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East Los Angeles Latinx student voices: navigating the path to a 4-year institution

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East Los Angeles Latinx student voices: navigating the path to a 4-year institution

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East Los Angeles Latinx Student Voices: Navigating the Path to a 4-Year Institution
by
Liliana Ochoa-Springer

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

August 2022

© Copyright by Liliana Ochoa-Springer 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Liliana Ochoa-Springer certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Zoë B. Corwin
Kristan Venegas
Robert A. Filback, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
This study examined the experiences of Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles as
they prepared and applied to a 4-year institution in the United States. This study looked at how
Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles prepared for and applied to 4-year
institutions. This qualitative study included semi-structured interviews with participants who
identified as Latinx/a/o, attended and graduated from a high school in the unincorporated area of
East Los Angeles, attended a 4-year college or university directly after high school and were
current undergraduates at a 4-year institution in the United States. The community cultural
wealth model was the conceptual framework used for this study. Findings from this study
revealed that participants accessed community cultural wealth and the different sources of capital
during the process. Recommendations include strengthening ties with community networks,
ways parents can support their students through the college preparation and application process,
and increasing access to college counselors during high school.
Keywords: college preparation, college application, Latinx, East Los Angeles

v
Dedication
To my mom, Gisela, you have always believed in me and made me believe I could do anything
in life. I am proud to be your daughter. Nheda nhaka biche Chela Ros (Zapotec for “I am the
daughter of Gisela González”).
To my loving and supportive husband, Charles. With you by my side, I can do anything. Thank
you for your endless love and support.
To the youth of East Los Angeles, do not let anyone tell you you cannot do something or that
you do not belong somewhere; you are more than enough.

vi
Acknowledgements
First, thank you to all my family. Gracias a mi familia. You have always believed in my
potential even when others did not. I still remember when I told my parents and aunts where I
was going to undergrad. They did not know where Chico was, but they supported my decision,
and knew I was making the best decision for me. Every time I announced where I was getting
my next degree, they did not doubt me. Thank you to my mom, Gisela, my dad, Osbaldo, and my
brother, Eduardo. Thank you to my aunts, Andrea, Lidia, Martha, and Reina and to my uncles.
Thank you to my cousins, Ashley, Derek, Elibet, Kenneth, Manuel, Raul. Thank you to my
grandparents, Emeterio, Emma, Eulalia, and Manuel. Thank you to my great grandparents and
our ancestors who are no longer with us. It was not easy being the first to go to college and earn
every single degree first, but I did it all for you. Thank you to my husband, Charles, for his love
and support every day and understanding for the days of writing nonstop. Thanks to our dog,
Macho, who loves us unconditionally and has been there next to me while I typed away. Thank
you to my mother-in-law, Peggy, and to my sisters-in-law, Amy and Becky, my nephew, Erik,
my niece, Victoria, and the rest of the extended family. Thank you to my future sister-in-law,
Andria, and my nephew, Chris. I am also especially thankful to my mom’s side of the family,
who have been such an integral part of my life and the side which carries our Zapotec indigenous
heritage. I could not be prouder to have relatives who still speak our native language and hope I
will one day, too. Thank you for all the words of encouragement, love, and support as well as the
meals to go. Thank you to all the strong women in my family, our strong lineage of Zapotec
women. I love you all more than you can imagine.
Thank you to all my friends near and far who have always placed their trust in our
friendship. I appreciate the words of encouragement along this journey.

vii
Thank you to my committee chair and professor, Dr. Robert Filback. When I presented
the idea for my study, he did not hesitate and was onboard from the start. Dr. Filback has been an
incredible resource and made me feel confident in being able to complete this dissertation. I
would also like to thank the rest of my committee members. Dr. Zoë B. Corwin and Dr. Kristan
Venegas, you have been so supportive from the start and I cannot be more grateful. Having two
amazing researchers in my committee who are experts in the field of college access was a dream
come true.
I would also like to thank my EdD classmates. I was thankful to meet so many inspiring
working professionals while completing this program. In particular I want to thank the people
who invited me to virtual writing groups and shared tips and suggestions along the way, either
through a Zoom video call, a phone call or text.
Thank you to the professionals in my life who have provided advice and support. I am
especially grateful to have so many newfound mentors and reconnecting with one of my first
mentors this past year. I would like to thank my current boss and current and former work
colleagues who cheered me on through this program. You asked how I was doing or gave me a
word of encouragement. Thank you to Ryan for teaching me how to use Qualtrics, without that
assistance it would have taken me much longer to figure it out.
Thank you to Daniel Hernandez, the librarian for the Chicano Resource Center at the East
Los Angeles Library. You assisted me when I needed it most, at the beginning of my
dissertation, writing Chapter Two. The books and resources you helped me find were invaluable
to piece together the history of East Los Angeles.
Most importantly, thank you so much to the eight participants in my study. I could not
have completed my dissertation without you. Thank you for being so approachable and willing to

viii
share your experiences and stories. I hope you know how much I enjoyed listening to you and
learning about you. I am so proud that you are currently pursuing your higher education. One of
the participants mentioned the phrase ponte las pilas, and I agree; “put on your batteries” and
keep going, follow your dreams and thrive.

ix
Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xiii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xiv
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 3
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................ 4
Study Context ...................................................................................................................... 5
Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 7
Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................... 8
Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions ............................................................................ 8
Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 10
Organization of the Study .................................................................................................. 12
Chapter Two: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 14
East Los Angeles History .................................................................................................. 14
Early Beginnings ......................................................................................................... 15
Demographic Changes ................................................................................................. 17
Systemic and Structural Racism Affecting the Landscape of East Los Angeles ........ 20
Student and Community Activism .............................................................................. 32
Recent History and Developments .............................................................................. 35
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 38
Latinx Students and Higher Education in the United States ............................................. 38
Overview of Higher Education .................................................................................... 39

x
Latinx Students and Higher Education ........................................................................ 42
Higher Education in California ................................................................................... 44
Latinx Students and 4-Year Universities in California ............................................... 46
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 48
Latinx Students .................................................................................................................. 48
First-Generation Students ............................................................................................ 49
Socioeconomic Status .................................................................................................. 51
Undocumented Students .............................................................................................. 53
Cultural Norms and Values ......................................................................................... 55
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 58
Strategies to Support College Access Among Students of Color and Latinx Students ..... 58
Parental Encouragement, Involvement, and Engagement ........................................... 59
College Counseling Services/College Advising .......................................................... 59
Academic Preparedness ............................................................................................... 60
College Knowledge ..................................................................................................... 61
College Access and Preparation Programs .................................................................. 62
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 64
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 64
Community Cultural Wealth Model ............................................................................ 64
Review of Prior Studies That Incorporated Community Cultural Wealth Model ....... 66
Community Cultural Wealth Model’s Influence on This Study’s Methodology ........ 69
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 72
Study Context .................................................................................................................... 72
Population and Sample ...................................................................................................... 73
Data Collection Strategy .................................................................................................... 77

xi
Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 79
Trustworthiness Measures ................................................................................................. 80
Ethical Considerations ....................................................................................................... 81
Role of the Researcher ....................................................................................................... 82
Chapter Four: Findings .................................................................................................................. 84
Presentation of Findings .................................................................................................... 85
Aspirational Capital ..................................................................................................... 87
Linguistic Capital ........................................................................................................ 93
Familial Capital ........................................................................................................... 99
Social Capital ............................................................................................................. 108
Navigational Capital .................................................................................................. 128
Resistant Capital ........................................................................................................ 136
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 141
Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations ....................................................................... 142
Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................... 142
The Interrelationship of the Community Cultural Wealth Capitals .......................... 143
Participants Responded to Adversity With Creativity and Perseverance .................. 144
Participants Exhibited Individual Agency in Accessing and Applying Capitals ...... 145
Students’ Experiences Demonstrate the Intersectionality That Exists Within the
First-Generation Identity ........................................................................................... 146
The Impacts of COVID-19 and Access to Technology ............................................. 147
Recommendations for Practice ........................................................................................ 148
Encourage and Help Nurture Multilingualism .......................................................... 148
Strengthen Ties Within Community Networks ......................................................... 149
Increase Parental Involvement at All Stages of the College Preparation and
Application Process ................................................................................................... 150

xii
Discuss College Selection Criteria, Including Location, Early in Process ................ 151
Increase Access to College Counselors ..................................................................... 151
Increase Support from Teachers in the College Preparation, Application, and
Selection Process ....................................................................................................... 152
Provide Targeted Assistance for Completing FAFSA .............................................. 152
Increase Access to Technology Equipment and Internet Connectivity ..................... 152
Use Advisory or College Preparation Periods Strategically ...................................... 153
Future Research ............................................................................................................... 153
Final Reflections .............................................................................................................. 155
References ................................................................................................................................... 156
Appendix A: Recruitment Email with Qualtrics Recruitment Questionnaire Link ..................... 179
Appendix B: Qualtrics Recruitment Questionnaire Link ............................................................ 180
Appendix D: Information Sheet .................................................................................................. 183
Appendix E: Interview Protocol .................................................................................................. 185
Appendix F: Interview Responses About East Los Angeles Community ................................... 190

xiii
List of Tables
Table 1: Study Participants 76
Table E1: Interview Questions (With Probes) 186
Table F1: Responses About East Los Angeles 190

xiv
List of Figures
Figure 1: Revised Boundaries of Proposed “Southwesterly Annexation No. 4-A” to the City of
Monterey Park 23
Figure 2: Bairdstown Annexation 25
Figure 3: “Belvedere Addition No. 2” to the City of Los Angeles (uninhabited territory) 26
Figure 4: Redlining East Los Angeles 28
Figure 5: East Los Angeles 31
Figure 6: Overview of Sub-Categories 86
Appendix C: Study Recruitment Flyer 182
Appendix G: Drawing of East Los Angeles Landmark 192

1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study
Gaining admission to a selective 4-year institution is a competitive process. During the
COVID-19 global pandemic, competition only increased. Selective colleges across the country
saw the number of applications rise dramatically for fall 2021, including an increase from
minoritized students, while less selective colleges struggled to attract enough applicants
(Nierenberg, 2021). The University of California system saw increases in freshman and transfer
applications from minoritized students, who were mostly Latinx/Chicanx applicants (Nierenberg,
2021; University of California Office of the President [UCOP], 2021). Nonetheless, submitting a
college application does not equate to certain admission or college enrollment. Causey et al.
(2021) found that “the pandemic disproportionately affected graduates of low income, high
poverty, and high minority high schools, with their [fall 2020] enrollments dropping more
steeply than their more advantaged counterparts” (p. 2).
The Latinx population is the largest racial or ethnic minoritized group in the United
States, making up 18.5% of the total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). The Latinx
population has continued to grow for decades (Noe-Bustamante, Lopez, et al., 2020). Despite
this growth, Latinxs still have not achieved equity in attaining bachelor’s degrees. From 2015 to
2019, 16.4% of Latinxs 25 or older had a bachelor’s degree, the third-lowest rate among all
groups, compared to 35.8% of White non-Latinxs and 54.3% of Asians (McElrath & Martin,
2021).
Systemic inequalities prevent Latinxs from accessing and affording higher education.
Osei-Kofi and Rendón (2005) found that enrollment caps in admissions at public universities and
decreases in federal and state financial aid programs guide Latinxs to community colleges, which
are already impacted and have limited space. Although, college enrollment data from Fall 2020
2

show that community colleges were the most affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic, with a
significant decrease in enrollment compared to 4-year institutions (Causey et al., 2021). Students
are directed to online education programs and courses used to deter them from seeking admission
to universities (Osei-Kofi & Rendón, 2005). Military recruitment is also used to divert students
of color from higher education. Military recruiters are permanent fixtures on campuses with
predominantly poor students and people of color and lead these students to believe that the
military would offer a way to pay for higher education and provide a stable salary (Osei-Kofi &
Rendón, 2005, p. 255).
The number of applications to 4-year colleges and universities suggests that Latinx
students are interested in attending these institutions. However, enrollment at 4-year institutions
continues to be a problem for these students, specifically within the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD). Miller et al. (2018) found that Latinx students at LAUSD apply to 4-year
colleges at similar rates to their peers at 63%. Among African American students, the rate is
66%, and it is 61% for White students, but these all fall short compared to Filipino and Asian
students’ rates of 75% and 82%. Phillips et al. (2017) found that 43% of LAUSD high school
graduates enrolled in 2-year colleges compared to 27% in 4-year institutions. Phillips et al. also
found that
White and Asian American graduates had higher enrollment rates than graduates from the
other racial or ethnic groups, with Asian American graduates from the classes of 2013
and 2014 substantially more likely to enroll in college than graduates from all the other
racial or ethnic groups, and about twice as likely to enroll and persist at 4-year colleges
compared to their Latino, African American, Native American, and Pacific Islander
counterparts. (p. 9)
3

These rates show the inequities in college enrollment based on race and ethnicity, even though
many of these students may come from the same cities and school district.
East Los Angeles has the largest Latinx population in the United States (Ennis et al.,
2011). Within the East Los Angeles area, eight high schools serve the community. Six are part of
LAUSD, and the other two are part of different charter school systems. A disproportionately low
percentage of Latinx students from high schools in East Los Angeles apply and attend 4-year
institutions (LAUSD, n.d.). However, there is limited research on their experiences as they
pursue higher education. It is important to research this population as they offer a unique
perspective on how they navigated the college preparation and application process in this
isolated community. Latinx students bring many cultural assets that can serve them well in
navigating this process. Latinx students in East Los Angeles have been marginalized, and the
purpose of this study is to use an asset-based perspective to acknowledge the challenges this
population faces.
Statement of the Problem
Latinx students from East Los Angeles face challenges from the remnants of a history of
racism and marginalization of the community. This study addressed the problem of a
disproportionately low percentage of Latinx students from high schools in East Los Angeles who
apply to and attend 4-year institutions.
There is still much work to do to achieve educational equity outcomes for this population.
Latinxs make up 18.5% of the total U.S. population, but only 16.4% have bachelor’s degrees
(McElrath & Martin, 2021; U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). The college graduation rate is lower in
East Los Angeles; in 2019, Latinxs made up 96.2% of the population, but only 8.7% has
bachelor’s degrees (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b). Latinx students from LAUSD schools apply to
4

4-year institutions at similar rates to some of their peers; however, there is inequity in their
college enrollment (Miller et al., 2018). This problem is not isolated to LAUSD; nationwide, as
of 2019, 36% of 18 to 24-year-old Latinxs are enrolled in college, only slightly higher than their
American Indian/Alaskan Native peers (NCES, 2020).
The data show several benefits to pursuing higher education. Getting a bachelor’s degree,
for example, generally results in higher salaries, lower unemployment rates, socioeconomic
mobility, a healthier lifestyle, and increased civic engagement (Ma et al., 2019). There is also an
economic benefit for students who earn a bachelor’s degree compared to other students that earn
an associate’s degree or less. Carnevale et al. (2011) reported that people with a bachelor’s
degree had median lifetime earnings of $2.3 million, which is 74% higher than people with only
a high school diploma. They also found that 33% of bachelor’s degree holders go on to graduate
and professional school education, which increases their median lifetime earnings even more.
The benefits of a college degree could help reconcile some of the disparities Latinxs from East
LA face, such as a low percentage of households that are owner-occupied (34%), lower presence
of home computers (82.1%), and a lower median household income of $46,092 (U.S. Census
Bureau, n.d.-b).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to understand the role of community cultural wealth
(Yosso, 2005) in helping graduates from East Los Angeles high schools prepare, apply, and
enroll at 4-year institutions. This study focused on the participants’ experiences as they prepared
and applied to 4-year institutions. Given the importance of a bachelor’s degree and its role in
upward mobility and intergenerational wealth, this study focused on the experiences of
participants who enrolled directly at 4-year institutions. The aim was to examine how these
5

students relied on their families, resources, and community to navigate the process and enroll in
college. The study addressed the following research question: Using a framework of community
cultural wealth, what are the experiences of recent Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los
Angeles as they prepared for and applied to 4-year institutions?
Study Context
East Los Angeles, California, is a community that has been subjugated throughout its
history and endured many unwanted changes. Its precise definition is also the subject of
confusion, as the name has been used to describe the general eastside area across the river from
downtown Los Angeles. However, locals know that East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area
of Los Angeles County surrounded by incorporated cities.
Some people have a negative stereotype of East Los Angeles due to its depiction in the
media. Others also have misconceptions of what a person from East LA is like or should be like.
Chapter Two addresses injustices and challenges that happened to East LA, but it is important to
note the sense of community and pride in East LA. It is a vibrant community cherished by many
people. As the author of this study, I can attest to this personally since East Los Angeles has been
my home since 1993. Even though I no longer live there, I still visit weekly to see my family,
and I will always consider East Lost Angeles my hometown. I have always enjoyed feeling like
everyone knows each other as people will greet you or smile as you walk by even if they do not
know you. It is a place full of young families, as 27.4% of the population is under 18 years old
(U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b). It is always nice to see how my neighbors’ families keep growing,
and for those of us that have been there a long time, it is nice to know people care about you long
after you are not a child anymore.
6

East Los Angeles has a large Latinx population, and businesses and governmental
institutions have catered to the community by offering services in Spanish and English. Spanish
is used in interactions with neighbors, schools, medical professionals, and businesses. The
culture is vibrant and evident in restaurant offerings, the lowriders cruising along Whittier
Boulevard, the murals, the annual Día de Los Muertos celebration, the annual Virgen de
Guadalupe procession, the Latino Walk of Fame, the annual East LA Christmas parade, and the
endless taco stands found any day of the week. It is also home to the James A. Garfield Senior
High School football team, which participates in the East LA Classic every year against their
neighborhood rivals from Theodore Roosevelt High School. The homecoming football game is
hosted at nearby East Los Angeles College.
Latinxs from East Los Angeles have made many contributions to their immediate
neighborhoods and beyond. Neighbors have created familial bonds as many families have raised
multiple generations in East Los Angeles. Even though some younger generations may not live
there, neighbors will still ask about them to their parents or siblings. In this working-class
community, many of the residents work in customer service, gardening/landscaping, dry
cleaners, caring for children or older adults, cleaning private houses, stores, or buildings,
cooking, street vending, and many more occupations taking care of the needs of folx in the
greater Los Angeles area. I have seen first-hand how people are humble, have a strong work
ethic, and are just trying to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. Mexican and
other Latinx immigrants are now an integral part of the service sector in Los Angeles by serving
the needs of the wealthy and helping create wealth for them even when they are not the highest-
paid (Torres & Farms, 2005).
7

This community means a lot to me, and that is why I believe it is important for East Los
Angeles to be showcased in more research to give space to the voices of members of the
community and acknowledge their resiliency. The majority of the research focuses on Latinx
individuals in larger aggregate studies of urban centers like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New
York City, with large Latinx populations. However, it was difficult to find research on the
college preparation and application experience of Latinx individuals from specific
neighborhoods in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and none specifically focused on East Los
Angeles students or alumni. The closest study I found was about the perceptions of Latinx
parents from East Los Angeles of their contributions to the educational persistence of their
children (Guzmán et al., 2021) and a dissertation on the cultural wealth of Latino parents with
children in the P-20 educational pipeline in East Los Angeles (Urdiales, 2017). Latinx students
from East Los Angeles could be part of these published studies, but it could be that the
researchers had to conceal identifiable information to protect the participants’ identities.
Methodology
Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model was used to shift the perspective to an
asset-based view of participants’ experiences. This qualitative phenomenological study explored
the experiences of Latinx alumni from three high schools in East Los Angeles. The high school
location was important because it provided context for unique experiences at high schools in East
Los Angeles. The participants were currently enrolled as undergraduates at 4-year institutions in
California and one out-of-state. These interviews shed light on the aspects of community cultural
wealth (Yosso, 2005) that were present and influenced these students as they navigated the
college preparation, application, and enrollment process.

