVID-19. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100011
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25(4), 297-308. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-18630-001
Bean, J. P., & Eaton, S. B. (2000). A psychological model of college student retention. In Braxton, J. (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 48-61). Vanderbilt University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv176kvf4.6
Black, L., & Taylor, Z. (2021a). Food, internet, and shelter: What emergency services did community college students prioritize during the COVID-19 pandemic? Community College Enterprise, 27(2), 74-85. https://home.schoolcraft.edu/cce/27.2.74-85.pdf
Black, L., & Taylor, Z.W. (2021b). Higher education case management amid COVID-19: Toward holistic student self-assessment to allocate emergency resources on campus. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 45(4), 233-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2021.1883154
Braxton, J., Vesper, N., & Hossler, D. (1995). Expectations for college and student persistence. Research in Higher Education, 36, 595-611. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02208833
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed. Vol. 3). Reprinted in: Gauvain, M. & Cole, M. (Eds.), Readings on the development of children, 2nd ed. (1993, pp. 37-73). Freeman.
Chan, C. K. Y. (2022). A review of the changes in higher education assessment and grading policy during COVID-19. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2140780
Collins-Warfield, A. E., Niewoehner-Green, J., Scheer, S., & Mills, K. (2023). Views of struggling students from historically excluded groups on academic success and instructor support. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(4), 53-82. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132518
Demetriou, C. Meece, J., Eaker-Rich, D., & Powell, C. (2017). The activities, roles, and relationships of successful first-generation college students. Journal of College Student Development, 58(1), 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0001
Goldrick-Rab, S. (2021). Students are humans first: Advancing basic needs security in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss129262
Hays, D. G., & Singh, A. A. (2012). Qualitative inquiry in clinical and education settings. Guilford Press.
Huck, C., & Zhang, J. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 education: A systematic literature review. Educational Research and Development Journal, 24(1), 53-84. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/effects-covid-19-pandemic-on-k-12-education/docview/2573523355/se-2
Hussong, A. M., Benner, A. D., Erdem, G., Lansford, J. E., Makila, L. M., & Petrie, R. C., SRA COVID-19 Response Team. (2021). Adolescence amid a pandemic: Short and long-term implications. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(3), 820-835. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12671
Jepson, J. A., & Tobolowsky, B. F. (2020). From delay to degree: The postsecondary experiences of six nontraditional students. Journal of College Student Retention, 22(1), 27-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025117724347
Johnson, D. R., Wasserman, T. H., Yildirim, N., & Yonai, B.A. (2014). Examining the effects of stress and campus climate on the persistence of students of color and white students: An application of Bean and Eaton's Psychological Model of Retention. Research in Higher Education, 55, 75-100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9304-9
Kinzie, J. (2023). Tracking student (dis)engagement through the pandemic: What colleges & universities can do to foster an engagement reset. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132559
Kustitskaya, T. A., Kytmanov, A. A., & Noskov, M. V. (2022). Early student-at-risk detection by current learning performance and learning behavior indicators. Cybernetics and Information Technologies, 22(1), 117-133. https://doi.org/10.2478/cait-2022-0008
Mayhew, M. J., Rockenbach, A. N., Bowman, N. A., Seifert, T. A., & Wolniak, G. C. (2016). How college affects students: Findings from the 21st century (Vol. 3). John Wiley & Sons.
Milem, J.F., & Berger, J.B. (1997). A modified model of college student persistence: Exploring the relationship between Astin's Theory of Involvement and Tinto's Theory of Student Departure. Journal of College Student Development, 11. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cie_faculty_pubs/11
Museus, S.D., & Quaye, S.J. (2009). Toward an intercultural perspective of racial and ethnic minority college student persistence. The Review of Higher Education 33(1), 67-94. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.0.0107
Ozaki, C. C., Olson, A. B., Johnson-Guerrero, & M. P., Pizzolato, J. E. (2020). Understanding persistence using a phenomenological variant of Ecological Systems Theory. Community College Review, 48(3), 252-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552120906884
Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. (2021). A literature review on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347631120983481
Rainey, E.A., & Taylor, Z.W. (2022). Reflecting on the brink: At-risk student experiences with emergency online learning amid COVID-19. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(1), 25-53. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss131398
Russell, M. B., Head, L. S.-W., Wolfe-Enslow, K., Holland, J., & Zimmerman, N. (2022). The COVID-19 effect: How student financial well-being, needs satisfaction, and college persistence has changed. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251221133767
Saldaña, J., & Omasta, M. (2022). Qualitative research: Analyzing life (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Salmona, M., Liber, E., & Kaczynksi, D. (2020). Qualitative and mixed methods data analysis using Dedoose: A practical approach for research across the social sciences. SAGE.
Sharma, G., & Yukhymenko-Lescroart, M. A. (2022). Life purpose as a predictor of resilience and persistence in college students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251221076828
Smit, R. (2012). Towards a clearer understanding of student disadvantage in higher education: problematising deficit thinking. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(3), 369-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.634383
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.
Strayhorn, T. L. (2012). Satisfaction and retention among African American men at two-year community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 36(5), 358-375. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920902782508
Strayhorn, T. L. (2010). The role of schools, families, and psychological variables on math achievement of Black high school students. The High School Journal, 93(4), 177-194. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2010.0003
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89-125. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543045001089
Tinto, V. (1988). Stages of student departure: Reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. The Journal of Higher Education, 59(4), 438-455. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1988.11780199
Tinto, V. (1998). Colleges as communities: Taking research on student persistence seriously. The Review of Higher Education, 21(2), 167-177. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.1998.a30046
Velez, G., Hoekstra, E., Nemanich, S., Jessup-Anger, J., & Herteen, M. (2023). Bringing COVID to college: Incoming first-year college students' making meaning of the pandemic. Emerging Adulthood, 11(3), 748-763. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968231163914
Ward, L., Siegel, M.J., & Davenport, Z. (2012). First-generation college students: Understanding and improving the experience from recruitment to commencement. Jossey-Bass.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.