8

Significance of the Study
The findings of this study are helpful for practitioners in the East Los Angeles area who
work with high school students on the college choice process. The study's goal was to reveal the
positive and negative experiences of students as they prepared and applied to college and how
they ultimately were accepted and enrolled at a 4-year institution. The findings can help
programs that support all students with the college choice process and give insight into what
these students can draw on. The results explained what made the difference for these students to
apply and attend 4-year institutions versus 2-year colleges.
The findings of this study also contribute to the research community as there are
relatively few studies on the experiences of students from East Los Angeles. This qualitative
phenomenological study also gives space to marginalized students who grew up in an oppressed
community and displayed a thriving and defiant spirit. The study used an asset-based approach to
highlight the students’ strengths as they navigated a time-consuming and sometimes complicated
and confusing process. This study is also relevant to policymakers as they make decisions
affecting an oppressed community that has endured systemic and structurally racist policies.
Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions
There was one main limitation in this study. It was that interviewees were recruited from
eight high schools in the East Los Angeles area; however, the resulting participants only
represented three of those eight high schools. Therefore, the sample did not reflect the target
population. Also, within the study sample, characteristics of the represented high schools varied
considerably, including in size, the number of staff and teachers, honors and Advanced
Placement options, the existence of a college and career center, access to a college counselor,
9

counselor-to-student ratios, college access and preparation programs, and special partnerships
with higher education institutions.
There were several delimitations for this study. The focus of this study was on Latinx
alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles currently enrolled at 4-year institutions in the
United States. Students had to have lived in East Los Angeles during high school and have
attended and graduated from the eight high schools in this area, not including any in the
surrounding cities. Students had to identify as Latinx/a/o or Chicanx/a/o, or Hispanic, as terms to
describe ethnicity can be personal. All three terms can be categorized as Latinx to refer to people
from the same ethnic background. Students had to be current undergraduates at 4-year
institutions and not college alumni, as the chances of them recollecting their college preparation
and application process were higher. Lastly, this study’s purpose was to learn from the students
from this area who transitioned directly from high school to a 4-year institution. Therefore,
students who went to community college or other 2-year colleges prior to a 4-year were excluded
from this study. The intention was to only include students who went directly to a 4-year
institution while recognizing that this does not represent all students’ experiences, as there are
students who take different paths, who do not have the same opportunities or resources, or
support systems. I chose students who were 4-year-institution bound to learn from their
experiences.
There were two assumptions in this study. The first assumption was that students from
high schools in East Los Angeles were not, generally speaking, receiving the appropriate support
and guidance from their schools to assist them with the 4-year college preparation and
application process. The study revealed this assumption to be generally untrue, as students did
experience support from teachers, college counselors, and guidance counselors or school
10

advisors. However, the level of support varied among the study participants, with some receiving
encouragement and assistance from all of these stakeholders, while others experienced less
support. The second assumption was that family and community support played an important
role in helping the student navigate the college choice process. The findings supported this
assumption, as family and community support played an important role in these students’ process
of preparing for and selecting a 4-year institution.
Definitions
Certain terms are used interchangeably throughout this study that might be confusing,
specifically when referring to the Latinx identity. I wanted to use the gender-neutral, nonbinary
term Latinx(s) to describe and be inclusive of all people from a Latin American background.
When the literature refers to Hispanics or Latinos, I deferred to using Latinx(s) as much as
possible. The terms Latina/o(s) are gendered nouns that refer to either women or men. The terms
Chicana/o(s) describe a Latinx woman or man of Mexican descent, while the gender-neutral term
is Chicanx(s). The terms college and university were used interchangeably, but they referred to
4-year institutions that offered at least a bachelor’s degree. Colleges that do not offer bachelor’s
degrees were referred to as 2-year colleges or community colleges. The following terms were
used throughout the dissertation:
Alumni: individuals who graduated from the same school.
Census designated place (CDP): is a “statistical geographic [entity] representing [a]
closely settled, unincorporated [community] that [is] locally recognized and identified by name.
[These communities] are the statistical equivalents of incorporated places, with the primary
differences being the lack of a legally defined boundary and an active, functioning governmental
11

structure, chartered by the state and administered by elected officials.” (U.S. Census Bureau,
2018, para. 3).
Chicana/o(s): a term describing persons, either female (-a) or male (-o), of Mexican
descent living in the United States, mostly used in the 1960s as a political movement (Pizarro,
1997).
Chicanx(s): a gender-inclusive term to describe persons of Mexican descent living in the
United States.
College Access: the efforts to foster college aspirations for K-12 students and the services
provided to prepare students for college and help them with the application, selection, and
enrollment process.
College application process: the process by which individuals apply to specific colleges
and universities to gain admission. This process typically includes completing the initial
application by inputting personal data, high school courses and grades, SAT and ACT scores,
extracurricular activities, and completing a personal statement or series of essay questions. It
might also require students to submit additional documentation before and after acceptance, such
as official high school transcripts.
College choice process: consists of three stages: forming college aspirations, searching
and applying to colleges, and selecting and attending a college (Cabrera & La Nasa, 2000;
Hossler & Gallagher, 1987; Hossler et al., 1989).
College preparation process: taking steps to prepare for college, such as academic
preparation, involvement in extracurricular activities, keeping track of application course
requirements (i.e., admission requirements) and exam requirements (i.e., SAT/ACT), building
12

college knowledge about the college application and financial aid application processes, dual
enrollment, engaging in college searches and college tours and fairs.
College/university or 4-year institution: an institution of higher education that offers at
least a bachelor’s degree.
High school: a school that provides a high school diploma or GED, typically grades 9–
12.
Hispanic or Latina/o(s): “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central
American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-a,
para. 1).
Latinx(s): a gender-neutral term to describe persons from different Latin American
backgrounds and an alternative term to Hispanic or Latina/o(s) (Noe-Bustamante, Mora, et al.,
2020).
Mexican(s): a person born in Mexico.
Mexican American(s): a person who lives in the United States and whose family
emigrated from Mexico.
Minoritized: a term to describe persons who are underrepresented and subordinated in
social institutions and certain situations but not necessarily in every social context (Harper,
2012).
Organization of the Study
This dissertation is composed of five chapters. Chapter Two includes a review of existing
literature on the topic and the conceptual framework selected to guide this study. Chapter Three
discusses the methodology chosen for this study, how the data were collected and analyzed,
trustworthiness measures, and ethical considerations. Chapter Four presents the findings of the
13

study. Chapter Five reviews the conclusions based on the findings found in Chapter Four and
includes recommendations as well as suggestions for future research.
14

Chapter Two: Literature Review
This study focused on the experiences of Latinx students from East Los Angeles. While
there are many studies on students’ experiences with the college choice process, including Latinx
students, I did not find studies definitively focusing on the experiences of Latinx students from
East Los Angeles. To provide context for this study, this chapter begins with a review of the
historical context of the East Los Angeles area and centers on the community's oppression over
the last century and how it affects the students today. This opening narrative on the history of
East Los Angeles highlights the racist policies that adversely affected the community. The goal
is not to talk about East Los Angeles from a deficit perspective but to acknowledge the inequities
that occurred and still exist so that the community’s plight is better understood in the hope that
things will continue to change for the better. This literature review then explores the history of
higher education, the Latinx experience with higher education institutions, the intersectionality
of identities with Latinx people, and the strategies that support college access for students of
color. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the conceptual framework and how it applies
to the study.
East Los Angeles History
This study focused on the experiences of Latinx students who attended and graduated
from high schools in the East Los Angeles area as they prepared for and applied to 4-year
institutions. Since its inception, East Los Angeles has been a haven for racial and ethnically
diverse people (Chávez, 1998). Given the context of East Los Angeles as the focus of this study,
I provided a brief history of the area, including significant changes and their impacts on the
community and implications for students from the area today.

15

Early Beginnings
This section acknowledges the traditional land of the native people who lived in what is
now known as Los Angeles County prior to the Spanish colonization. It then summarizes how
the original pueblo, which would grow to become the City of Los Angeles, started near the banks
of what is now known as the Los Angeles River and expanded into multiple communities,
including East Los Angeles, which has yet to become a city but is recognized by the county as an
unincorporated area.
Prior to the establishment of the California missions, Los Angeles County was home to
three Native American tribes: Tongva, Chumash, and Tataviam (Los Angeles City/County
Native American Indian Commission., n.d.). These three tribes are not recognized by the federal
government but are recognized by the state (Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian
Commission., n.d.). Los Angeles is the “home to more Native Americans/Alaska Natives than
any other county in the United States, totals around 140,764” (Los Angeles City/County Native
American Indian Commission., n.d., para. 1). For centuries the villages of these Native
Americans were spread across what is now known as Los Angeles County until their
displacement started in 1769 by the Spanish missionaries (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). In
1771, Father Junipero Serra founded the San Gabriel Mission (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). In
1781, 11 families from Mexico founded El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles,
now known as the City of Los Angeles (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). These families were
composed of 44 individuals, or pobladores, from Black, Native American, and Spanish
backgrounds (Rasmussen, 1995).
More Spaniards kept coming to California as it was ruled by Spain until 1822, and then it
came under the jurisdiction of Mexico (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). By the late 1840s Los
16

Angeles became the largest town in Southern California (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). In
1846, the Mexican American War started (Benitez, n.d.). In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo added California to the territory of the United States (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b).
The County of Los Angeles was established in the early 1850s, several months before California
became a state, and later that year, Los Angeles was incorporated as the county’s first city
(County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b).
Los Angeles County kept growing throughout the decades and was built by immigrants
(County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). There are currently 88 cities (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b)
and approximately 120 to 125 unincorporated areas represented by a supervisor assigned to their
area from the County Board of Supervisors (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-b). The name “East Los
Angeles” was originally attributed to what is now the neighborhood of Lincoln Heights in the
City of Los Angeles until the locals voted to change it on March 26, 1917 (Masters, 2011). While
this local vote was not legally binding, the City of Los Angeles implemented the change by
renaming local parks, other governmental entities, and maps to reflect the new name of Lincoln
Heights (Masters, 2011).
The unincorporated area now known as East Los Angeles “shares a boundary with the
City of Los Angeles, Indiana Street, the eastern edge of the pueblo’s original Spanish land grant”
(Chávez, 1998, p. 5). This land was undeveloped for many years, primarily used for agriculture
and oil extraction, until the early 1920s when workers from the industrial district wanted housing
nearby (Masters, 2011). This area was called Belvedere; to the east was a neighborhood called
Maravilla, and to the north was another neighborhood called City Terrace (Romo, 1983). The
trolley system created by Henry Huntington facilitated travel to and from the Eastside to
downtown (Romo, 1983). In response, the Janss Investment Company purchased 154 acres next
17

to Whittier Boulevard in 1921 and created the housing subdivision of Belvedere Gardens in
Belvedere (Masters, 2011). Masters (2011) noted that by the 1930s, the maps started labeling this
area East LA or East Los Angeles. Romo (1983) stated that these “scattered communities of the
east side became one … [and the] Mexican community emerged by 1930 as a group tightly
clustered residentially and socially” (pp. 78–79).
Demographic Changes
The demographics of East Los Angeles have fluctuated over time, and it has proven an
adaptable place for many newcomers to the area. Chávez (1998) noted, “Russians, Jews, and
other immigrants from the Old World had first settled in unincorporated East L.A.” (p. 48).
Between 1910 and 1920, the Jewish community began to grow in East Los Angeles, particularly
in City Terrace (Romo, 1983). By the mid-1920s, a third of the Jewish population in Los
Angeles lived in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights, part of the City of Los Angeles, which
borders East Los Angeles on the west (Romo, 1983). In 1920, the “native” White residents and
White people of foreign backgrounds were equally represented in Belvedere (Romo, 1983).
In the 1910s and 1920s, there were strong nativism sentiments, Mexican immigrants
became the scapegoats, and nativists pushed for immigration limits (Romo, 1983). Despite these
sentiments, Mexican labor was highly used, but there was a high turnover due to discrimination,
low wages, and a high cost of living (Romo, 1983). First-generation Mexicans were
overrepresented in blue-collar occupations, but even older generations of Mexican Americans
had difficulty advancing into white-collar occupations (Romo, 1983).
In the 1920s, a large influx of Mexicans left Mexico for the United States due to the
negative political and social climate, and Los Angeles became a popular destination (Miranda,
2006). Many Mexicans chose Los Angeles because of ample employment opportunities,
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proximity to the border, and access to cultural communities (Miranda, 2006). While, on the
surface, this might seem positive, Americans of Mexican descent were relegated to the
segregated barrios in downtown Los Angeles, and soon the new Mexican immigrants joined
them (Miranda, 2006). Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans experienced “devastating
racial discrimination, cultural disdain, inferior educational opportunities and economic
impoverishment” (Miranda, 2006, p. 13). The downtown barrios grew quickly and were so
overcrowded that they became slums, and eventually, the city condemned and demolished these
barrios (Miranda, 2006).
As the displaced Mexicans and Mexican Americans sought affordable housing and
nearby employment, new housing was being built and sold at affordable prices in Belvedere, and
the Mexican population quickly grew (Miranda, 2006). The Eastside became an attractive place
to live for many Mexicans as they experienced segregation across Los Angeles through
discriminatory practices such as racial covenants (Romo, 1983). Racially restrictive land
covenants were clauses inserted into property deeds to restrict Black people and other ethnic
minorities from purchasing or residing on the property (Garrison, 2008). White people did not
want to live near Mexicans, and it was difficult for them to find housing across the city,
especially on the almost White populated westside (Romo, 1983). Segregation also affected the
education provided to Mexicans and Mexican Americans, which was mostly focused on English
language instruction and vocational training rather than preparing them for a college education
(Miranda, 2006). In 1943, the Los Angeles County Superintendent confirmed that children of
Mexican ancestry were denied the opportunity to enter the tenth grade (Miranda, 2006).
There were other reasons for Mexican Americans to move to the Eastside: access to
inexpensive housing, jobs in the surrounding areas, and maintaining social and personal
19

relationships (Romo, 1983). The trolley lines that extended to Maravilla contributed to the
“massive exodus of Mexicans” from the downtown area to the Eastside (Romo, 1983, p. 68).
Mexican Americans and new arrivals from Mexico continued to move into Belvedere, and by the
late 1920s, the Spanish-speaking population had grown (Chávez, 1998). By 1929, a bit over
30,000 Mexican Americans lived in Belvedere, and a small middle-class of Mexican merchants
and professionals lived in the Maravilla neighborhood (Acuña, 1984). By 1930, East LA gained
distinction as the largest Mexican community in the United States (Romo, 1983).
The Latinx population has grown and maintained a large representation in the area. In the
2010 U.S. Census, East Los Angeles, a CDP, had the largest Latinx population at 97.1% of any
place in the United States with 100,000 or more residents (Ennis et al., 2011). The American
Community Survey of 2010 estimated that 89.4% of the Latinx population in East Los Angeles
was of Mexican origin (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). In comparison, the 2010 U.S. Census
revealed that 16.3% of the total population identified as Latinx, and 63% were of Mexican origin
(Ennis et al., 2011).
Immigrants are still drawn to East Los Angeles. Between 2015 and 2019, 39.8% of the
population was foreign-born (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b). There was not much data available
about the status of immigrants who live specifically in East Los Angeles. A report about the
status of immigrants in Los Angeles County stated that of the migrants who came over 30 years
ago, 42% of them were from Mexico, but of those who migrated less than 10 years ago, only
25% came from Mexico (USC Dornsife Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, 2020).
60% of children in Los Angeles County have at least one foreign-born parent, and one in five
people in the county are undocumented or live with someone who is (USC Dornsife Center for
the Study of Immigrant Integration, 2020). The researchers found significant disparities for
20

undocumented individuals in the county in terms of educational attainment, wage levels, poverty
levels, housing burden, and English proficiency (USC Dornsife Center for the Study of
Immigrant Integration, 2020).
Even though East Los Angeles has been home to generations of Latinx families, there has
been a constant movement of wealthier families out of the area. This is no secret to anyone who
is a local as people always talk about moving east to more suburban cities like Montebello,
Whittier, Pico Rivera, Downey and sometimes even farther. Carcamo (2015) reported that “a
wave of second- and third-generation Latinos … have transformed Downey and numerous other
suburbs, including Whittier, Pico Rivera, Van Nuys and Anaheim” (para. 4). Downey is an
example of a suburb that symbolizes upward mobility and increased incomes for Latinxs, who
made up almost 75% of the population in 2015 (Carcamo, 2015). It would be beneficial to have
more direct data on where and why Latinxs move out of East LA and how this affects the
community left behind.
Systemic and Structural Racism Affecting the Landscape of East Los Angeles
There have been several instances of systemic and structural racism that have affected
East Los Angeles. East Los Angeles and its people have been routinely oppressed and
marginalized by government, businesses, and society. As a result, East LA became insular not
necessarily by choice but by need as people, such as Mexicans and Mexican Americans, were
unwanted in many parts of Los Angeles. Decisions based on racism and discrimination affected
East Los Angeles in the last century and continue to have implications for current residents.
Boundary Changes and Incorporation Efforts
The physical boundaries of East Los Angeles changed several times due to several
annexations from the surrounding cities. The fluidity of these boundaries has affected the
21

composition of the community and has made East LA vulnerable to racist policies that still affect
the populace today. The loss of business revenue, having a higher education institution taken
away, the introduction of freeways, and the effects of redlining have all furthered the
marginalization of East LA.
The boundaries of present-day East Los Angeles and its name changed over time. East
Los Angeles endured several changes to its unincorporated borders due to annexation by the
cities surrounding it (Acuña, 1984; Chávez, 1998). East Los Angeles has been surrounded by at
least three cities for over a century. East Los Angeles’s border to the west and north is with the
City of Los Angeles, to the south with the City of Commerce, and to the east with the City of
Monterey Park and City of Montebello (Chávez, 1998; Macías et al., 1973). The cities of
Monterey Park and Montebello were incorporated in 1916 and 1920, respectively (Chávez,
1998).
East Los Angeles has attempted to incorporate several times as early as 1925–26, but the
efforts were unsuccessful (Acuña, 1984; Chávez, 1998). Chávez (1998) noted that East Los
Angeles’s outlook on becoming a city was dimmed when the City of Commerce was
incorporated in 1960, which included annexing the southern part of the unincorporated area. This
part of East LA had few residents and was heavily industrialized, which composed a large tax
base (Chávez, 1998). Students and families residing in East Los Angeles are affected by these
decisions since the area has to depend on county funds for the services it provides to the
community rather than having its own city-generated revenue. As an unincorporated area, East
LA does not have a city council or mayor who can cater to its needs and instead has to rely on
the county supervisor assigned to a large district.
22

East Los Angeles Junior College, now known as East Los Angeles Community College,
opened on September 4, 1945, at James A. Garfield Senior High School, but it moved to its
present location in early 1948 (Acuña, 1984; James A. Garfield Senior High School, n.d.). On
March 1, 1945, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to create the second junior college
after a citizen’s committee’s 10 years of efforts (“Garfield Campus,” 1945). Garfield was
selected due to its location to facilitate transportation for students, its low cost to convert
buildings for college use, and the demand of World War II veterans to continue their education
(“Garfield Campus,” 1945).
The state legislature created the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) in May
1963 “to regulate the formation of municipalities, changes of boundaries, and special taxing
districts” (Macías et al., 1973, p. 30). In October 1963, the Los Angeles County LAFCO office
began operations (Macías et al., 1973). In June 1975, the City of Monterey Park commenced the
annexation process for the Bella Vista neighborhood located on the northeastern corner of East
Los Angeles (Chávez, 1998). This neighborhood contained a large number of middle-class White
and Asian Americans who petitioned to join Monterey Park (Chávez, 1998). The original
annexation filed with LAFCO did not include East Los Angeles College. However, LAFCO
encouraged Monterey Park to include it in October and approved the proposal in December
(Chávez, 1998). Figure 1 shows the approved annexation map (County of Los Angeles, 1976).
This affected East LA, as it had fought to have a higher education institution to serve the
Mexican American community, and it was one of the few colleges in California with a high
number of these students enrolled (Chávez, 1998). There was a lawsuit against LAFCO
regarding the annexation, but in June 1976, the residents of the Bella Vista voted in favor of
annexation, and the courts ruled in favor of it the next month (Chávez, 1998).
23

Figure 1
Revised Boundaries of Proposed “Southwesterly Annexation No. 4-A” to the City of Monterey
Park

Note. The map of the former East Los Angeles’ Bella Vista neighborhood and East Los Angeles
Community College were included in the proposal paperwork to transfer the land to the City of
Monterey Park as filed with County Recorder on July 30, 1976. From County of Los Angeles,
City of Monterey Park “Southwesterly Annexation No. 4-A” (p. 10), 1976.

24

Before this annexation, there were many in the early 1900s, as the City of Los Angeles
sought to extend its original borders designated by the old Spanish pueblo grants (Guinn &
Bettinger, 1914). Most annexations of the surrounding communities passed without issues. One
exception was the Arroyo Seco annexation, which included the Bairdstown and Belvedere
districts (Guinn & Bettinger, 1914). These two communities “preferred to govern themselves”
(Guinn & Bettinger, 1914, p. 179), and ultimately the annexation vote was modified without the
two districts and passed (Guinn & Bettinger, 1914). However, the city had another election on
June 8, 1915, and Bairdstown was annexed (Guinn & Bettinger, 1914). Figure 2 shows the map
of the approved annexation (County of Los Angeles, n.d.-a). Bairdstown is currently in what is
known as El Sereno and University Hills, two communities north of Boyle Heights and East Los
Angeles. The southernmost borders of El Sereno and University Hills connect with East Los
Angeles and are precisely where California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) was built,
originally holding its first on-site classes in temporary bungalows in February 1956 (El Sereno
Historical Society, n.d.). The first 10 buildings of CSULA were completed in the fall of 1958
(CSULA, n.d.). The City of Los Angeles annexed a small part of the Belvedere district or East
Los Angeles that held part of the CSULA campus on May 5, 1967 (Figure 3; County of Los
Angeles, 1967).

25

Figure 2
Bairdstown Annexation

Note. The map shows the Bairdstown Annexation, which is located directly north of the current
boundary of East Los Angeles. CSULA is located on the southeastern border of the Bairdstown
Annexation. From City Annexations within the County of Los Angeles, n.d-a.

In August 1975, the Montebello Park neighborhood of East Los Angeles petitioned to be
annexed by the City of Montebello, but it was unsuccessful (Chávez, 1998). East Los Angeles’s
last attempt at cityhood was denied by the LAFCO in 2012, citing that it “wouldn’t generate
sufficient revenue to pay for municipal services” (Waldie, 2014, para. 10). There is now a group
of local supporters aiming for East Los Angeles to become a special district (Trotta, 2021).

26

Figure 3
“Belvedere Addition No. 2” to the City of Los Angeles (uninhabited territory)

Note. The map shows the annexation of North East Los Angeles, which was occupied by
CSULA. From “Belvedere Addition No. 2” to the City of Los Angeles (uninhabited territory) by
the County of Los Angeles, 1967, p. 5. (https://pw.lacounty.gov/mpm/cityannexations/)

Redlining
The federal government’s Home Owners’ Loan Cooperation (HOLC) conducted a risk
assessment on neighborhoods across the United States between 1935 to 1940 and assigned them
color-coded grades that would represent their mortgage viability (Greer, 2013; Nelson & Ayers,
n.d.-a). These maps came to be known as “residential security maps,” and HOLC agents used a
variety of criteria to assign grades, including the quality of the housing and residents’
occupations, income, race, and ethnicity (Greer, 2013, p. 275). The highest grade was an A,
green on the maps, and represented a safe investment (Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-a). The lowest grade
27

was D, red on the maps, and investments were considered dangerous (Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-a).
Neighborhoods with racial covenants restricting non-Whites and zoning requirements for solely
residential use were prerequisites for higher grades (Greer, 2013).
The HOLC agents “adopted a consistently White, elite standpoint or perspective” (Nelson
& Ayers, n.d.-a, para. 4). The neighborhood grades were a tool for redlining, which “refers to
lending (or insurance) discrimination that bases credit decisions on the location of a property to
the exclusion of characteristics of the borrower or property” (Nardone et al., 2020, p. 109). These
redlining practices benefitted White families and still contribute to wealth inequities today
(Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-a). Different neighborhoods within East Los Angeles received different
grades; one was a D for hazardous, another part a C for definitely declining, and the third was a
B for still desirable (Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-b). The red part was considered “to [have] racial
hazards … so great that higher than ‘medial red’ could not be assigned” (Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-
b). The yellow part did not receive a higher grade because if it “were it not for the subversive
racial elements to the west and the threat of business encroachment, several parts of this area
would be entitled to a ‘low blue’ classification” (Nelson & Ayers, n.d.-b). The redlined maps for
three sections of East Los Angeles can be seen in Figure 4.

28

Figure 4
Redlining East Los Angeles

Note. Scans of HOLC maps overlayed over a current map of East Los Angeles, which was
graded in primarily three sections, shown in red (to the right of the bolded line separating it from
Boyle Heights), yellow, and blue and its surrounding communities. From “American Panorama:
An Atlas of the United States” by R. K. Nelson and E. L.. Ayers (Eds.), n.d.-b. Copyright 2022
by Digital Scholarship Lab, University of Richmond.
(https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/#maps)

Research shows the residual impacts of redlining on neighborhoods even 80 years after
the maps were released. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned redlining, but most redlined
neighborhoods continue to consist of people of color with lower incomes, while areas in the
higher grades are predominantly White and higher-income (Nardone et al., 2020). Areas in Los
Angeles that received yellow and red (the lowest grades) were found to have a higher prevalence
of asthma and diabetes (Nardone et al., 2020). However, areas with green and blue (the highest
grades) were found to have a higher prevalence of cancer diagnoses (Nardone et al., 2020).
29

Nardone et al. (2020) discuss the importance of considering environmental justice research that
may account for other factors in health inequities in addition to redlining practices.
East Los Angeles Interchange
The eastside of Los Angeles was disrupted by freeway interchanges built in the late
1950s as planned by the California Division of Highways (Avila, 2014). The freeways
accommodated access to the White populated suburbs from the downtown area (Romo, 1983).
Thousands of residents were displaced in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles without regard to
the impact it had on dividing neighborhoods and daily life (Romo, 1983). After World War II,
there was a large influx of people coming to Southern California. During this time, Mexicans
were impacted by the housing shortage two-fold: demolition of homes for the freeways on the
Eastside and facing segregation trying to move out of the area (Estrada, 2005).
The freeway lanes, on-ramps, and off-ramps created a connection of freeways and
consumed 135 acres of land, currently referred to as the East LA Interchange (Estrada, 2005).
The East LA Interchange affected East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights by taking much land for
streets and freeways (Estrada, 2005). The East Los Angeles area is intersected by the following
freeways as shown in Figure 5: Interstate 10 freeway on the north, going from east to west;
California State Route 60 around the middle portion, an east-west highway; Interstate 5 on the
southern end, marking part of the southern boundary, which runs north-south; Interstate 710
around the middle portion, running north to south and intersecting with the I-10, CA-60, and I-5
(Google Maps, 2021).
When the freeway plans were announced, there were formal protests by local groups
“unifying [the] multicultural and working-class Eastside community members against freeway
encroachment” (Estrada, 2005, p. 299). There was community support against the freeways and
30

from a few government officials, but they were unsuccessful against every planned freeway for
the East LA Interchange (Estrada, 2005). In the 1970s, years after the freeways were built, local
artists and writers expressed their feelings about the impact of the freeways in everyday life and
addressed the injustice they inflicted on the community (Avila, 2014).
However, there are two key examples of White and affluent cities in Los Angeles County
that fought against freeway encroachments of their neighborhoods. In 1959, the California
Division of Highways planned to establish the Beverly Hills Freeway, which would cut across
the wealthy City of Beverly Hills (Avila, 2014). Beverly Hills had the economic resources to hire
consultants and defeated the proposed plans in 1975 (Avila, 2014). The City of South Pasadena
succeeded in litigation to stop the surface level extension of the 710 freeway through their
neighborhood in 1999, 40 years after the extension was approved (Avila, 2014; City of South
Pasadena, n.d.). In 2002, Caltrans decided to move with a tunnel alternative for the 710-freeway
extension, an effort that was defeated in 2019 with the signing of a bill by the governor of
California (California State Senate, 2019; City of South Pasadena, n.d.)
The freeways disproportionately affected East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights as all
those freeways were completed and even expanded in the 1960s, while other communities were
spared completely or the freeways were readjusted to not disturb White suburbs or industry areas
(Estrada, 2005). Not only did the East LA Interchange significantly disrupt daily life, but it also
has created environmental and health consequences for these communities. Estrada (2005) found
multiple sources of research that have notated the impact on air pollution by having a high
number of automobile and truck emissions. Many health problems can be attributed to the air
pollution caused by the concentration of freeways for members of the community who live,
work, and play in this area (Estrada, 2005).
31

In 2017, Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617) was passed “to address air pollution impacts in
environmental justice communities … [and] requires local air districts and the state Air
Resources Board to reduce air pollution in these most impacted communities” (South Coast Air
Quality Management District, n.d.-b, para. 2). The South Coast Air Quality Management District
(AQMD) is tasked with improving air quality and public health, and they manage the AB 617
community air initiative for the area (South Coast AQMD, n.d.-b). In 2018, East Los Angeles,
Boyle Heights, and West Commerce were named a designated community in Year 1 of AB 617,
and the South Coast AQMD continues to implement the plan “to reduce emissions and/or
exposures in partnership with community stakeholders” (South Coast Air Quality Management
District, n.d.-a, para. 1).

Figure 5
East Los Angeles

Note. A map showing the current boundaries of East Los Angeles and the East LA Interchange.
From Google Maps, East Los Angeles, California, 2021.

32

Student and Community Activism
In the mid-1960s, there was an increase in tension for Mexican Americans who
experienced a “second-class citizenship” in the United States (Chávez, 1998, p. 54). The Civil
Rights Movement, anti-war and Black Power Movements, as well as the rising influence of
César Chávez and the struggle of farmworkers, contributed to the climate (Chávez, 1998).
Chicano students were frustrated about the treatment they received from their teachers,
counselors, and administrators (García & Castro, 2011). The Chicano community wanted
change, and East Los Angeles found itself a prominent place in the Chicano movement (Chávez,
1998).
Student Organizations
There was a renewed interest in Mexican American history and frustrations about
educational injustice, leading to the beginning of the Chicano movement (Chávez, 1998). Three
student groups advocated for the Mexican American community, but their ideologies and
methods varied (Chávez, 1998). Students from several high schools on the Eastside attended a
summer camp in April 1966 and created a group, Young Citizens for Community Action, to
advocate for students and work with school administrators (Chávez, 1998). The group eventually
changed priorities from discussing Chicano history and culture to confronting the police and
justifying violence (Chávez, 1998). The group changed its name to Young Chicanos for
Community Action and then to the Brown Berets (Chávez, 1998).
When members of the Young Citizens for Community Action left for college, they
started a new group, United Mexican American Students (UMAS), whose goals were to offer
scholarships and support for Mexican Americans (Chávez, 1998). Eventually, UMAS evolved to
advocate for Chicanos through “radical protest politics” (Chávez, 1998, p. 57). The Congress of
33

Mexican-American Unity appealed to a broader base in the community and started with a
collaborative effort with representatives from 30 smaller groups to nominate a Mexican
American candidate to the Board of Education of the LAUSD (Chávez, 1998). The three groups’
goals and tactics differed, but they cooperated in electoral politics to achieve Chicano fulfillment
(Chávez, 1998).
East Los Angeles Walkouts/Blowouts
On March 1, 1968, thousands of high school students from Garfield, Roosevelt, Lincoln,
and Wilson walked out of their classrooms to protest school conditions (Acuña, 1984; Chávez,
1998). Garfield High is located in East Los Angeles, while the other three high schools are in
three different neighborhoods on the Eastside. Sal Castro, a Lincoln High teacher and primary
leader and supporter of the movement, recognized the educational inequities Mexican students
faced in their schools (García & Castro, 2011). The students marched around the schools and
were protected by members of the Brown Berets and UMAS (Chávez, 1998). The students’
demands included more Mexican American teachers, bilingual-bicultural education, and
appreciation of their ethnicity (Chávez, 1998). After the walkouts, the Board of Education had to
contend with the demands at their meetings, but students were not punished (Chávez, 1998). The
Board suspended Sal Castro (Chávez, 1998) but eventually approved his return to teaching after
students supported him through sit-ins and protests (García & Castro, 2011).
East Los Angeles Riots and the Chicano Moratorium
In the military, Mexican Americans from the Southwest made up a disproportionate
number of casualties during the Vietnam War compared to their percentage of the population in
the area (Chávez, 1998). This led Chicano activists to plan antiwar demonstrations across the
Southwest (Chávez, 1998). The Brown Berets created the National Chicano Moratorium
34

Committee which “held their first antiwar protest on December 20, 1969,” and their second one
on February 28, 1970 (Chávez, 1998, p. 71). The National Chicano Moratorium planned another
protest for August 29, 1970, but to prevent violence, they reached out to The East Los Angeles
Community Union and the Congress of Mexican-American Unity, who assisted in getting the
parade permit (Chávez, 1998).
The march began on the morning of August 29 in East Los Angeles at Belvedere Park
near Third Street, continued down Atlantic Boulevard to Whittier Boulevard, and ended at
Laguna Park (Sahagun, 2020). Overall, the march was peaceful, and there was a planned rally in
the afternoon at Laguna Park (Sahagun, 2020). The crowd included adults, families, and youth
waiting for the scheduled speakers and musicians (Chávez, 1998). Less than one block away
from the park, there was a complaint that teenagers had stolen soft drinks at the Green Mill
Liquor store, and the police were called (Sahagun, 2020). The many police officers who
responded to the incident at the liquor store decided to break up the demonstration at the park
instead of focusing on the incident (Chávez, 1998). The crowd at the park reacted to the police
officers and threw bottles at them (Chávez, 1998; Sahagun, 2020). The altercation only escalated
with police having riot gear, tear gas canisters, and gas masks (Sahagun, 2020).
Violence spread through Whittier Boulevard. People were injured, stores were looted, a
fire station was vandalized, buildings were set afire, and police cars were attacked (Chávez,
1998; Sahagun, 2020). By the afternoon, police responded to a report of two armed men inside
the Silver Dollar Bar & Cafe on Whittier Boulevard, where Ruben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times
columnist and director of the KMEX television station, was taking a break from reporting
(Sahagun, 2020). Police threw a tear gas projectile into the room, which hit Salazar on his head
and killed him (Chávez, 1998; Sahagun, 2020). Salazar and two others died on that day, but
35

It was the way Salazar died that made him a martyr to many in the Mexican American
community … he had spoken out against the oppression of Mexican Americans, and
some in the community to this day believe he was assassinated and not, as an official
inquiry found, the victim of a tragic accident. (Sahagun, 2020, para. 48)
Laguna Park was renamed in honor of Salazar on September 17, 1970 (Sahagun, 2020).
On August 29, 2020, hundreds of marchers gathered in East Los Angeles to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium (Pineda et al., 2020). The Brown
Berets were in charge of leading the crowd and managing traffic through Whittier Boulevard and
ended the march at Salazar Park (Pineda et al., 2020). One of the speaker’s messages centered on
calling for the unity of Latinx and Black communities to keep fighting oppression (Pineda et al.,
2020). The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a “motion to recognize the
historical and cultural significance of Aug. 29, 2020, the day that marked the 50th anniversary of
the National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War and the death of former journalist
Ruben Salazar” (Santana, 2020).
Recent History and Developments
East Los Angeles residents have been affected by rising rents and the high cost of living
in the Los Angeles area, with over 50% of households experiencing a housing burden (Los
Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2018). The cost of rent rose so suddenly for a
resident of East Los Angeles, Carolina Rodriguez, that she led the effort to fight for rent control
(Ray, 2019). Her advocacy efforts and those of supporters from unincorporated areas led to the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approving a permanent rent control
ordinance in September 2019 applying rent control to all unincorporated areas of the county
36

(Ray, 2019). The construction of affordable housing has also been increasing in East Los
Angeles in the past few years (Mejías-Rentas, 2020).
As mentioned before, East Los Angeles experienced the negative impact of air pollution
due to the many freeways in the area. This has not been an easy problem to address as there have
been other sources of pollution in the area. One of the most significant and recent examples of
environmental injustice was the 2015 closure of a battery plant in the City of Vernon, Exide
Technologies, which was open for 15 years and was illegally releasing lead into the air (Barboza
& Poston, 2018). East Los Angeles was one of the neighborhoods with a large number of houses
with dangerous levels of soil contamination (Barboza, 2020b). There has been a large cleanup
remediation effort led by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, but as of
January 7, 2022, only 3,255 parcels have been cleaned, with a few more thousand parcels still
waiting (California Department of Toxic Substances Control, n.d.).
Despite community groups and environmentalists’ years of advocacy to get justice for the
residents affected by this environmental disaster, the state filed suit against companies related to
Exide in December 2020 to recoup part of the money spent for the ongoing cleanup plan
(Barboza, 2020a). In December 2021, the Los Angeles County of Board of Supervisors
unanimously approved a plan designating green zones, where “zoning regulations will prohibit
certain heavy industrial uses and set stricter standards for other industrial, recycling and solid
waste operations, as well as gas stations” (Marcellino, 2021, para. 2). Eleven unincorporated
communities were selected as green zones, one of them being East Los Angeles (Marcellino,
2021).
East Los Angeles has other quality of life issues to contend with that affect. East Los
Angeles is considered a food desert as it lacks access to affordable and healthy food (Sharif et
37

al., 2015), and only 53% of the population lived near a supermarket or grocery store in 2015 (Los
Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2018). Efforts like the Proyecto MercadoFRESCO
were interventions that engaged the community, provided health education, and worked with
corner store owners to update their stores and provide access to more healthy produce (Ortega et
al., 2015). However, research conducted within 2 years of the store conversions showed no
change in the consumption of fruit and vegetables and recommended future research on other
strategies to help the community (Ortega et al., 2016).
The COVID-19 global pandemic greatly affected the residents of East Los Angeles. On
December 28, 2020, the Los Angeles Times published an article about how residents' lives were
upended due to the pandemic, including the many lost to the virus (Gerber et al., 2020).
According to Gerber et al. (2020), in East Los Angeles,
Across the predominantly Latino neighborhood, which spans seven square miles, more
than 15,000 residents—1 in every 10 people—have tested positive for COVID-19,
marking the highest recorded tally of any region in the county and serving as a stark
reminder of the virus’ unequal impact. (para. 9).
On February 2, 2022, the Los Angeles Times published another article that mentioned
how Black and Latinx communities had been hit the hardest during the pandemic and inequities
in terms of the virus infection rates and vaccination rates. During the most recent variant, “East
L.A. has been hit hard by the Omicron wave. The area reported nearly 5,800 new cases in the last
2 weeks, among the highest in the county” (Smith, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing,
and its effects on East Los Angeles will continue to be seen.
A recent project called the Metro Area Plan (MAP) started in June 2021 focuses on seven
unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County, including East Los Angeles (Los Angeles County
38

Department of Regional Planning, 2021-b). The MAP will update the county’s regulations to
encourage housing development, diversify transportation methods, address environmental justice
issues, and document the land development histories and significant events (Los Angeles County
Department of Regional Planning, 2021-b). The MAP has been reaching out for community
input via Zoom workshop meetings, in-person workshops, and the MAP community virtual
survey (Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, 2021-a).
Conclusion
East Los Angeles has shown resiliency through adversity. It has been a community for
Latinx individuals arriving in the Los Angeles area for over a century, and it was created out of
need rather than choice. East LA has a legacy of providing a home to those unwanted in society
to establish itself as a recognized community, wanting representation to advocate for educational
and environmental justice. East LA continues to be impacted by structural and systemic racist
policies, but it has improved over time, and there are more services and resources available to the
residents. East Los Angeles has inner strength and potential. East Los Angeles might have lost
East Los Angeles College and part of CSULA, but that has not stopped students from pursuing a
post-secondary education. However, there is still room for growth in educational equity and
college access in East LA. The stakes are higher for students from this area to go to 4-year
universities, as a college degree is a strong indicator of upward mobility, intergenerational
mobility, and it is critical for students to move forward with their education.
Latinx Students and Higher Education in the United States
This study focused on Latinx students applying to 4-year colleges and universities. While
the scope of this study was limited, it was helpful to begin with a broad overview of the higher
education system. Since I conducted this study in California, I discuss the institutions of higher
39

education available to students in the state. I then expound on the main themes in the Latinx
student experience within higher education across the United States and California. Latinxs are
the largest racial and ethnic population in California but have the lowest educational attainment
rates (Bates et al., 2018). I addressed the number of broad challenges that Latinx students face in
gaining admission to 4-year institutions in the state.
Overview of Higher Education
Higher education has existed for centuries, with its early beginnings in western Europe in
the 12th century (Shugart, 2013). The early universities were founded on a monastic model in
which classes were taught by “priestly teachers,” and the purpose of these institutions was to
preserve and transmit culture (Shugart, 2013, p. 9). Shugart (2013) argued that there are still
traces of this model in older elite institutions in Europe and the Americas seen in the
architecture, academic terms, professor roles, rituals, academic rites, and the relatively static
general education curriculum. Harvard College, the first college founded in the colonies of
America in 1636, is an example of how it was influenced by European values signifying high
social status, and it served as a place for culture and learning (Geiger, 2015). Harvard, as well as
the many other colonial colleges, had strong ties to religious denominations or church
sponsorships until the spread of Enlightenment, which started to accept changes in thinking and
religious tolerance in the 1750s (Geiger, 2015). These early colleges served a select portion of
the population, typically wealthy and White males (Geiger, 2015).
Around the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the polytechnic model began to emerge in
Europe and the Americas to develop new knowledge and technologies and help students learn
practical skills to apply to the workforce’s needs (Shugart, 2013). Two main types of institutions
that exemplify the polytechnic model in the United States: private, non-profit universities and
40

land-grant institutions (Shugart, 2013). During this time, premodern types of institutions
increased access for more people. High schools or the “people’s colleges” (p. 270) offered
courses beyond the traditional academy subjects and expanded to provide a terminal academic
course that students could apply to the workforce (Geiger, 2015). Normal schools offered
professional training for teachers whose enrollees were primarily women and eventually
transitioned to be called teacher colleges (Geiger, 2015). Female colleges offered basic
preparatory education and were not well regarded, and many were unable to adapt to the modern
area (Geiger, 2015). Multipurpose colleges had religious sponsorships or links, a less demanding
bachelor’s curriculum, and offered the diverse needs of rural America; some of these evolved
into liberal arts colleges (Geiger, 2015). Junior colleges offered the first 2 years of college and
were practical and affordable (Geiger, 2015). After World War I, junior colleges experienced
large growth and made higher education accessible to more people, “especially in California,
which enrolled 37% of all junior college students in 1940” (Geiger, 2015, p. 432).
The Land Grant Act, signed by President Lincoln on July 12, 1862, gave each state
30,000 acres of federal land for each representative and senator in Congress to establish an
endowment to support at least one college teaching about agriculture and mechanic arts as well
as other studies (Geiger, 2015). This law is also known as the Morrill Act of 1862, whose initial
focus was on agricultural innovation and then later shifted to meeting the challenges of industrial
production (Shugart, 2013). The University of California was founded, in part, because of the
Land Grant Act (Geiger, 2015).
In the mid-20th century, after World War II, higher education in the United States
experienced another development. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as
the GI Bill, provided benefits for 15 million returning veterans (Shugart, 2013). Over 2.2 million
41

veterans attended college using the benefits under Title II of the GI Bill from 1945 to 1954
(Geiger, 2019). Due to the large influx of students, “colleges and institutions undertook dramatic
changes of scale and mission: teachers’ colleges became regional public universities, women’s
colleges became co-educational, colleges stretched themselves in massive building campaigns
for both instructional and residential facilities, etc.” (Shugart, 2013, p. 11). During this
adjustment period, the President’s Commission on Higher Education, under President Truman,
found that enrollment in higher education should be expanded specifically in public institutions
and community colleges (Geiger, 2019; Shugart, 2013). The report also found that federal
financial assistance was needed and appropriate to meet these goals (Geiger, 2019).
Within a couple of decades, colleges and universities had to change again to meet the
demands of the first baby boomers, the children of World War II veterans (Geiger, 2019). The
majority of the baby-boom population enrolled at public institutions versus privates (Geiger,
2019). Shugart (2013) notes this period as the “massification” (p. 11) of higher education, where
the system had to open itself to the masses and create an industrial model to enroll as many
students as possible at a low cost. The remnants of this industrial model include large lecture
sections, adjunct professors, emphasis on enrollment, class sizes, and ratios of part-time to full-
time instruction (Shugart, 2013).
The number of high school graduates dropped by 25% from 1980 to the early 1990s, but
students continued to attend college steadily (Geiger, 2019). Due to this shortage of traditional
college students, a new solution was born for independent colleges: the tools of postmodern
consumer capitalism (Shugart, 2013). Private colleges and universities that had to compete with
lower-priced public institutions adopted new marketing and recruitment practices (Geiger, 2019).
These institutions relied on selling their reputation to students by focusing on the academic
42

quality of programs, student social life, and enhancing campus settings and amenities (Geiger,
2019; Shugart, 2013). Due to these changes in spending, the private institutions started raising
tuition and developed a model where tuition kept rising for those who could afford it, but they
would provide enough aid for those in need (Geiger, 2019).
Latinx Students and Higher Education
The demographics of higher education changed dramatically in the past few decades.
Baum et al. (2013) noted that even in the early 1960s, when the baby boomers were about to go
to college, there was confidence in the value of higher education, but “access to higher education
was radically unequal, whether measured by family income or by racial and ethnic background”
(p. 19). From 1636 to the 1940s, college was accessible to mostly White male students from high
to middle-income families (Renn & Reason, 2012). Within the last 70 years, there have been
significant changes in the diversity of the college student body with increasing numbers of
women, low-income students, and people of color (Baum et al., 2013; Renn & Reason, 2012).
Specifically, the Latinx population has seen much growth in college enrollment in the past few
decades due to population growth and educational strides (Fry, 2011). Latinx students “enrolled
in college rose from 13% in 1972 to 27% in 2009 to 32% in 2010” (Fry, 2011, p. 5).
Despite the total increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of college enrollments, diverse
populations are not evenly distributed at all institutions across the United States, partly due to
uneven geographic distributions (Renn & Reason, 2012). Students of color are overly
represented at 2-year and for-profit institutions, while White students are more likely to attend 4-
year, nonprofit, and private institutions (Renn & Reason, 2012). Latinx students are more likely
to attend a 2-year institution than other students of color (Fry, 2011). Even when Latinx students
attend college, they are more likely to interrupt their education (Renn & Reason, 2012).
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Flink (2018) conducted a literature review on Latinx students in higher education and
identified several significant findings. Latinx students are more likely to attend 2-year colleges
than 4-year universities, with 58% of those enrolled in higher education institutions at 2-year
colleges (Flink, 2018). Latinx students often use 2-year institutions as entry points to higher
education and transfer 4-year institutions (Flink, 2018). An estimated 7% to 20% of Latinx
students enrolled at 2-year colleges transfer to 4-year universities (Flink, 2018). Flink (2018)
found that Latinx students who did not transfer and stayed at 2-year colleges graduated at lower
rates than other students. Flink (2018) found that institutions have difficulty retaining and
graduating Latinx students; “only 6% of baccalaureate degrees awarded annually in the United
States go to Latinos” (p. 405).
Considering the evolvement of higher education in the United States and the context,
there is a higher education sector with the designation of serving or enrolling minoritized
students. The most well-known are Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which
have been in existence since the 19th century, but most were established after the Civil War, with
now just over 100 HBCUs across the country (Gasman, 2008). Other institutions that serve
minoritized students are tribal colleges and universities and Asian American and Pacific Islander
serving institutions (Baez et al., 2008). In Title III of the 1992 Higher Education Reauthorization
Act, Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) were recognized (Renn & Reason, 2012). In order to be
considered HSI, they have to be degree-granting institutions with at least 25% Hispanic
undergraduate enrollment with full-time equivalency (Hispanic Association of Colleges &
Universities [HACU], 2021). In 2019, 569 institutions met the criteria for HSIs, and they
enrolled two-thirds of all Hispanic undergraduates (HACU, 2021). Most HSIs are in urban areas,
and 80% are located in six states and one territory (HACU, 2021). The breakdown of HSIs by
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higher education institutions: 235 2-year public, 150 4-year public, 169 4-year private, and 15 2-
year private (HACU, 2021).
While HSIs may receive the designation for enrolling Hispanic/Latinx students, they are
not necessarily serving them equitably. An exploratory analysis with a sample of five 4-year
HSIs in five states revealed that they did provide equal access to Hispanic/Latinx students
compared to their proportion in the high school graduate population (Contreras et al., 2008).
Contreras et al. (2008) found that Latinxs did not have equitable access to the sample's two most
selective 4-year HSIs. The study exposed that Latinxs did not have equitable access to the
attainment of degrees at the five HSIs compared to their White peers, who had a
disproportionately higher share of BA degrees earned (Contreras et al., 2008). A more recent
study with a sample of 14 4-year HSIs from the California State University (CSU) system
showed the lower graduation rates for Latinx students in 12 of the 14 HSIs compared to the
overall 6-year graduation rate (Contreras & Contreras, 2015). Only one HSI in the sample
showed Latinx students with higher graduation rates than their White peers and a different one in
which the graduation rate was the same (Contreras & Contreras, 2015).
Higher Education in California
California has three public higher education systems: the University of California (UC),
the CSU, and the California Community Colleges (UCOP, n.d.). The first CSU, San José State
University, was founded in 1857 and was the first institution of public higher education in the
state (CSULA, n.d.). There are now 23 CSU campuses across the state (CSU, n.d.). The UC was
founded in 1868 through the Organic Act and has grown to 10 campuses (UC, 2018). The
California Community Colleges began as junior colleges authorized by the 1907 California
45

Upward Extension Act (Galizio, 2019). There are now 116 community colleges in the state
(California Community Colleges, n.d.).
In 1960, the president of the UC proposed a “master plan” in which every high school
graduate in the state was promised a “publicly funded college experience within financial and
geographic reach” (Baum et al., 2013, p. 19). One of the plan's key features was a commitment
to access, where students who completed high school would be able to have a space for them
within one of the three public systems (UC Regents, n.d.). The California Master Plan for Higher
Education was created in response to the projected increases in demand by the baby boom
children between 1960 and 1975 (UC Regents, n.d.). Many of the plan’s recommendations were
enacted into law in 1960 as part of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, and the plan has had
subsequent legislative reviews (UCOP, n.d.).
The master plan created a framework to assign each public higher education system in the
state a mission and pool of students (UC Regents, n.d.). The UC was designated as California’s
primary academic research institution to provide undergraduate, graduate, and professional
education (UC Regents, n.d.). The UC was also “given exclusive jurisdiction in public higher
education for doctoral degrees (with the exception that CSU can award joint doctorates) and for
instruction in law, medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine” (UC Regents, n.d., p. 3). The
CSU’s “primary mission is undergraduate education and graduate education through the master's
degree, with particular emphasis on “polytechnic” fields and teacher education” (UC Regents,
n.d., p. 3). The California community colleges’ mission is to provide the first 2 years of
undergraduate education to students of all ages, including academic and vocational instruction
(UC Regents, n.d.). They were also “authorized to provide remedial instruction, English as a
46

second language courses, adult noncredit instruction, community service courses, and workforce
training services” (UC Regents, n.d., p. 4).
The master plan did not include independent California colleges and universities, but the
framers recognized their essential role in “envisioning higher education in California as a single
continuum of educational opportunity, from small private colleges to large public universities”
(UC Regents, n.d., p. 1). According to the College Board (n.d.), there are 96 private higher
education institutions in California, with only three of those considered 2-year colleges. The
Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) consists of 85
independent, nonprofit colleges and universities (AICCU, n.d.). The AICCU works on behalf of
these 85 institutions “to articulate the principles and priorities of its institutions in the higher
education ecosystem of California” (AICCU, n.d.).
Latinx Students and 4-Year Universities in California
The focus of this study was on Latinx students who attended 4-year universities. The
literature supports that Latinx students tend to go to 2-year colleges compared to other students
of color. Therefore, I focused on the challenges and obstacles these students encounter when
deciding to attend these institutions, with a particular focus on in-state public universities. There
are contributors to Latinxs pursuing higher education at a 4-year institution, leading to a direct
path to a baccalaureate degree.
Latinx students were about 40% of all undergraduates or over 1.3 million students in a
college in California in 2016–2017; an 18% increase compared to 16 years ago (Bates et al.,
2018). Most Latinx students in California attended public colleges or universities in the 2016–
2017 term, with 1.2 million choosing this option (Bates et al., 2018). In the 2016–2017 academic
year, 72% of Latinx students attended a community college, 13% went to a CSU, 4% to a UC,
47

4% to a private institution, and 6% to a for-profit (Bates et al., 2018). Despite the growth of
Latinx students attending college, only 6% of California’s Latinx adults have an associate’s
degree, and 12% have a bachelor’s degree (Bates et al., 2018). Latinxs had a higher percentage
of being the first in their family to attend college at a CSU and UC compared to other groups in
2016: 49% were first-generation at CSU, and 76% were first-generation at UC (Bates et al.,
2018).
Latinx students encounter challenges and obstacles along the pipeline from applying to
matriculating and graduating from 4-year universities in California. One of the main barriers to
applying to California’s public 4-year universities is completing the admission requirements. The
requirements are a set of required classes that students need to complete in high school to be
eligible to apply to the CSU and UC. In 2017, only 39% (86,400) of the Latinx high school
graduates had completed the coursework, which meant 61% (132,600) were not eligible to apply
(Bates et al., 2018). The racial equity gap has narrowed over time, but Latinx students are still
13% behind their White peers in terms of meeting the admission requirements (Bates et al.,
2018).
Another barrier is Latinxs’ community college completion rate, including graduation and
transfer, which was 42% for the 2016–2017 term (Bates et al., 2018). From Fall 2010 to Fall
2016, the rate of Latinx students who transferred from a community college to CSU and UC rose
to 67% and 14% of all Latinx transfer students (Bates et al., 2018). The percentage of Latinx
students who transfer to a private nonprofit college decreased in the same timeframe to 14%
(Bates et al., 2018). The Associate Degree for Transfer pathway, which guarantees transfer to the
CSU, was part of the large increase of Latinx transfers to that system (Bates et al., 2018). As of
the 2016–2017 term, only 2% of Latinx students transferred from a community college within 2
48

years, the lowest among all racial and ethnic groups (Bates et al., 2018). Thirty-one percent of
Latinx students transferred within 6 years compared to 45% of White students (Bates et al.,
2018).
Graduation rates of Latinxs at the two public 4-year higher education systems in
California are important to examine as they are the institutions that can award baccalaureate
degrees. An examination of the graduation rates of Latinx students at CSU and UC showed that
the rates have increased when comparing first-year students from Fall 2000 to Fall 2010, and the
racial and ethnic equity gaps have increased compared to their White peers (Bates et al., 2018).
In contrast, the graduation rates of transfer Latinx students at the CSU and UC improved, and the
racial and equity gaps at CSU have narrowed to a four percentage-point gap in terms of
graduating within 4 years compared to White students (Bates et al., 2018).
Conclusion
The higher education system in the United States was not created with a diverse student
body in mind, as its ideologies transferred from Europe into the American colonies, with the
early colonial colleges and pre-modern universities serving a majority of White and middle to
high socioeconomic students. Despite the growth in racial and ethnic diversity at higher
education institutions in the United States, there are still gaps in equal access and equitable
outcomes for minoritized students. In particular, Latinx students are overrepresented at 2-year
institutions, and for those who attend 4-year institutions, there is no equity in graduation rates
compared to their White peers. This inequity in graduation rates has been seen at 4-year HSIs.
Latinx Students
Latinx students tend to have intersectional identities that influence their academic
achievement at the higher education level. Intersectionality was a term first coined in 1991 by
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Kimberlé Crenshaw to address how Black women’s life opportunities were affected by the
intersection of two systems: patriarchy and racism (as cited in Núñez, 2014, p. 85).
Intersectionality has evolved to recognize that people are affected by structural inequality as they
are part of multiple marginalized groups and can simultaneously belong to groups of privilege
(Jones & Stewart, 2016; Núñez, 2014). Latinx students tend to fall into intersectional identities
like first-generation, low-socioeconomic status, and undocumented status. Despite the challenges
Latinx students might face due to their intersectional identities, they tend to have rich cultural
values that can support them through college preparation and application.
First-Generation Students
According to the U.S. Department of Education (1992), a first-generation college student
is a person “whose parents did not complete a baccalaureate degree” (p. 9). Other researchers
defined a first-generation college student as students with parents that have not participated in
postsecondary education (Cataldi et al., 2018; Roderick et al., 2008; Sáenz et al., 2007; Terenzini
et al., 1996). For this study, I used the U.S. Department of Education’s 1992 definition to
incorporate all students whose parents may or may not have attended college but did not
complete a bachelor’s degree. On a related note, only 8.7% of persons 25 age and older between
2015–2019 had a bachelor’s degree or higher in East Los Angeles compared to the statewide rate
of 33.9% of persons in the same category (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b). That suggests that most
students attending East Los Angeles high schools qualify as first-generation college students.
First-generation students face unique challenges. These challenges affect their college
access and persistence. As of the 2015–2016 academic year, 56% of undergraduates had parents
with no bachelor’s degree, and 59% of those students were the first sibling in their family to go
to college (RTI International, 2019a). Persistence rates for first-generation students at their first
50

institution varied, 82% at a public 4-year and 80% at a private not-for-profit 4-year, which were
lower than continuing-generation students (RTI International, 2019b). The bachelor’s degree
attainment rates 6 years after commencing post-secondary education were lower for first-
generation students at 20% compared to their continuing-generation peers at 49% (RTI
International, 2019b).
First-generation students usually are from low-income families and racially minoritized
groups (Cataldi et al., 2018; Engle & Tinto, 2008; Sáenz et al., 2007). In particular, first-
generation students are more likely to be Latinx or Black (Engle et al., 2006). First-generation
students are also more likely to start college at 2-year institutions, delay starting their
postsecondary education, attend colleges near their home, live off-campus, attend college classes
part-time, and work full-time while enrolled in classes (Engle et al., 2006; Engle & Tinto, 2008).
Engle (2006) noted that first-generation students face the following factors that might negatively
impact their chances of going to college: “lower levels of academic preparation, lower
educational aspirations, less encouragement and support to attend college, particularly from
parents, less knowledge about the college application process, and fewer resources to pay for
college” (p. 28).
Some first-generation students might also face other difficulties in their transition to
college. Engle et al. (2006) studied first-generation students who participated in a pre-college
program prior to attending a college or university. They found that these students had no or low
aspirations for going to college prior to participating in a pre-college program, lacked college
knowledge, and relied on pre-college programs that assisted them through college admissions.
Students reported experiencing academic, social, financial, and family issues during their
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transition to college that made it difficult for them, especially since they did not have the support
they needed from the pre-college program (Engle et al., 2006).
Engle’s (2006) review of the research showed there are possible interventions that can be
implemented along the pipeline to support college access for first-generation students: improving
pre-college preparation, forming early aspirations and plans for college, increasing access to
financial aid, easing the transition to college, and increasing exposure to and engagement with
the college environment. There have been numerous pre-college programs that support first-
generation students in applying to college, but there is still a need for institution-based programs
for this population. Terenzini et al. (1996) found a need to help first-generation students
transition from work or high school to college. They recommended bridge programs to link
students from high schools, community colleges, and 4-year institutions. Terenzini et al. also
found that first-generation students had a potential disadvantage based on their curricular,
instructional, and out-of-classroom experiences compared to non-first-generation students. All of
these are factors to consider when working with this population.
Socioeconomic Status
Historically, the Latinx population has been disproportionately overrepresented in the
poverty category, as they currently make up 18.7% of the total population, and 28.1% live in
poverty (Creamer, 2020). The U.S. Census Bureau started recording poverty statistics for the
Latinx population in 1972, and in 2019, their poverty rate reached its lowest at 15.7% (Creamer,
2020). According to the U.S. Census, 96.2% of the people living in East Los Angeles in 2019
identify as Latinx, and 19.2% of people in this area live in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-a).
In the 2015–2016 academic year, very low-income and low-income students made up
31% of undergraduates (Chen & Nunnery, 2019). Very-low-income and low-income dependent
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undergraduates had lower percentages of being enrolled in public 4-year institutions and higher
percentages of being enrolled in public less-than-4-year institutions compared to students above
the poverty level (Chen & Nunnery, 2019). High school graduates from the lowest income
quartile have shown gains in postsecondary attendance, but as of 2016, they attend college at a
rate of 61%, which is lower than students from the highest income quartile at a rate of 87%
(Cahalan et al., 2018). Through a review of different data sets, Cahalan et al. (2018) found that
the estimated bachelor’s attainment rate by age 24 in 2016 was 11% for students in the lowest
income quartile compared to 58% for students in the highest income quartile.
Students' socioeconomic status could impact the level of access students have to college
and financial aid applications, as the vast majority of applications are now exclusively online.
Low-income and minoritized students have less access to the internet and computers (Resta,
1992). The percentage of Latinx 3 to 18-year-olds with home internet access was 90% compared
to 96% of White children and 98% of Asian children. There were three minoritized groups with
slightly less percentage of children with home internet access as compared to Latinx children
(Hussar et al., 2020).
Students in the lowest family income quarter had the highest percentage of home internet
access only through smartphones (Hussar et al., 2020). Having access to the internet only
through a smartphone can create additional difficulties accessing college-related websites as they
may be more compatible with a computer. Students' access to the internet and computers through
different sources besides home (Venegas, 2006) might have changed since the COVID-19
pandemic caused closures of public spaces, such as schools, libraries, and after-school programs.
Research has shown that other barriers surpass basic access to the internet and computers.
Knowledge of how to navigate websites and “instrumental knowledge” about financial aid and
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application processes would be beneficial for counselors or students assisting low-income
students with the process (Venegas, 2006, p. 1666). A study showed that large group
presentations about financial aid could be good information resources, but low-income students
would benefit from more individualized attention during the financial aid application process
(Venegas & Hallett, 2008).
Undocumented Students
Undocumented students are individuals who live in the United States and have no U.S.
citizenship, no current permanent residence or other visa status, nor any permission to be
residing in the country and work (García & Tierney, 2011). The Education Trust-West (2017)
compiled statistics that give more information about undocumented students in California.
California schools enroll 250,000 undocumented children ages 3–17, 750,000 K–12 students
have undocumented parents, more than one in five undocumented people in the nation reside in
California, and 68% of California’s undocumented immigrants come from Mexico (The
Education Trust-West, 2017).
Undocumented students are allowed to attend K–12 public school education due to the
1982 Plyer v. Doe Supreme Court ruling, but the ruling did not address these students’ needs
after high school (Bjorklund, 2018; Olivas, 2009). Some states enacted in-state resident tuition
policies for eligible undocumented students, so they would not have to pay out-of-state or
international tuition at public state colleges and universities (Bjorklund, 2018). California passed
AB540 into law in 2001, so any student who meets eligibility criteria can pay in-state tuition at
the state’s public colleges and universities (California Student Aid Commission [CSAC], n.d.-a).
California has made an effort to ease the financial burden of higher education by offering state
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financial aid to eligible undocumented students, which they can apply for through the California
Dream Act Application (CSAC, n.d.-b).
Despite the financial support offered to eligible undocumented students in California,
they face other challenges that affect their progression toward higher education. Bjorklund
(2018) reviewed literature about undocumented students and found six major themes most of
them share:
(a) they face financial burdens that documented students do not, (b) they are confronted
by a bevy of unique psychological and social burdens and are rarely given tools to
address them, (c) they are not given access to vital social capital, and (d) they bring a host
of assets to college campuses, but these are undervalued and underutilized. Furthermore,
while there are shared experiences, it is important to note that (e) non-Latina/o
undocumented students and undocumented students from different geographic contexts
have different experiences, and (f) although state legislatures and institutions of higher
education are taking positive steps to increase access and persistence for undocumented
students, they are not doing enough. (pp. 638–639).
Researchers have found actions and support to guide undocumented students toward
higher education. Undocumented students reported they have formed trusting relationships with
teachers, counselors, or mentors in high school that proved helpful when applying for college
(García & Tierney, 2011; Gonzales, 2011). Trust is essential in building relationships with these
institutional agents, as undocumented status is a sensitive subject (Yasuike, 2019). However,
studies have found the need for staff to be aware of policies, services, and support undocumented
students can access for college (Gámez et al., 2017; Lauby, 2017; Yasuike, 2019). Programs
offered by schools and non-profits have been beneficial to undocumented students navigating the
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college admissions process (Yasuike, 2019). Even though the literature suggests undocumented
students tend to rely on institutional agents for assistance, studies found that undocumented
students were able to use their network of family members to seek guidance and learn about the
college application process (Lauby, 2017; Yasuike, 2019).
Cultural Norms and Values
The Latinx community is a unique blend of people from different Latin American
backgrounds, but there are some common themes among the cultural norms and values held
across the varied groups. Latinx individuals might have multiple dimensions such as identifying
with different cultures, where they live, family heritage, multilingualism, and family dynamics.
There are three main values and norms discussed here to give context of the Latinx family
environment in relation to college preparation and application.
Parental and Familial Support
Research has shown the high value Latinx parents place on education (Cuevas, 2020;
Kiyama, 2010; Langenkamp, 2019). However, their expectations and types and levels of support
they provide vary. The lived experiences of Latinx parents have been found to shape the
aspirations of their children’s educational attainment and their perspectives on how to support
their children’s attainment (Langenkamp, 2019). Latinx parents often motivate and encourage
their children by providing emotional support (Ceja, 2006; González et al., 2003) or financial
support (Ceja, 2006). Cuevas (2020) found that parents’ self-efficacy related to how they viewed
their role in post-secondary planning and their supportive behaviors. Latinx parents engaged in
different ways to support their children’s college aspirations depending on their role, from
coordinating driving to college information sessions to having conversations about what colleges
to apply to and attend (Cuevas, 2020). Kiyama (2010) found that parents’ aspirations about their
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child attending college were affected by misconceptions about perceived financial barriers as
they lacked complete information about financial aid opportunities and the application process.
Latinx parents can face challenges and barriers that affect their engagement in post-
secondary planning with their children. Ceja (2006) found that Mexican American parents lacked
an understanding of the college application process and could not help their daughters with their
college choices as they had not attended college. Latinx parents’ lack of English fluency can be a
barrier to getting involved in their child’s college applications (Ceja, 2006).
Older siblings who experienced the college application process can be sources of
information and share college-related sources (Ceja, 2006). González et al. (2003) reported that
students with siblings who could provide both emotional support and “privileged information
about college” were a source of social capital (p. 155). Pérez and McDonough (2008) found that
Latinx students also sought assistance with college information and planning from extended
family members and even people who had relationships with family members that could be
trusted. Studies have shown that familial networks can be sources of knowledge and support
related to college (Kiyama, 2010; Lauby, 2017; Yasuike, 2019).
Family Dynamics and College Options
Many Latinx families are uncomfortable with the notion of their children leaving home
and going to a college or university they do not know anything about (Kiyama, 2010). In one
study, Latinx parents were particularly reserved about their female children leaving home (Fann
et al., 2009). “Staying close to or living at home represents a cultural strength of these families
and provides the opportunity for their children to continue to draw on family and community
resources while in school” (Kiyama, 2010, pp. 347–248). Fann et al. (2009) reported an effort to
address safety concerns and facilitate a college life discussion in Spanish-language groups to
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make parents feel more comfortable. Kiyama (2010) noted that a parent outreach program
established a college connection for the families so they would learn more about the local
university and build a positive association with it.
Language and Multilingualism
Speaking a language other than English has been common practice in the United States
since its inception. Specifically, within the Latinx community, Spanish is the most commonly
used language besides English. The U.S. Census Bureau ranked the top languages other than
English spoken in the United States. Spanish was the top language spoken in 1980 with over 11
million speakers and has continued to be the top language every 10 years, reaching over 36
million speakers in 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). In East Los Angeles, 89% of persons age
5 or older were reported to speak another language other than English at home between 2015 and
2019 (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-a).
It is important to note how multilingual education has been viewed in California, which
has a larger number of English learners. In the 1998–1999 academic year, there were 1,442,692
English learners in the state, of whom 81.9% spoke Spanish as their first language (California
Department of Education [CDE], 2022). During the same academic year, LAUSD had 313,442
English learners, of whom 93.1% spoke Spanish as their first language (CDE, 2022). The state’s
voters essentially restricted bilingual education in 1998 by passing Proposition 227, which
required students to be taught in English (Farruggio, 2010). The proposition made it more
difficult for districts to offer bilingual education programs, but not impossible with the option of
waivers, through which parents could opt in to access these dual-language classes (Farruggio,
2010). It can be assumed that this proposition disproportionately affected English language
learners whose first language was Spanish, as they were the majority of the English learner
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population in the state (Parrish et al., 2006), and as many bilingual or dual immersion programs
were used to facilitate the transition from their native language to English (Gándara et al., 2000;
Parrish et al., 2006). Twenty years later, the percentage of English language learners at LAUSD
who speak Spanish as their first language was 92.09% (CDE, 2020). These data suggest there is
still a need for bilingual or dual immersion programs.
Even though bilingual or dual immersion education programs were restricted due to
Proposition 227, they continued to grow in the past couple of decades (Hopkinson, 2017). The
literature shows that parents and school administrators advocated for the continuation of
bilingual education or dual immersion programs when Proposition 227 went into effect
(Auerbach, 2009; Farruggio, 2010). In 2016, Proposition 58 repealed the English-only
requirement and the need for parents to sign waivers to enroll their children in bilingual or dual
immersion programs (Hopkinson, 2017).
Conclusion
This section illuminated the intersectional identities of Latinx students that they could
identify with and how they may affect them as they prepare for and apply to college and beyond.
Latinx students might be affected by structural and systemic barriers, but they also have a strong
and dynamic culture. Their culture, values, parental and familial support, and multilingualism
played an important role in supporting them through college preparation and application.
Strategies to Support College Access Among Students of Color and Latinx Students
I have reviewed the literature for strategies that can best support college access for
students of color and summarized the five themes. The strategies focus on how they can be
helpful to students during the college choice process to prepare for, apply to, and attend college.
Due to the complex nature of this process, there are a lot of factors and decisions that can
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influence a student’s path toward higher education (Cabrera & La Nasa, 2000). There is still
room for improvement in college access for Latinx students as they have lower college
attendance rates, even though they have high educational aspirations (McDonough, 2004). I
highlighted research that focused more broadly on students of color and included research
focused on Latinx students.
Parental Encouragement, Involvement, and Engagement
The college choice process begins with forming college aspirations (Cabrera & La Nasa,
2000). High school students’ aspirations for higher education are developed by the level of
interactions with their parents (Flint, 1992). Parental involvement has been found to relate to
students’ decision to enroll in a 2-year or 4-year college (Perna & Titus, 2005). Tierney and
Auerbach's (2005) review of the literature found that researchers have called for a more inclusive
definition of parent involvement as research on this topic has failed to incorporate parents of
color and has centered on the practices of White, middle-class parents.
Research supports the positive role Latinx parents have in the college choice process.
Latina mothers have the greatest influence on shaping their children's educational goals,
regardless of sex (Gándara, 1995). In Ceja’s (2004) study, Chicana students reported their
parents' strong role in their college thoughts and aspirations either through direct or indirect
messaging. Immigrant parents from Mexico and Guatemala have shown their children moral
support for college through verbal communication, providing advice, and conducting small
supportive actions (Auerbach, 2006).
College Counseling Services/College Advising
Counseling is critical to expanding college access as counselors can provide support and
guidance to parents and students on college aspirations, preparation, and choice (McDonough,
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2005a, 2005b). Students of color tend to go to overcrowded schools with counselors with high
caseloads and multiple responsibilities, and it would be helpful for a more appropriate level of
counseling to be available to these students (Corwin et al., 2004). Students’ chances of going to a
4-year college increase when there have been frequent meetings with the counselor
(McDonough, 2005a). Latinx students are more likely to apply and attend a 4-year college when
they have the strong support of teachers and counselors with college preparation and application
(Roderick et al., 2008). Vega and Puff (2020) proposed that schools put counselors at the
forefront of leadership to bring families and school staff together to support Latinx and Black
students’ enrollment in postsecondary education. They also propose that counselors conduct
needs assessments and focus on college-ready skills to assist Latinx and Black students.
Academic Preparedness
Academic preparation is a critical component in determining if students will go to college
(Perna, 2005). Due to the importance of academic preparation in college outcomes, rigorous
coursework must be offered and promoted among students, especially lower-income and racial
and ethnic minoritized students (Perna & Kurban, 2013). Students who take rigorous courses in
high school and prepare academically for college are “less likely to be required to enroll in
remedial classes that increase a student’s time to degree and college costs” (Contreras, 2011, p.
508). Perna (2005) found that college preparation programs could fill the gap schools leave in
academically preparing students for college. Perna (2005) argued that programs can implement
the following resources to ensure the completion of “high-quality, rigorous academic
coursework”: “tutoring, admission test preparation, academic assistance, academic counseling,
and instruction in note taking and study skills” (p. 130).

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College Knowledge
College knowledge is central to preparing for, applying to college, and ultimately
enrolling and navigating a higher education institution. Students have to gain awareness to
understand the college search process, college admissions process, financial aid, the campus
culture, and the demands of the college curriculum (Conley, 2010). College admissions
requirements and financial aid options can be confusing and have several components to manage,
which can be difficult for some students (Conley, 2010). Programs and initiatives that develop
knowledge about college admissions and financial aid processes can be beneficial for low-
income, first-generation students who often encounter barriers along the path to higher education
(Hooker & Brand, 2010).
Support for College Search and Application Process
Students of color, including Latinx students, can benefit from additional support with the
college search and application process. High schools can assist with the college search process
by taking students to college fairs or hosting one on-campus, inviting college representatives to
the high schools, incorporating college searches as class assignments, and offering college
campus tours (Conley, 2010). Workshops offering direct assistance with the college application
process can help students and give the general message to the school community that it is valued
(Conley, 2010). A study in LAUSD found that Latino and Black/African American male
students might need assistance applying to college to ensure they apply to 4-year institutions at
the same rate as their peers (Miller et al., 2018).
Access to Financial Aid Information and Assistance With Financial Aid Applications
Latinx students and their families require financial aid information. Studies have found
that Latinx and low-income students lack full financial aid knowledge (Luna De La Rosa, 2006;
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Zarate & Pachon, 2006). Without this knowledge, Latinx students and low-income students may
have misconceptions about who should receive financial aid information and college
affordability (Luna De La Rosa, 2006; Zarate & Pachon, 2006). Tierney and Venegas (2009)
suggested using a cultural framework when distributing financial aid information to students,
specifically recommending doing it over years, as the context and needs of the students change
over time. Tierney and Venegas (2009) described the importance of tailoring the materials used
to teach students about financial aid to be “accurate, culturally aware, and user-friendly” (p.
384).
Financial aid information is typically distributed through large group presentations,
which can be effective as a first step, but students should have access to smaller groups and one-
on-one sessions to receive more personalized assistance (Venegas & Hallett, 2008). Zarate and
Pachon (2006) recommend that information to clarify college costs and the types of financial aid
from the federal government and the state can be communicated through mass communication
efforts to Latinx students. Individualized assistance can be beneficial to low-income students
with their financial aid applications and questions beyond the large group presentations to be
engaged and fully understand the process (Venegas & Hallett, 2008).
College Access and Preparation Programs
College preparation programs that engage parents have been an important resource to
provide them with college knowledge and promote college preparation (Tierney & Auerbach,
2005). A study of mostly low-income or working-class Mexican immigrant parents showed the
impact of the parent component of a college access program: parents learned about the college
pathway, the importance of a 4-year university, gained confidence and advocacy skills, and
started to provide more proactive support to their students (Auerbach, 2004).
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Villalpando and Solórzano (2005) found, through a review of literature, evidence that
college preparation programs that incorporate academic skills development and cultural wealth
can have a more significant impact on the college enrollment rates of underrepresented students.
College preparation programs also need to provide diverse components to fit the needs of the
students (Villalpando & Solórzano, 2005). Gándara (2001) evaluated college access and
preparation programs across the United States that serve traditionally underrepresented students
in college. Gándara (2001) found these key program elements to be effective in increasing the
college-going rates of their participants: having a person to guide them over a long time,
providing instructional support like tutoring and additional classes to support students in more
rigorous coursework, investing longer time with students, acknowledging cultural background of
students, providing social and emotional support and financial assistance and incentives.
The Puente Project, started in 1981 in California, is an example of a college access
program created to serve Latinx students going to college, and it now has expanded to serve
traditionally underrepresented students (The Puente Project, n.d.). The Puente Project
incorporates three main components: writing, counseling, and mentoring (The Puente Project,
n.d.). A study found that Puente students were more prepared for college than non-Puente
students and Puente students had higher percentages of going to 4-year colleges than non-Puente
students (Gándara, 2002). Puente students reported how working with their Puente counselors
and teachers influenced their decision to go to college (Gándara, 2002). The Puente students
benefitted from the writing and literary curriculum as Latinxs were inspired when exposed to
Latinx writers and made connections to their own lives (Gándara, 2002).

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Conclusion
Students of color need a full range of college access strategies and resources to guide and
prepare them for college. The research has shown that these five broad strategies can benefit
students of color, but there are still inequities in the types of services and resources provided to
them. Even though some of the strategies might require larger reforms and efforts from schools,
some can be led by the students’ families, and some involve community efforts like college
preparation programs. The conceptual framework I chose for my study reflects the strengths of
students of color and their families to find the resources and strength to persevere through
structural and systemic barriers.
Conceptual Framework
Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model was applied as the conceptual
framework for this study. The community cultural wealth model helped understand the resources
and assets present within a community. This conceptual framework created a structure to
understand how Latinx students from East Los Angeles navigated the preparation and application
process to 4-year institutions, including the family, community, cultural, and environmental
factors they draw on for support. In this section, I describe the model, illustrate how it was used
in similar studies, and explain how it was applied in this study.
Community Cultural Wealth Model
Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model is comprised of six types of capital:
aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant. Aspirational capital refers to
an individual’s capacity to stay hopeful about the future despite interactions with structural and
systemic inequalities and oppression (Yosso, 2005). Linguistic capital is the communication and
social skills gained through experiences with multiple languages (Yosso, 2005). Individuals of
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color engage in storytelling by listening and recounting these stories to others. Skills gained
“may include memorization, attention to detail, dramatic pauses, comedic timing, facial affect,
vocal tone, volume, rhythm and rhyme” (Yosso, 2005, p. 79). Familial capital refers to the
culturally supportive network of the immediate and extended family and close friends (Yosso,
2005). Through this extended “kinship” type network, they foster connections, share cultural
knowledge and resources, and minimize isolation (Yosso, 2005, p. 79). Social capital signifies
the “networks of people and community resources” that “provide both instrumental and
emotional support to navigate through society’s institutions” (Yosso, 2005, p. 79). Navigational
capital refers to the social and psychological skills that allow people of color to move through
social institutions despite embedded system inequalities (Yosso, 2005). Resistant capital refers to
behavior against inequalities that challenge the status quo (Yosso, 2005).
Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model centers the experiences of students of
color by shifting from a deficit-based perspective to a strengths-based view by acknowledging
the cultural knowledge, skills, abilities, and assets that they bring from their homes and
communities to schools. This is in contrast to previous cultural and social capital theories.
Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of cultural capital refers to an individual’s disposition toward cultural
knowledge that is valued by society over other forms of cultural capital. Bourdieu’s theory of
social capital refers to the accumulation of resources an individual has available that give them
access to networks and relationships within a particular social group. Bourdieu’s theories center
on only particular groups in society having valuable cultural and social capital. Yosso (2005)
critiques Bourdieu’s theories because they explain the replication of valuable capital either by an
individual being born into certain families or by pursuing formal schooling, and it leaves the
assumption that people of color lack the capital to be socially mobile. Yosso (2005) argued that
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While Bourdieu’s work sought to provide a structural critique of social and cultural
reproduction, his theory of cultural capital has been used to assert that some communities
are culturally wealthy while others are culturally poor … [which] exposes White, middle-
class culture as the standard, and therefore all other forms and expressions of ‘culture’ are
judged in comparison to this “norm” (p. 76).
Yosso (2005) uses critical race theory to shift the focus from White, middle-class culture to the
cultures of communities of color by affirming their assets and resources.
Review of Prior Studies That Incorporated Community Cultural Wealth Model
The community cultural wealth model has been used in several studies. I reviewed 17
studies, and I highlight six that most closely relate to college access in Latinx communities in the
following sections. The six studies were all based in the United States, five of them were
qualitative studies, and one used a mixed-methods approach. All of the studies used interviews,
four of them included focus groups, and three had observation data. The mixed-methods study
had multiple rounds of surveys. One distinctive approach was in a study that incorporated the
visual methods of photo-elicitation and photovoice to augment the interview and focus group
protocols. Two studies centered on the parent perspective, three solely on students, and a mixed-
methods study included students, teachers, and guidance counselors. The four studies that
included students worked with them at different stages: ninth and 11th-grade high school
students, rising high school juniors, college graduates of the same 4-year public research
university, and first-year students at a 4-year HSI.
Liou et al. (2009) conducted their research at two large comprehensive high schools, one
in Los Angeles (Valley High) and one in Milwaukee (University High), where a majority of
students were Latinx and low-income. Liou et al. (2009) found that University High students
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were able to find support during the college choice process from non-school sources, like peers,
local churches, family members, or community-based organizations. High-achieving students at
University High sought support from peers with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds,
were proud of their Latinx identity, and received strong encouragement and support from their
mothers (Liou et al., 2009). Even though this study focused on all types of capital, the findings
from University High led them to highlight only linguistic, navigational, resistance, and familial
capital. The findings from Valley High mostly focused on the barriers students face regarding a
lack of sense of belonging and support for students interested in college, since the focus of this
study was to look at where students were encountering college information networks. However,
aspirational capital was noted as present in the surveys conducted of Valley High parents (Liou
et al., 2009). Social capital was mentioned as a resource for University High students connecting
with community agencies to support their academic goals (Liou et al., 2009).
Means et al. (2019) conducted a study of 10 participants, eight of whom were people of
color and four of whom were Latinx. Means et al. found that these students encountered several
structural and systemic barriers but were able to use community cultural wealth to overcome
them on their path to higher education. Students exhibited five of Yosso’s types of capital,
except for resistant, but Means et al. acknowledged that using any of the other five types are a
form of resisting oppression. Means et al.’s findings suggested an emergent capital, spiritual,
because four students reported strong faith beliefs.
Romo et al. (2019) examined the college choice process experience of high-achieving
undocumented Latinx students who graduated from a selective, large, public, 4-year institution in
Texas. Romo et al. found that these eight undocumented students “revealed how they leveraged
their cultural wealth and maximized their academic talents to overcome institutional inequalities
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and successfully enroll in Lone Star University” (p. 398). Romo et al. found strong resilient and
aspirational capital helped these undocumented students face the barriers and challenges of
achieving their dream of attending their preferred university. They also found that students had
to draw on social, navigational, and familial capital to find the knowledge and resources needed
to apply and attend college as they encountered people who were unaware of undocumented
students’ specific needs (Romo et al., 2019).
Allen et al. (2020) found that Latinx engineering students who took dual credit college
classes during high school revealed that social networks provided them with information about
the advantages of taking these courses. Aspirational and familial capital were activated as the
dual credit program exposed students to college options, and they enhanced their navigational
capital by being introduced earlier to the college environment (Allen et al., 2020).
In a study about Latinx parents in a college access program, the authors recommended
that the program consider the community cultural wealth model to enhance the experiences of
the parent participants and use their existing capital (Dávila et al., 2020). Dávila et al. (2020)
found that the college access program could improve parent engagement by acknowledging the
parents’ linguistic capital and offering more of their services in a bilingual (i.e., English and
Spanish) format. Another recommendation was for programs to enhance parents’ navigational
capital with the college process by offering multiple opportunities to be exposed to the
information and step-by-step guidance rather than general lectures (Dávila et al., 2020).
One study explicitly mentioned that it was conducted in East Los Angeles, which is the
target location of this study. Guzmán et al. (2021) interviewed parents from the Greater
Outcomes East Los Angeles initiative in partnership with LAUSD, CSULA, and East Los
Angeles College. Guzmán et al. found that all the Latinx parents in their study demonstrated all
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of Yosso’s six types of capital and usually used more than one at a time to navigate the
educational system for them and their children. They also identified a seventh form of capital:
emotional intelligence. Aspirational capital was the most often reported by these parents as they
shared how they wanted their children to complete a higher education that would enable them to
have better jobs (Guzmán et al., 2021). Parents used their life examples of limited education,
having physical manual labor jobs, or starting work at a young age to encourage their children to
pursue higher education to have an easier life (Guzmán et al., 2021). Parents indicated a strong
sense to keep their children learning Spanish, not only to preserve Latinx family communication
and culture but also as a benefit for job prospects (Guzmán et al., 2021). Guzmán et al. also
found that parents reported using their social, navigational, and resistance capitals as they
interacted with school personnel to benefit their children’s success.
Community Cultural Wealth Model’s Influence on This Study’s Methodology
This review of these studies has a few implications for this study. First, utilizing or
employing capital means that a student is consciously or unconsciously accessing these skills to
support them in the college choice process. Romo et al. (2019) described how undocumented
students were fearful about the impact of their immigration status on their attending college, but
due to years of hard work and aspirational capital, they still pursued their dreams of going to
college. In Means et al.’s (2019) study, a participant went to enroll at the community college
because her charter school was not challenging her academically, an instance the authors
describe as navigational capital. People might not label their thoughts, words, or actions as
capital, but they use them in everyday life.
Next, the highlighted studies found Latinx students employing their community cultural
wealth during the college choice process. Some studies found stronger evidence for only a few of
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the six capitals, while others more evenly reported on all of them. Two of the highlighted studies
identified capital that are not in Yosso’s (2005) model. Means et al. (2019) found that spiritual
capital was displayed when students commented on how their faith helped them stay focused on
their goals when encountering challenging situations. Guzmán et al. (2021) reported an
emotional intelligence capital as the ability of parents to manage stressful situations positively
and effectively to help themselves and their children.
These studies suggest that the capitals naturally emerge in communities of color due to
the students’ upbringings and social experiences. In Guzmán et al.’s (2021) study, parents shared
how they wanted a better future for their children and the opportunity to go to college since they
were unable to go. The parents also modeled and promoted capital, such as familial, social, and
navigational capital. In Means et al.’s (2019) study, a student shared that, despite her teachers
and peers not valuing her bilingualism in English and Spanish, she drew on it as a strength to
help relate to both populations and to do well in school.
Finally, the studies did not delve into whether all students or communities of color
capitalize on all six capitals of community wealth. Many of these studies had small and particular
samples in their studies. I now see the six capitals as systems of knowledge that influence why
and what communities of color do to survive and thrive every day.
Taken together, these previous studies illustrate that the community cultural wealth
model can provide insight into the capital that Latinx students and their families have accrued
both from within and outside of the community. In this study, the community cultural wealth
model was a lens into how students navigate structural and systemic inequalities and
disadvantages and achieve a path to higher education. This model served as a framework to
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better understand the assets and sources that East Los Angeles Latinx students draw on during
the college preparation and application process.

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Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of
Latinx alumni from East Los Angeles high schools as they prepared for and applied to 4-year
institutions. East Los Angeles has a dynamic history and distinctive cultural heritage and has
long served as a haven for immigrants and newcomers to the Los Angeles area. However, the
experiences of students from this area are less examined in the literature. This study used the
framework of community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) to understand their experiences. Semi-
structured interviews were used to gather information from participants about their experiences.
Study Context
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County and CDP in
California. Also commonly referred to as East LA or East Los, East Los Angeles is situated east
of the downtown City of Los Angeles metropolitan center. There are eight high schools within
the boundaries of East Los Angeles. This study was open to students who graduated from these
high schools.
As an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, East Los Angeles is not a city with a
traditional governing structure such as a mayor and city council. Instead, it is represented by a
member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who represents several other
unincorporated areas and cities. East Los Angeles includes the neighborhoods of Belvedere
Gardens, City Terrace, and Eastmont. East Los Angeles is bordered on the north and west by the
City of Los Angeles, to the east by the City of Monterey Park and the City of Montebello, and to
the south by the City of Commerce.
The concentration of Latinxs made East Los Angeles an ideal site because of the context
it provided for this study, given its history with activism related to educational justice for Latinxs
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and the fight for access to opportunities. As of 2019, East Los Angeles had a population of
126,496, and 96.2% of the population identified as Latinx (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b). From
2015 to 2019, 52.3% of residents aged 25 and older had a high school graduate or higher
education, but only 8.7% of persons in the same age group had a bachelor’s degree or higher
(U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-b).
Population and Sample
The focus population for this study was students who attended and graduated from high
schools in East Los Angeles and were current undergraduates at 4-year institutions in California
and one out-of-state. Participants were selected if they attended and graduated from one of eight
high schools in East Los Angeles, including public, alternative, continuation, and charter school
options. The eight high schools within the East Los Angeles unincorporated area are Alliance
Morgan McKinzie High School, City of Angels Independent Studies, Ednovate-Esperanza
College Prep, Esteban E. Torres High School, Hilda L. Solis Learning Academy, James A.
Garfield High School, Monterey Continuation High School, and Ramona Opportunity High
School. These high schools have a Latinx population of 90% or more, except for one that had
72% Latinx (California Department of Education, n.d.; LAUSD, n.d.). The majority of the
schools had a Latinx population close to 100% of the school make-up (California Department of
Education, n.d.; LAUSD, n.d.).
I used two primary tools to select the sample. Purposeful selection, also known as
purposive sampling, was used to guide the selection of interviewees. It is described by Maxwell
(2013) as when “particular settings, persons, or activities are selected deliberately to provide
information that is particularly relevant to your questions or goals, and that cannot be gotten as
well from other choices” (p. 97). This approach was used by having the following criteria
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requirements for participants: being 18 years of age or older, lived in East Los Angeles during
high school, attendance and graduation from a high school in East Los Angeles, current
undergraduate enrollment at a 4-year institution in the United States directly after high school
graduation, not a 2-year college transfer, and identifying with a Latinx ethnicity. I also used
snowball sampling, where participants were asked to recommend one or more additional people
who met the characteristics needed and may agree to participate in the study (Johnson &
Christensen, 2014). Snowball sampling worked well and was appropriate given that an aspect of
East Los Angeles and the population I studied were the existing cultural and community
connections. To avoid placing a burden on the participants, I asked them if they would prefer to
give me the contact information of potential participants so that I could contact them directly. All
the participants agreed to forward my recruitment email to potential participants.
The sample focused on recent Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles
instead of current high school students because, as current college students, they were able to
reflect on their experience with the college choice process. Interviewing undergraduate students
on how they navigated the college application process during their senior year of high school
after the fact instead of when they were entrenched in it was also more appropriate to not
interfere with the process. Interviewing them as undergraduates also provided the opportunity
beyond reflection to ask what they learned from going through this process and how it applied to
their lives today.
The goal of this study was to interview enough participants to reach saturation (Creswell
& Creswell, 2018). The expectation was to interview a minimum of eight to 10 participants.
Saturation is reached when no new or relevant information emerges when more data is collected
(Johnson & Christensen, 2014). The plan was to interview as many as a dozen participants or
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more; however, it was not needed to interview more than eight participants as saturation was
reached.
Pseudonyms were used for the participants to protect their identities. When asked if they
would prefer to choose a pseudonym or if I should select for them, they chose the latter. I chose
pseudonyms in English and Spanish that matched the language of their real name to keep them as
authentic as possible. Their pronouns were also important to ask for so I could reference them
according to their preference. Pseudonyms were used to identify the high schools as well. The
easiest way to give pseudonyms to the high schools was to name them by a number after using
the same name of “East Los Angeles High School.”
The resulting participants represented three different high schools of the eight high
schools located in East Los Angeles. Even though this study only represented three high schools
in East Los Angeles, the sample was not intended to be generalizable, instead it was to be able to
learn from these students’ experiences. Their experiences included some similarities among
those who attended the same high school and some themes that they shared regardless of high
school due to their shared experience of living in East Los Angeles. All participants graduated
from high school within the last 3 years. Three participants graduated in 2019, one in 2020, and
four in 2021. I used general descriptions of the 4-year institutions where the students enrolled
directly after high school and currently attend to provide additional confidentiality. Table 1 also
shows the students’ self-identification within the Latinx ethnicity diaspora.

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Table 1
Study Participants
Pseudonym Pronouns High
school
Year of
high
school
graduation
4-year
institution
Time at
4-year
institution
Ethnicity
identification
Preference
Ana she/her East Los
Angeles
High
School 3
2021 Southern
California
private
university
Less than
1 year
Chicana
Dani they/them East Los
Angeles
High
School 1
2019 Northern
California
public
university
2–3
years
Chicanx
Gabriel he/him East Los
Angeles
High
School 3
2021 Bay Area
private
university
Less than
1 year
Latino
James he/him East Los
Angeles
High
School 1
2019 Southern
California
public
university
2–3 years Chicano
Jasmine she/her East Los
Angeles
High
School 3
2021 Private
college out
of state
Less than
1 year
Latina
Michael he/him East Los
Angeles
High
School 1
2021 Southern
California
private
university
Less than
1 year
Latino
Sofia she/her East Los
Angeles
High
School 2
2020 Southern
California
public
university
1–2 years Chicana
Valentina she/her East Los
Angeles
High
School 1
2019 Southern
California
private
university
2–3 years Latina

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Data Collection Strategy
The institution required approval from the University of Southern California (USC)
Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to data collection. Once IRB approval was granted, I sent
out a recruitment email with information about the study (see Appendix A) and included a link to
a Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire (see Appendix B). The Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire
facilitated participants to express their interest in participating in the study to make sure they met
the basic qualifying criteria for the study, and for me to obtain their contact information. The
recruitment flyer with information about the study (see Appendix C) was attached to the
recruitment email. Since the study was limited to one institution or organization, the recruitment
email and flyer allowed me the flexibility to reach more potential participants. The email and
flyer included that a $25 Amazon gift card would be given to the individuals who completed the
interview. Even when participants skipped certain questions during the interview, it was still
considered a completed interview. The electronic gift card was emailed to the participants within
two business days after the interview.
The link to a Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire was included in the recruitment flyer
and distributed via email to high school counselors and staff at the high schools, non-profit
organizations, and non-campus-based college preparation organizations/programs serving the
East Los Angeles area. It was also emailed to USC academic advisors, USC Latinx student
organizations, the USC Latinx Chicanx Center for Advocacy and Student Affairs (La CASA),
and the USC Latino Alumni Association. I also posted the flyer on my LinkedIn account and
Instagram. The Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire recorded 25 responses. Of the students who
responded to the questionnaire, and after disaggregating the data, only 10 students met the study
criteria. After confirming the person’s appropriateness for the study by making sure they met the
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qualifying criteria for the study, I called or emailed them to set up a time for the 60-minute
recorded Zoom semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted via the Zoom platform due
to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic to protect all the participants' health and safety. The
participants were 18 years of age or older, lived in East Los Angeles during high school, attended
and graduated from a high school in East Los Angeles, were currently enrolled as an
undergraduate at a 4-year institution in the United States, and had directly enrolled after high
school graduation, were not a 2-year college transfer, and identified with a Latinx ethnicity.
All semi-structured interviews used the same interview protocol (see Appendix E) to
maintain consistency. Potential probing questions were included in the protocol to have ready for
clarification. It was important for me to consider how questions were worded to make sure they
were geared toward the focus of the study while also making sure they were clear and easy to
understand (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The community cultural wealth model (Yosso, 2005) and
my research question played a major role in how the interview questions were structured. The
questions were organized for the students to share their experiences throughout the college
choice process and to ask if any support systems were available to them at that time. The
interview protocol included the types of capital I expected would arise from the students’
responses to each question.
Interviews were recorded with the participants’ approval. People who did not agree to be
recorded would not be included in the study. The purpose of recorded interviews was to have an
accurate record of the interview and access to the participants’ responses. The recording allowed
me to not be distracted by writing each participant’s response word-by-word and instead be able
to interact more authentically and ask probing questions as necessary. Zoom allowed for the
interviews to be transcribed, and the transcriptions were checked for accuracy.
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Data Analysis
The community cultural wealth model (Yosso, 2005) was used in this study to guide this
qualitative data analysis on exploring the experiences of recent Latinx alumni from high schools
in East Los Angeles as they prepared for and applied to 4-year institutions. These Latinx alumni
were current undergraduate students at a 4-year college/university in the United States.
The organization of the data was critical to ensure the data were properly managed
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I used coding to manage the data collected and retrieve specific
pieces of data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I started to engage in data analysis as data collection
was happening to gain insight into the data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I did this by reviewing
the interview transcripts after each interview while it was still fresh in my mind and wrote notes
on the margins.
Data analysis included the creation of categories in the form of codes that assisted in
organizing the data into themes that directly related to the purpose of this qualitative study
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Since this study used the community cultural wealth model (Yosso,
2005) as a lens to look at the participants' experiences while they prepared for and applied to 4-
year institutions, the six types of capital shaped the first cycle of coding. During the first cycle, I
used structural coding, which allowed me to have initial major categories or themes to code my
data (Miles et al., 2013; Saldaña, 2016). The types I identified in each interview were part of this
initial process. After the first coding cycle, I moved on to pattern coding (Saldaña, 2016). Pattern
coding allowed me the space to group the larger “summaries into a smaller number of categories,
themes, or constructs” (Miles et al., 2013, p. 86).

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Trustworthiness Measures
Trustworthiness in a research study is measured on whether a methodical process was
used to arrive at the findings and interpretations and whether those can be trusted (Lincoln &
Guba, 1985). The concept of trustworthiness was redefined by Lincoln and Guba (1985) “by
introducing the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability to parallel
the conventional quantitative assessment criteria of validity and reliability” (Nowell et al., 2017,
p. 3). As with any study, there are threats. To ensure the study's trustworthiness, I demonstrated
the following strategies as guided by Lincoln and Guba (1985). To address credibility, I used
member checks to review the interpretations of the data collected from the participants (Lincoln
& Guba, 1985). I incorporated member checks at the end of each interview by summarizing the
main themes that arose through the interview to check for understanding. I was comfortable with
this, as I use this in my daily practice in my profession as an academic advisor. After each
member check, the students agreed with my summary of themes.
To address transferability, thick descriptive data about the context and process of the
study were provided for readers to be well informed of its circumstances (Lincoln & Guba,
1985). I included as much detail as possible about the purpose of this study, the literature review,
and the context of the community chosen for this study. Dependability was assured by detailing
the research process, including data collection methods and study findings (Nowell et al., 2017;
Tobin & Begley, 2004). This chapter has served to detail the data collection methods used in this
study, and Chapter Four provides the study findings. Confirmability “is concerned with
establishing that data and interpretations of the findings are not figments of the inquirer’s
imagination but are clearly derived from the data” (Tobin & Begley, 2004, p. 392). The findings
sections of this dissertation demonstrate confirmability by providing sufficient detail for the
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readers to understand how I arrived at the findings after coding the interview data. Student
quotes were incorporated into the findings section to give space for the student’s own words.
Ethical Considerations
Ethics are important to consider and address in all types of research as it is tied to the
study's trustworthiness (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). A code of ethics published by one of the
national professional associations was used to inform me throughout this study (Creswell &
Creswell, 2018). As required, I received approval from the USC IRB prior to collecting any data.
The information sheet (see Appendix D) was given to the study participants prior to data
collection via email as a PDF attachment when they were sent the Zoom link for the scheduled
interview. I identified myself, the sponsoring institution, the purpose of the study, described the
benefits of the study, the level, and type of participation, noted any potential risks, assured
confidentiality, had open withdrawal from the study, and provided contact information to the
participants (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Participants were told that they could ask for the
recording to stop at any time, withdraw from the interview, and skip any interview questions.
Since the site selection of East Los Angeles has been made public as the main focus of
this study, where Latinx alumni from the area high schools were recruited as participants,
confidentiality was of the utmost priority. Participants were made aware that confidentiality
applied to them from the Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire through the end of the study. The
responses from the Qualtrics recruitment questionnaire, interview recordings, and interview
transcripts were saved in a secure, password-protected computer. Pseudonyms were used to
protect participants’ identities. I stored interview notes and the codebook in a secure location and
kept no personally identifying information.

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Role of the Researcher
In qualitative research, it is imperative for the readers to understand how the researcher’s
beliefs, experiences, and expectations may have positively or negatively affected the structure
and outcomes of the study and how these potential negative effects were avoided (Maxwell,
2013). I acknowledge my biases, experiences, dispositions, and assumptions for readers to
understand how the research study was constructed (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I identify as a
Latina woman and Zapotec indigenous background, daughter of Mexican immigrants, first-
generation college graduate, and an alum of James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.
I was born in Los Angeles and grew up in East Los Angeles since the age of 5, and returned to
live there a few years after I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. My background
helped me in this research because I am familiar with the area, know community members, and
speak Spanish fluently. I think it helped me to build rapport with my participants because I
attended a local high school, and they might have been able to relate more easily (Maxwell,
2013). Also, I volunteer my time every year helping students apply to college and financial aid,
which has given me familiarity with the process.
My experiences and assumptions of what it means to be a Latinx from East Los Angeles
may have affected how I processed and interpreted the data. When I was in high school, my
counselor discouraged me from applying to my chosen universities without looking at my record
or asking me for more details about my extracurricular activities. Based on this experience, I
thought that participants in my study might report not having strong support from their school
counselors or other school staff members. Also, based on the low percentage of high school
students from East Los Angeles that go on to 4-year colleges and universities after high school in
comparison to community colleges, I felt that there might be a specific reason to explain this
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pattern that might come out in the study. I remained open about the alumni of the different high
schools in East Los Angeles that would participate in my study and hoped to have a diverse
sample. I did what I could to ensure that my experience as a Latina alum of James A. Garfield
High School in East Los Angeles did not impact the study. I did not exclude students from any of
the eight high schools in East Los Angeles as long as they met the other criteria for the study. I
did my best to reach out to various community stakeholders and aimed for a well-balanced
sample of alumni from the different high schools. Despite my best efforts, participants were
alumni from three of the eight high schools in the area.

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Chapter Four: Findings
This chapter presents the findings that emerged through the analysis of interview data.
The data was collected through interviews with eight Latinx East Los Angeles high school
alumni who are current undergraduates at 4-year institutions in the United States. In this chapter,
I present the findings within the categories based on the conceptual framework, Yosso’s (2005)
community cultural wealth used in this study. These categories are aspirational, linguistic,
familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital. I end the chapter with a conclusion of the
findings.
Before moving to the presentation of the findings, I would like to comment on the place,
East Los Angeles. East LA serves an important role in this study and for its participants. I began
interviews with a warm-up question, asking students to “describe your community to a new
friend.” Many of the students shared similar sentiments about East LA, centered around the
importance of family, community life, cultural traditions, and history. James stated,
The best part about it is probably the people because, once you kind of get invited
to somebody's house, the atmosphere is super friendly. We're super family
oriented. It's like if you're stepping into our house. You're definitely like a
member of our household. Heartwarming I guess. I’m not sure how to describe,
but that's the best way I could say it.
Other participants shared similar feelings and anecdotes about their personal experiences with
East Los Angeles. A table listing all of the responses to this question can be found in Appendix
F. I believe it is important to recognize and keep this important geographical context in mind as a
backdrop to the discussion in the following sections.

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Presentation of Findings
This section provides an overview of the categories identified in the responses of the
eight participants in relation to the research question. The research question addressed in this
study asked, “Using a framework of community cultural wealth, what are the experiences of
recent Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles as they prepared for and applied to
4-year institutions?” Since Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model was embedded in
the research question, the logical way to structure the categories of this chapter was by the six
types of capital of the framework model. I present the data and findings in relation to each of the
six types in community cultural wealth: aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and
resistant.
Yosso (2005) asserted that “these various forms of capital are not mutually exclusive or
static, but rather dynamic processes that build on one another as part of community cultural
wealth” (p. 77). Therefore, it was difficult to differentiate at some points whether some data
belonged under one form of capital or another. To compromise, beneath each major category,
there are sub-categories of prevalent findings from the eight interviews. An overview of the sub-
categories can be seen in Figure 6. The sub-categories were aligned under the most relevant
capital, and all centered on the interviewees’ experiences.

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Figure 6
Overview of Sub-Categories

Aspirational
• Family Members Nurtured College
Aspirations
• School Teachers and Advisors Encouraged
College Aspirations
• Participant Aspirations to Go to a Four-Year
Institution
Linguistic
• Multilingualism Has Positive and Negative
Influences on the College Preparation and
Application Process
• Multilingualism Provided Access to Other
Forms of Capital
Familial
• Parent's Emotional Support and
Encouragement Was a Prominent Source of
Familial Capital
• Extended Family Were an Additional
Emotional and Physical Support System
Social
•Teachers Provided Essential College Knowledge
and Assistance With College Application Essays
and Selecting a College to Attend
•College Counselors Play an Integral Role in
Providing Assistance to Students in the College
Application and Selection Process
•Students' Experiences Varied Depending on the
Level of Interaction With Their Guidance
Counselors or School Advisors
•Friends Can Be Sources of Emotional Support
and College Knowledge
Navigational
• Participants Took Initiative in Asking for
Help to Close the Gap in Resources
• Technology Provided Accessibility to
Students to College Information and
College and Financial Aid Applications
• The College Preparation, Application, and
Selection Process Taught Participants to
Persevere Despite Personal Challenges
Resistant
• Increasing Latinx Representation in College
Was a Motivating Factor to Go to College
• Parents' Examples Were Sources of
Strength, Perseverance, and Inspiration for
Their Children
• Racist Incidents Motivated Students to Go
to College and Prove Others Wrong
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Aspirational Capital
Aspirational capital is the ability of people to hope and dream of a different future, even
without the realistic resources to make it possible (Yosso, 2005). Aspirational capital can be
drawn from “social and familial contexts” in different forms, such as through stories, advice, and
goal discussions (Yosso, 2005, p. 77). All participants discussed aspirational capital derived from
interactions with family members, teachers, and school advisors. These people encouraged
participants to aspire to go to college by providing advice, suggestions, or information. This
capital focuses on the hopes and dreams of individuals, so one of the findings included the
participants’ aspirations to go to a 4-year college or university.
Family Members Nurtured College Aspirations
The participants noted that their family members contributed to their aspirations to go to
college. When asked who or what inspired them to go to college, six of the participants talked
about their parents, one of those students also talked about their cousins, another one talked
about her grandparents, and only one student talked about their sibling. The students described
how their family members' advice inspired them to think about college. Family members
inspired the students by providing information about the value of a degree and earning potential.
They also provided words of encouragement and served as role models.
The students’ parents inspired them to go to college by providing advice and words of
encouragement. Some of the advice was ambiguous, while other advice was focused on the
financial outcomes of getting a college degree. Sofia said, “Both of my parents really encouraged
me to go to college and keep focusing on my studies.” Other students shared more detail about
their parents’ encouragement, many of the parents wanting a better life and future for their
children than they had experienced. Valentina’s and James’s parents equated earning a college
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degree with earning more money. Valentina said, “My mom would tell me this often: ‘I don't
want you working 9 to 5 breaking your back for minimum wage when you can do less work for
more money. I didn't come to this country for you to not succeed.’” Valentina’s mother seemed
to be using guilt to encourage her to go to college. James said, “I guess everybody's parents say
going to college is good because it's going to get you a degree, and then you're going to have the
opportunity to make more money.” Ana’s mother was very specific about why Ana should go to
college, focusing on the advantage of having a degree in life and helping her visualize what that
could do for her in the future. Ana said, “[Growing] up, my mother used to tell me you could go
to high school and then you could go to college, and you could have a better future for yourself.”
Gabriel and Michael’s parents seemed to agree that a college degree would provide an
opportunity to have access to higher-paying jobs, which would enable a more stable economic
life that could possibly benefit the family. Gabriel noted that “Within my family, college was
seen as the gateway to being able to access certain resources like having a financial stable
background or to break those generational curses of poverty.” Michael said his parents did not
graduate from high school, and they would tell him, “Don't end up like us. Go to college, get a
good job, and then, you know, take care of us when we're older, too.” Michael’s parents also
seemed to be using guilt and putting an additional burden on Michael in why he needed to go to
college to support them later in life.
Three participants expressed they were encouraged to think about going to college by
siblings, cousins, or grandparents. The siblings and cousins inspired the students to go to college
by serving as role models. The grandparents played a similar role as the parents, providing words
of encouragement based on their personal experiences. Michael mentioned his older brother, who
went to a community college and wanted to be an engineer. Michael expressed how he also liked
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math and physics and wanted to follow in his brother's footsteps. Michael’s brother served as a
role model to go to college and a source of inspiration. Students shared their interactions with
other family members, like their cousins and grandparents. Valentina shared, “I looked up at my
older cousins. One of my cousins actually graduated from [a private 4-year institution], so she
was kind of my guide as to what to do and how to get there.” Valentina’s cousins served as role
models to her, particularly the one who graduated from a 4-year institution.
Sofia’s grandparents encouraged her to pursue higher education as they were unable to
and wished for a better economic outcome for Sofia. This approach was similar to the parental
advice and encouragement mentioned above. Sofia, for example, explained,
My grandparents inspired me a lot because they moved here to Los Angeles when they
were young, and they didn't get to have an education at all. They stopped going to school
when they were in elementary school. So, they would encourage me and the rest of my
cousins to do better and to get at least something like a degree, at least of high school or
college degree. They were like, “Work hard and get at least something to provide for
yourself when you grow up.”
School Teachers and Advisors Encouraged College Aspirations
Three of the participants mentioned that their teachers impacted their aspirations to go to
college. These students' responses suggest that these teachers nurtured the students’ aspirations
by showing care, pushing these students to set college goals, talking early and often about
college, and acting as role models. For example, James discussed how his Advanced Placement
(AP) teachers showed they cared about him more than any other teachers at his high school, and
“they really kind of pushed me into the whole college environment.” James also shared what one
of his AP teachers “would push us a lot to be the best versions of ourselves and would always
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tell us ‘nobody can take away your education, once you learn something there's nobody stopping
you, education and knowledge are the ultimate tools.’” The high school teachers James described
made an impact because they believed in his potential and encouraged him to set high goals.
Michael’s middle school teacher started telling their students early on about types of colleges and
majors and encouraging students to prepare to apply to college. Michael said his seventh-grade
teachers started “talking about colleges and getting ready for preparing to apply to colleges and
think about what colleges you're going to apply to and your majors, and it kind of had to get me
thinking.” Dani’s teacher was not as explicitly encouraging them to go to college or telling them
how to prepare for it. Instead, Dani was inspired to pursue a college degree to become a teacher
to emulate their teacher in being a role model for their community. Dani said, “he was like one of
the reasons why I wanted to be a teacher just the way he connected with the students … it was
just a very relaxed and supporting area.”
Three of the students described how the high school advisors promoted a college
education, which increased their college aspirations. These students' responses show that the
advisors supported their aspirations by showing them the earning potential with a college degree,
finding creative ways to get the students to think early about college, believing in their potential
to succeed, and guiding them along their growth journey. Gabriel talked about how his advisor
promoted college by “bring[ing] up statistics compared to an associate's or a bachelor's and
master's. You see this trend. The higher the title of your degree is, the more money you earn.”
Gabriel’s advisor encouraged students to pursue a college degree by showing them how much
more money a person can earn with each type of degree. Ana shared how her high school advisor
talked to her and the classmates about college since the first week of high school and even made
them write a letter to themselves. Ana described what the advisor said the letter should include 4
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years from then: “where you're going to be, what college you're going to be at, think about what
exactly do you want to do in life, you don't have to know yet.” Ana said that the letter was a way
for them to start thinking about college early on, and it was also mailed to her this past fall when
she started her first semester at the university. The advisor’s assignment created an opportunity
for students to explore the possibilities of going to college and beyond. This quote did not quite
capture Ana’s excitement in sharing this story because it was a significant event that happened in
her life to get her thinking about her future and how college fits into it. Jasmine shared how her
advisor interacted with her: “She really helped push me and see that there's much more that I can
give in terms of potential to really believe that I can make it to college. She focused a lot on my
mindset.” Jasmine’s advisor would talk to her frequently and encourage her to step out of her
comfort zone and tell her things like, “Aquí vamos a estar. We're going to keep pushing you until
you're at the best version of yourself that you can be.” Believing in the students’ potential and
helping them grow could help them trust that they can go to college.
Participant Aspirations to Go to a 4-Year Institution
The participants were asked why they decided to apply to 4-year colleges and universities
and what specific aspirations they had in regard to attending. The participants had similar
reasons for why they pursued applying to 4-year institutions, such as the advantages available
and the career preparation they would receive. Half of the students additionally noted being
motivated to apply to a 4-year institution to leave their home, knowing the institution would
require on-campus housing.
Five of the students aspired to go to 4-year colleges and universities to access the
education provided and access to the benefits of attending such institutions. For example, Ana
said, “I liked how it gave you a lot of networking opportunities, how it was just a resource and a
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bigger open door for you to get the job that you wanted.” James also thought the 4-year
institutions would provide a good education and help him find a career. For Ana and James, the
appeal of the 4-year institutions was focused on career preparation. Gabriel was focused on his
preferred major being offered and the institution’s prestige. Gabriel said, “I wanted to be a
political science major, so I just chose colleges that I felt were best for political science, and I
also chose colleges that were prestigious and also known for the title of their name.” Jasmine
wanted to go to a 4-year institution to get the degree she needed to go to law school and was
looking at what she could learn through that undergraduate education. Jasmine discussed how
she wanted the bachelor’s degree due to the encouragement from her high school and parents,
but she also wanted to become a lawyer, so she knew that she needed a degree before going to
law school. She said that at a 4-year institution, she would have “different experiences as well as
skills developed.” Sofia alluded to a perceived notion of the type of students that belonged at a 4-
year institution and wanted to become part of that system. Sofia thought 4-year institutions were
for the “good students” and “top high achievers,” and she considered herself one of those
students, so she wanted to fulfill that dream to attend one.
Four students wanted to leave their homes and saw the 4-year colleges and universities as
an opportunity to meet that goal instead of attending a local community college, where housing
would not be provided. The students saw the 4-year universities as a vehicle to move out of their
homes and live farther away directly after high school. Dani wanted to go far away from home to
have time to get to know themselves and have “the personal growth rather than professional or
educational development” and was motivated to apply to certain universities that had first-year
guaranteed housing. Gabriel expressed similar sentiments to Dani, saying he did not want to go
to college nearby: “just the idea of freedom, and being independent. I think that's what motivated
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me the most because I knew that I didn't want to stay in my parents’ house.” Gabriel and Dani
wanted to go far away to college to have the opportunity to explore their life independently away
from their families, something they had not had the chance to do before. Valentina also wanted
to go to college far away from home because she did not want to stay near East LA and said she
was “tired of these people. I don't want to see them anymore.” Valentina wanted a new
environment and the opportunity to meet new people at college and did not feel it was possible if
she attended the local colleges. Michael also wanted to leave his home for college, but not for
independence. Instead, he wanted to have better living conditions. Michael shared,
I grew up in a house that was not falling apart, but it wasn't good. The electricity was bad,
the plumbing was bad, we had roach infestations, and I kind of wanted to be able to, you
know, because it's the story always here. You go to college, you make some money, and
then you kind of get something better than what you used to have, and I don't really care
about making too much money, but I don't want to live in a situation like that again.
The students had similar perceptions of how education and, ultimately, a bachelor’s
degree would benefit them. The students also agreed on the importance of career preparation
after graduation. Two of the students, Michael and Sofia, alluded to the idea of perceived
“prestige” and how only “top high achievers” attend 4-year institutions and how they wanted to
be part of those groups of students. The students who wanted to go to a 4-year institution to go
far away from home were encouraged by the availability of student housing on those campuses.
Linguistic Capital
Yosso (2005) described this form of capital as “the idea that Students of Color arrive at
school with multiple language and communication skills” (p. 78). This study did not require
participants to know a language other than English. However, their language abilities came up
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during the interviews. Specifically, an interview question asked about the role of language in
college preparation and application. The participants’ multilingual skills impacted these
processes and were connected to their identity, culture, family, and other forms of capital.
Multilingualism Has Positive and Negative Influences on the College Preparation and
Application Process
Six students identified as bilingual in English and Spanish. The other two reported
speaking Spanish very little, but they were working on learning Spanish. The majority of the
participants shared experiences on how having some level of Spanish knowledge might have
helped them in the college application process, while two reported it did not have an impact
either way. The participants shared that knowing English and Spanish at varying levels may have
helped, hindered, or had no impact on applying to college.
Two students felt that being multilingual did not have an impact. Ana and Sofia did not
think that language played a role. As Ana put it, “When it came to the college process, I’m very
grateful because everything was done in English, so I understood … [and] it wasn't hard
communicating with my parents because there was no language barrier.” Sofia also did not think
it had a role as she said other people also know more than one language. To Sofia’s point, she
thought being bilingual was almost common.
Some students felt that being bilingual in Spanish had a positive influence on their
college application process. Four students found a way to acknowledge knowing a second
language and incorporated it into their college applications. James thought that “being bilingual
would help you in the application process” and thought it was something more unique that would
stand out in the application process. Gabriel expressed being comfortable with both languages
and said he “was pretty confident in my writing style because I kind of play around with my
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words and the syntax of my sentences.” Valentina did not think it hindered her to know another
language; instead, she said, “as for applying, it helped me with my language requirement being
fulfilled because I got a five on the AP exam, and that's pretty much it because I haven't needed
to take Spanish class or any foreign language class.” Jasmine identified as having a Salvadorian
background and had a difficult time in East LA because she said that her Spanish was a bit
different than the Spanish spoken in the neighborhood, but instead of letting that affect her, she
included her experience in her college application essays. Jasmine said,
Through my personal statement, I spoke about the challenges that I had, whether it was
just because I spoke Spanish and everyone else spoke English or because I was in a
predominantly Mexican community, and some of them were like, “I do not understand
what you're saying. What's that accent? Like, where are you from?” Or something like
that, so I found a way to kind of show that, despite that challenge, how it helped me grow
and how even I felt at some point that I was not ashamed, but kind of scared to show that
side of me, how eventually I learned that okay language does play a huge part of my
identity, and I shouldn't be afraid to show the community I’m a part of.
Jasmine’s experience shows how students can struggle to gain acceptance with peers even when
they speak the same language and are from the same ethnicity. Jasmine persevered despite these
interactions with community members and used them as a strength in her application essays.
Two students felt that being bilingual negatively influenced their college preparation and
application process. Dani felt that learning Spanish as their first language hindered them during
the process. Dani described having difficulty with writing and grammar in English, which
resulted in bad grades on their papers, so much so that they were frustrated, and it “was one of
the reasons why I didn't want to go to college.” Dani did apply to colleges that required essays,
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but they asked for help. Dani described their process: “Writing my personal insight questions, I
looked at them 1000 times, I read it out loud, I read it backward. That's the only reason why I
had my English teacher revise it … and my friends.” Dani did not appreciate their
multilingualism as an asset while writing their college application essays. Nonetheless, they did
not let these challenges stop them from applying to college. However, Michael thought it helped
him a little, but might have hindered him as he did not want to say he spoke Spanish fluently
when asked about his language proficiency in the college applications.
The role of multilingualism cannot be ignored in the lives of these participants. Most of
them either thought it helped them on their college application process. The participants thought
that being bilingual was an asset to be showcased in their college applications. Even the students
who did not have fluency in Spanish saw it as a positive.
Multilingualism Provided Access to Other Forms of Capital
Language serves as a connection to other human beings. Language is also important to
people in that it provides a connection to one’s family, culture, and the broader community.
Through the students’ stories, it became apparent that multilingualism provided access to other
forms of capital, such as familial, social, navigational, and resistant.
One of the main connections found was between linguistic and familial and social capital.
All participants agreed on the importance of being bilingual in English and Spanish to
communicate with family and community members. James, who speaks little Spanish, brought
up that his motivation to learn Spanish was to communicate with his family. James said, “My
grandma, my only grandparent who's still alive, she only speaks Spanish, and so every time that I
visit her she's always speaking to me in Spanish, and I’m always trying to pick up on new words
and phrases.” Ana likes speaking both languages because she is able to communicate with her
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grandmother, who only speaks Spanish. Both James and Ana liked to be bilingual as they both
had monolingual grandparents, something commonly found in intergenerational families. Dani
and Valentina had a similar experience with their parents. Dani described feeling “being
bilingual to me has always been empowering.” Dani mentioned how their parents only spoke
Spanish, which impacted with whom they could communicate outside of the household. Dani
said they were “the person that would translate everything, read documents to my parents, speak
for my parents in different situations, so I feel I’ve always just had to upkeep both languages.”
Valentina said, “my mom used me as a translator a lot. She had me translating documents when I
was younger.” Both of these students were crucial to their families as sources of information and
connectors to the English-speaking world. This also suggests Dani and Valentina were able to
use their navigational capital and bilingual skills to provide information to their parents. Sofia
also found it beneficial to be able to communicate with more people, including family and
community members, because she was bilingual.
A few of the participants had connections between their linguistic and social capital, as
their ability to speak Spanish connected them with other Spanish speakers. The participants also
noted how they connected their bilingual skills to their culture, an aspect of familial capital. Dani
has appreciated knowing Spanish in college as it has allowed them to connect with their “Chilat”
peers, referring to Chicanx or Latinx peers. They said, “with the Chilat communities that I’m
close with, a lot of us are bilingual, and sometimes we speak in Spanish. I feel that makes me
feel connected with my identity and definitely at home.” Gabriel liked being bilingual and
appreciated the culture that came with speaking Spanish, but he also said that he liked connecting
with other people who also spoke Spanish to be able to learn more about their culture. Similarly,
Jasmine liked being bilingual and able to connect with others and “embraced [her] culture.”
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These students show that knowing Spanish served as another avenue to connect with new people,
and it is a way Latinx people can feel connected with others through language.
Even though participants noted ways that linguistic capital connected to other forms of
capital, a couple of students encountered challenges with having less linguistic capital. James felt
that not being fluent in Spanish has affected him. James said, “It hindered me for sure because
not only can I not speak fluently to people in my own community, but it’s definitely going to be
a setback.” Michael also experienced difficulties with family and community members due to not
being fluent in Spanish and trying to learn it. Michael said,
It's kind of difficult when you're trying to learn Spanish as a Mexican, and they're kind of
making fun of the certain ways you pronounce things. They're supportive, but there's also
instances in where they kind of make fun of you for it, but it's like they try to make fun of
you in order to motivate you to learn more but, depending on the way your mindset is,
you probably won't see it that way, or maybe you will, and you keep on learning. I
always just laugh it off, too, and try to improve.
Both of these students experienced challenges due to their low fluency in Spanish. They both
hinted at this idea of trying to belong within their family and their larger Latinx community by
trying to learn Spanish. Even with less Spanish fluency, these students still found it important to
have it to access familial capital and social capital.
Even though the participants all brought up how speaking in English and Spanish was
important to communicate with family and community members, it was not an easy time for
them all. These challenges exemplified the connection between linguistic and resistant capital.
Resistant capital was seen in their actions to acknowledge and use their bilingual skills. Some of
the students accepted the value of speaking Spanish to communicate with and even interpret and
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translate for family members, such as parents and grandparents, who only spoke Spanish. The
two participants with low fluency in Spanish experienced challenges trying to learn Spanish to be
able to communicate with others and persisted despite these challenges. Although the
participants shared some of the struggles and challenges they faced with multilingualism, it was
also evident how it related heavily to how linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant
capitals intersected.
Familial Capital
Yosso (2005) described familial capital as the “cultural knowledges nurtured among
familia (kin)” (p. 79). These connections with family help people with different types of support
and resources (Yosso, 2005). The interviewees discussed familial capital at multiple points
throughout the college preparation and application process. Parents were a prominent source of
familial capital as they were a source of emotional support and encouragement through college
application and selection, but not during college preparation. This support was especially
meaningful to the participants as they filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA). The parents had a difficult time with their children selecting colleges far away as they
wanted them to stay nearby to keep the family connections. The extended family members
served as an additional emotional and physical support system as they assisted these students
through the process. These extended family members included siblings, cousins, and the family
at large.
Parent’s Emotional Support and Encouragement Were Prominent Sources of Familial
Capital
When students were asked about family involvement in college preparation, application,
and selection, they mentioned their parents frequently. Parents served as participants' biggest
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supporters. Parental emotional support and encouragement were crucial as the participants
navigated a complicated and long process. Even though some parents could not provide hands-on
assistance, they made up for that shortcoming by providing support in other ways.
During college preparation, most participants stated that their parents were not involved.
All participants identified as first-generation college students, which was part of the reason they
felt their parents were not involved in preparing them for college. This result seems
contradictory. As shared earlier, students verbalized that their parents played a role in their
aspirations to go to college but could not articulate that when asked specifically how their
parents and family were involved.
Only one student provided an example of how her parents were involved in her college
preparation. Jasmine said,
Despite them being immigrants and not having the opportunity to go to college
themselves, they were extremely involved. Once they learned freshman year because,
again, the school gave a whole pamphlet of what to expect throughout the years, my
parents, every day, were there to support me. I know my dad helped me a lot with testing,
bettering my math skills, while my mom helped me a lot with my comprehension, and
when they got the chance, getting out from work, just sitting down with me and doing the
practice ACT as well.
The parents of these participants were not involved hands-on with the participants’
college application and selection, but they were still an important source of capital. The parents
provided emotional support and encouragement through stressful points. Four participants shared
that their parents provided emotional support and encouragement. Some students kept their
parents aware of the steps they were taking. Ana said, “When it came to the Common App, I was
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okay. I got that under control. You don't have to worry about that, but, of course, I kept them
aware of what was going on. I luckily had their support.” Sofia’s and James’s parents would
check in with them about their progress with their college applications. Sofia shared that her
parents “would just encourage me to get the application done.” James felt his parents were not
directly involved, but instead, “My parents would motivate me like ‘oh how's your college
application going, is it done?’ They would come and just check up on me, make sure that
everything is going smoothly.” Jasmine’s parents were a bit different as they would actively
encourage her to apply to 4-year colleges and universities since she entered high school and, as
mentioned earlier, would support her in preparing.
In contrast, four students had slightly different interactions with their parents. They did
not feel that their parents were supportive of them during the process. Dani felt alone: “I think
that there wasn't a lot of support in general because my parents just didn't know anything about
the university or colleges, so they kind of left it up to me.” Michael relayed similar sentiments
and said his parents had no involvement. Valentina’s parents did not speak English, so she said,
“My parents didn't really know what I was doing. I kind of applied to everything on my own. I
didn't say anything. I did it all on my own.” These three students felt isolated as their parents did
not interact with them as they applied to college, a weight they had to carry on their own. One
student chose to be more guarded and wanted to be left alone. Gabriel wanted to be more
independent: “My parents tried to ask me what colleges I was applying to, and that was basically
it. I didn't really want help from my family in that sense.”
A few of the students shared that their parents were supportive when they were admitted
to college and involved in selecting one. Ana’s parents sat with her when she checked the
admissions decision from her top choice college. Ana described that moment and said she was
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scared as she opened the email, while her parents were happy for her and “very much like ‘oh
my God, you got in!’ I think it's a proud moment for my parents. They're very supportive.
They're my cheerleaders.” Ana’s parents provided emotional support for her, while James’s
parents took a more proactive approach in helping him select a college. James relied on his
family when comparing the colleges he was accepted to: “My parents would help me just
because they would break it down for me. I showed them the schools that I was accepted to.”
Valentina’s parents pressured her to choose the college of their choice as it would benefit
their family financially because her father was eligible for tuition assistance for his children.
Valentina’s parents highly encouraged her to go to the university where her father worked: “My
parents were dead set on me going there, so they were ecstatic when I got accepted.” Gabriel, at
first, had a difficult time gaining the support of his parents, but ultimately they were supportive
of his college choices: “They kind of reassured me at the end: ‘No matter where you are going to
go, we are still going to support you.’” Dani also had a hard time getting the support of their
parents to go to the colleges of their choice, but they had many conversations about it, and, at the
end, they decided to support them. Dani said, “My parents just kind of explained it to me, ‘you
know what you're doing, and as long as you're doing something good for yourself, we’ll support
you.’” Dani shared that after they made their decision on which college to attend, they wanted to
tour the campus, so “my dad, my mom and my sister all came with me to check out the campus,
and that was the first ‘we support you, we just want you to be happy and do what you need to
do.’” Dani appreciated that their parents finally showed them not only verbally but with the
gesture of the trip to the college campus how they supported their decision.
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The participants' parents seemed to be the most prominent source of familial capital for
most of these students. Even though none of the parents went to college and could not provide
hands-on support, they provided emotional support and encouragement to most students.
Support and Encouragement During the FAFSA Application Process Were
Especially Meaningful. Almost all participants agreed that their parents were involved as they
were applying for financial aid, as the FAFSA requires parents’ income information for
dependent students. Some involvement consisted of the parents sitting next to their students
while they were completing their FAFSA, but the students filled out the application. The support
and encouragement the participants received from their parents were highly appreciated and
welcomed. Ana described how she attended a virtual FAFSA workshop, so she was at home, and
she “asked my mom, ‘do you want to sit with me and go over this whole thing?’ They were
doing the presentation, I had the FAFSA opened, I had the paperwork, and I was, ‘Okay, I think
everything's in order.”
Dani attended an in-person workshop at their high school: “I remember my mom came in
with me, ready with the taxes, and she just sat down with me. It was in the library, so there's
more computers. I remember for sure she came with me.” Sofia shared that one of her parents
was involved for “FAFSA during the times I think my mom would always go with me and just
anything that I needed from her, like the taxes.” These quotes do not quite capture the emotions
expressed by Ana, Dani, and Sofia during the interviews. Ana, Dani, and Sofia’s facial
expressions, tones, and emotions showed that it meant a lot for their mothers to accompany them
while completing a stressful and complicated application like the FAFSA. Even though their
mothers could not provide hands-on assistance, the act of sitting with them carried much weight.
In Ana, Dani, and Sofia’s case, it seemed to provide them comfort for their mothers to be with
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them, while Valentina seemed to feel it was unnecessary as she just needed the tax forms from
her parents. Valentina mentioned that her parents attended a financial aid assembly workshop
hosted by her college counselor, but other than that, she “just took their tax forms” and
completed the FAFSA on her own.
Michael said, “My parents mostly helped me on the FAFSA” with filling out the tax
information. Gabriel’s parents were not involved as much in physically helping him, but they
expressed their concerns to Gabriel regarding the application as it was asking for a lot of
information, and they wanted to make sure he would fill out correctly. Michael and Gabriel
seemed to not care much about their parents’ involvement. However, James provided insight into
how he had constant communication with his parents regarding the application to make sure their
family information was accurately represented. James said, “there was definitely a lot of
involvement back and forth like, ‘Oh, here's the paperwork” with his parents when completing
the FAFSA as he also needed much information about their marital status. James did not seem to
mind that his parents were so actively involved in the FAFSA application process as they all
wanted to make sure it was filled out correctly.
Parent’s Desire for Children to Go to Colleges Nearby Was a Way to Keep Family
Connections Alive. There were parents who did not support their students in applying to
colleges far away from home. The students wanted to move away to be independent and access
different housing. A point of contention was when parents found out where their children were
applying to college. Three of the students did not tell their parents where the colleges they were
applying to were located, and the other three did. However, the parents had a difficult time
supporting their children's choices as they wanted to keep them at home and close to the rest of
the family. Six participants reported that their parents did not want them to go far away to
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college. The parents wanted their children to go to colleges and universities near East Los
Angeles. In addition to what students said in interviews, it was also evident from their tones and
non-verbal expressions that some felt strained in making decisions about where to attend college,
knowing their parents wanted them to stay close to home.
Some parents were upset when they found out how far the colleges their children had
applied to were and vocalized it to the students. Dani reported that their mom did not support
them regarding their college application choices: “I remember that was a constant battle with my
mom. She had asked me why I hadn't applied to schools closer, and I’ll say because I want to
go.” Gabriel reported a similar experience with his mother not supporting his choices: “My mom
would say, “You're going really far. I already knew it was going to be the best for my education
and also for my mental health, so that's why I didn't really take it into consideration.” As
mentioned earlier, Dani and Gabriel were the two students that aspired to go to 4-year
institutions far away to be independent, which caused friction with their parents’ desires to stay
close to home. Michael reported not feeling supported to go to the colleges of his choice as he
applied to some colleges in the area and some far away. When Michael’s father found out where
he applied, Michael said, “My dad wasn't too thrilled about it because he kind of wants me to be
local to help with maintaining the house and taking care of my grandpa. So, I guess I felt
somewhat supported, but not 100%.” Michael wanted to go to a 4-year institution to have access
to better housing conditions than at home, so it was interesting how his father did not have the
same view as Michael.
Other parents were supportive of their children applying to different colleges, regardless
of distance, but they struggled to continue to emotionally support them once they realized they
would move far away for college when the college acceptance letters arrived. Jasmine’s parents
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were openly supportive of her applying to whichever 4-year colleges and universities she
wanted, but the impact of her moving did not dawn on them until she was nominated for a full-
tuition scholarship. Jasmine described her parents’ reactions: “My dad was excited, but
sometimes they don't want to show it too much. So, he was just quiet about it because, in his
mind, he was like se va a ir, and my mom couldn't hide the emotions.” Jasmine’s parents were
supportive of her going away, but they were still sad to let her go.
Sofia’s parents were supportive of her going to 4-year institutions, but once they found
out where she was applying, they would tell her, “Don't leave. It's better to stay here at home and
go to a college that is a bit closer. It will be better for you.” Sofia was going to go to a 4-year
university in Central California but decided against it due to the COVID-19 pandemic and chose
a school nearby after all. Valentina’s parents were not really aware of where she applied, so her
parents did not find out until she received the acceptance letters. She would show the acceptance
letters to her parents, and she said, “My mom was not happy with the fact that I had applied to a
couple of them that were far. She wasn't mad, but she didn't want me to go.” Valentina’s mother
also struggled with letting her daughter go away to college, even though she initially wanted her
to. The parents showed hesitation in supporting their children in choosing colleges that were far
away, and they tried different ways to dissuade their children from going to those institutions.
Extended Family Were an Additional Emotional and Physical Support System
Four participants reported getting additional emotional and hands-on support from
extended family. These extended family members were also helpful in assisting with financial
aid applications. These extended family members included siblings, cousins, and their family
members at large.
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Two students received assistance from their older siblings. Gabriel did not want his
parents as involved, but he did ask for help from his older sister with the financial aid
application, as he said, “She helped me fill out my FAFSA and also my CSS,” and he still goes
to her when he needs help with those applications every year. The CSS Profile is a financial aid
application sometimes required by some private colleges and universities in addition to the
FAFSA. Michael’s older brother also helped him complete the income information portion of the
application. Gabriel and Michael relied on their older siblings who had gone to college to help
them, as these siblings had completed FAFSA before.
Since other family members of Michael could not answer questions about the 4-year
college application, he asked his girlfriend’s older sister for help. Michael needed help with his
college essays, specifically the personal insight questions (PIQs) required for the UC application.
He also needed help with the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) application. Michael said,
“My girlfriend's older sister, who recently graduated from college, kind of helped me with
looking over PIQs and the EOP part of the Cal State application.” Michael was creative in asking
for help with his college essays from a connection he knew via his girlfriend.
One student received assistance and encouragement from her cousins. Valentina relied on
her cousins for information about college, and they would also encourage her. She said, “My
cousins would say it doesn't hurt to apply, just apply. If you get rejected, okay, well, then there's
other schools, but it never hurts to apply.” Valentina also relied on one of her cousins attending a
4-year institution. Valentina shared that she contacted her cousin directly: “Any small questions
that popped up, I would shoot her a text me like, ‘What does it mean by this, so what am I
supposed to put here?’ She would clarify it, and it would be easier for me.” Valentina was able to
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find the college information she needed from her cousins and even another group of people who
motivated her to apply.
James was the only student who mentioned that his extended family was helpful. James
shared that he received verbal encouragement from his family at large:
My whole family, as well as my tías who have their children and they want to go to
college. It was more a family sort of motivation kind of thing, you know. Oh, it’s going
to be the best thing for you, you know. You got to go to college, get your career, get your
degree, and stuff like that.
James’s extended family showcased how important it can be for the family to promote a college-
going environment for all.
Social Capital
Social capital is composed of the connections to people and community resources that
may “provide both instrumental and emotional support to navigate through society’s institutions”
(Yosso, 2005, p. 79). Yosso (2005) provided an example of social capital as a contact that could
provide hands-on help with scholarship applications and emotional support to the student.
During the interviews, the participants talked about multiple sources of social capital, such as
teachers, college counselors, guidance counselors or school advisors, and friends. For some
students, these people were not as helpful or existent. The teachers provided college knowledge,
assistance with college essays, and selecting a college. The college counselors were a
fundamental part of helping with college and financial aid applications and selecting a campus.
The guidance counselors' or school advisors’ level of support varied, but it can be helpful when
consistent. Friends were a necessary additional support system to the participants as they
navigated this process together.
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Teachers Provided Essential College Knowledge and Assistance With College Application
Essays and Selecting a College to Attend
High school teachers became one of the main sources of social capital for the
participants. The teachers were involved in college preparation, application, and selection. The
teachers were sources of college knowledge and academic preparation. They assisted the
students by making college application essays a part of class assignments and providing
feedback. Lastly, the teachers influenced college selection by providing knowledge about their
college experience at their alma maters.
Teachers were important sources of college knowledge by providing information about
what students needed to do to prepare to apply to college early on, encouraging them to be
involved in extracurriculars, and providing information about the admission requirements for the
two public state university systems (CSU/UC). Three students shared that their teachers helped
them prepare for college by providing college knowledge at varying levels. Ana and Jasmine
attended the same high school, so they described a similar experience with their teachers. For
example, Jasmine said her high school teachers emphasized college readiness and a 100%
college acceptance rate starting in freshman year. Jasmine said her teachers gave them some
knowledge about colleges during the first couple of years, and then at the beginning of junior
year, things changed: “That's when they were really pushing us, pushing us and really giving us
all the information we needed to know all the extracurricular activities that would look good,
how to prepare with resumes, how to do our essays.” The teachers seemed to have slowly
introduced the concepts relating to college but stepped up their efforts significantly in the
student’s junior year of high school. Dani’s experience with their teachers was a bit more
generalized regarding college preparation. Dani shared that the English teachers talked to them
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about the CSU and UC admission requirements. Dani’s teachers did not discuss other college
preparation requirements or tools. Instead, they referred Dani to the school’s college center.
Jasmine’s experience shows how teachers can take a more active role in guiding students, so it is
not a surprise for the students when it is time to apply.
The teachers provided college preparation by developing the students academically
through their teaching and rigor in AP courses. Two participants noted how the teachers assisted
in academically preparing them. James and Valentina felt that their AP classes prepared them for
college-level work. James reflected on how his AP classes helped him: “I think the teachers did a
pretty good job because they would give us a good amount of work, and I feel it's the same
amount of work that I get over here at [current 4-year institution].” James said he felt “used to
this” level of work, so it was not a big change for him when he went to college. Valentina said,
“only five classes that I took in high school actually prepared me for college-level classes. My
AP English class because there was a lot of reading and writing, which is good for most of the
GEs.” Exposing students to more rigorous material might be beneficial to them to prepare them
for college-level coursework and expectations.
English teachers were the most involved by providing critical assistance with college
application essays. Five of the participants, Ana, Jasmine, Michael, Sofia, and Valentina, shared
that their junior year English teachers gave them the PIQs as an assignment, which prompted
them to work on them before senior year. For example, Ana described how her English teacher
presented the assignment: “For our junior year, our English teacher said ‘I’m going to teach you
how to write a personal statement, how to talk about yourself, and … here's some examples from
some peers.’” The teacher used the opportunity to teach the students how to write the statement
and gave them examples. Michael described how his AP English teacher presented the PIQ
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assignment: “Our teacher had us go over the PIQs [and] pick four. So, we write it up, then he
looks over them and tells us what we're missing, what to improve on and what's good about it. It
wasn’t graded based off quality.” The PIQs assignment provided Michael and his peers an
opportunity to start writing the PIQs in a lower-stress environment by not assigning a grade
based on quality and, instead, focusing on completion and providing feedback. Sofia struggled
when writing her PIQs. She explained,
It was a bit hard deciding on which PIQs to work on. You're talking about yourself.
You’re trying to describe yourself to a college like you're good enough to be able to get
accepted, and I felt when looking at the PIQs, I didn't know what to write about myself.
When they asked me about myself, I was just like I’m blank. I sometimes would forget
what my life is, and I sometimes don't even know what's right, but eventually, my
English teacher started giving me ideas to write about. I wrote about my experience with
photography.
Sofia’s teacher, who also served as her college counselor, helped her move beyond her doubts
and struggles with writing her PIQs, prompting her to write about her photography experience.
One student was not assigned the PIQs by their junior year English teacher but asked the
English teachers for assistance. Dani worked on four PIQs and said, “I chose four I personally
felt that I could answer. I shared them with my English teacher that year, and then my senior
year, I shared it with my English teacher because she opened her doors for that.” As mentioned
earlier, Dani struggled with their grammar and writing. Dani was not assigned the PIQs, but it
was a beneficial resource to have English teachers willing to review their PIQs and give them
feedback to improve, especially as they were concerned about their grammar. Michael and
Valentina’s senior year English teachers also asked students to work on their PIQs as a class
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assignment, which they used to edit the version they had written during junior year. Both
Michael and Valentina appreciated the time to revise the previous version of the PIQs and have a
second perspective from a different teacher. The teachers were essential in providing assistance
and feedback to the students for their college essays.
Some teachers influenced students to attend their alma mater by sharing their college
experiences. Valentina had two teachers who graduated from the university to which she was
applying, and she said they were “rooting for me” to get accepted. Valentina liked that the
teachers supported her in applying to that university and hoped she would get in. Michael was
trying to make his college selection and talked to one of his closest teachers, who graduated from
the institution he was considering. Michael said that the teacher said, “I should go with [that
university]. He said that it's a good school to go to, one where if you meet an alumni, then they
basically give you a job … relatively close, and the engineering programs were really good.”.
The teacher gave Michael feedback about the benefits of attending that university, which gave
Michael insight into the institution. James shared that his history teacher wanted him to attend a
particular university: “He felt very strongly about me going there because of the teachers. He just
said [the university] was a good school because that's where he went to get his degree, and so he
felt very highly about it.” The three students attended these institutions. These examples show
that a teacher can be influential in motivating students to apply to particular institutions, as they
can share their experience and benefits of the institution.
Teachers also assisted in selecting a college by providing general advice. Whether that
advice was welcomed depended on the student. Dani felt “there was a tremendous amount of
support” from their teachers about choosing colleges far away. Dani said that the teachers were
aware of their family situation as the older sibling taking care of a younger sibling and would tell
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Dani, “You need to leave. You need to go somewhere else. You need to find out who you are.”
The teacher’s advice was welcomed, as Dani felt supported in their decision to go far away to
college. Gabriel felt differently than Dani when his teachers provided unsolicited advice. He
said, “They would just be telling me, ‘Oh, go to this school. You shouldn't go to this school.
You're going to close. You're going too far away from home. You should think about your
parents and this and that.’” He added, “It was just really annoying because it was unnecessary
stress they felt the need to add on to me.” Gabriel did not seem to like that the teachers were
inserting their own opinions into his decision, which created stress for him. Jasmine’s experience
was different; her teachers asked her and her peers to make a list of possible college options they
were interested in, and “they would be ‘hey, it doesn't hurt to apply. Whether you feel kind of
iffy about being accepted or not, you should still apply.’” Jasmine’s teacher gave the students the
freedom to choose colleges they were interested in and then supported them in those choices.
Teachers Provided Additional Assistance in the College Preparation and
Application Process During Advisory Period/Flex Period/College Seminar Period. Almost
all participants mentioned having a designated class period that involved college. Depending on
the students' high school, these class periods had different names. The alumni from East Los
Angeles High School 1 referred to it as an advisory period. The alumna from East Los Angeles
High School 2 called it the flex period. The alumni from East Los Angeles High School 3 called
it either an advisory period or a college seminar period. These class periods were used to provide
additional assistance in preparing students for college and assisting them in applying to college,
enriching them with additional social capital. Even though some of the teachers did not
maximize the potential of these class periods, some did. The teachers used the class to get
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students to think about college, take practice college entrance exams, and help them with their
college applications and essays.
The alumni from East Los Angeles High School 1 had similar experiences regarding the
advisory period. The period could be used to provide students with knowledge about the college
preparation process, but it was not. Dani described, “My advisory teacher would use the time
and space to kind of nudge us to think about college now, and so with those people, we would
talk about it.” The class provided a time for students to learn about college and discuss it with
their teacher and peers. James described his class: “The advisory class was a 30-minute period
where you can do your homework for other classes, or you could just chill on your phone or
whatever.” James’ advisory class did not have a structure, but he did mention, “In the advisory
periods, they would give you a practice SAT exam to see more or less how you would do, and
then I think a couple months later, the actual exam would come.” The advisory did not have a
general structure or curriculum relating to college, but it was used as a space to take the practice
SAT exam, which used to be required for most colleges and universities. Michael also had little
structure in his advisory period; he said the advisory teacher announced dual enrollment classes
at the local community college or other events going on at the college center.
The sole alumna from East Los Angeles High School 2 talked about a flex period
embedded within their class schedule. The flex was an hour-long period, held every 2 weeks,
where students could participate in college preparation. Sofia shared what the English teachers
did in the flex period relating to college: “Go over how to do the application. They would have it
projected, and we would follow along during the FLEX hours, so they would go around with us
individually helping us.” The FLEX period served as a benefit for students like Sofia to receive
assistance with the college application process.
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The three alumni from East Los Angeles High School 3 shared different class periods
offered at their school, even though they all attended at the same time and graduated the same
year. These class periods served to build a college-going culture and spaces to provide assistance
to the students. Ana discussed how all students were placed in an advisory period with the same
group of people throughout high school. The advisory period was “30 minutes in the mornings.
Then, you will go to start your periods, and at the end of the day, it will be 15 minutes.” Ana
shared what they would do during these advisory periods: “That's how you learned about family,
community, because you've had the same advisor and you would do projects together or
competitions, it was fun. Your advisor was also dedicated to helping you in what are you
interested.” The advisory periods served as a space to build community with the advisor as well
as peers during high school. Gabriel mentioned there was a college seminar class that started the
“second semester of junior year,” and it was held once a week, but in senior year they started to
meet twice a week for about one to two hours. Gabriel said, “We started taking the college
seminar classes, and once we created the common application, that's when I realized that I
needed to get started on my essays earlier in order for me to feel I was ready enough to submit
things.” The college seminar class motivated Gabriel to start working on his college essays at the
end of junior year instead of waiting until senior year. Jasmine described how college
preparation was inserted into everyday classes:
Despite what class we were taking, even if it was math class that had nothing to do with
writing, they would find ways to give us tips to prepare us, so when they knew that the
dates were coming closer, what they would do in different classes, we would have maybe
a week where we would do a workshop. So, if we were going to English, that was
personal statement writing examples, and then you move on to your next period. So, in
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math class would be how to calculate your GPA, how to better it, with what classes, so
that you can you know get it the highest you can for college. Then, we will move on to
history class, and then history would focus on what extracurricular activities will look
good, how to build that resume so that looks good so that we would have that practice so
cuando venga el tiempo, we were ready and prepared, and we knew what to do.
Jasmine’s example shows how a high school can incorporate college preparation and application
steps into students’ classes to help the students be ready for the process.
College Counselors Play an Integral Role in Providing Assistance to Students in the College
Application and Selection Process
The college counselors were a vital source of assistance during college application and
selection. The college counselors helped the students complete their college and financial aid
applications and provided reminders and check-ins to make sure students completed all
necessary steps. The counselors provided this assistance in a one-on-one setting and through
workshops to students and parents.
All but one participant had a full-time high school college counselor. Only East Los
Angeles High School 1 had a college center on its campus. The alumni referred to the college
center counselor and the center interchangeably. The alumna from East Los Angeles High
School 2 did not have a full-time high school college counselor. Instead, the 12th-grade English
teacher played the role of college counselor during the flex period and during the English class.
The alumni from East Los Angeles High School 3 referred to their college counselor or advisor
during the interviews. The following paragraphs outline how the college counselor differed in
the mode and level of assistance.
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For the alumni of East Los Angeles High School 1, their college center, which was run by
the college counselor, was the main source of support. Dani started going to the college center
during junior year to talk to the college counselor about how to prepare for senior year and what
things they should be working on. Dani learned about the SAT and ACT required for the
colleges they were interested in and attended the workshops held by the UC and CSU admission
counselors at the college center. Dani mentioned that, during their senior year, they had an
opening in their class schedule, so they were assigned to do “service,” which means they were
assigned to an office at school to assist with daily tasks. Dani was assigned to the college center
and became a peer college counselor, there were “about three or four of us service kids per
period, and there's like seven to eight periods, so maybe 30 peer college counselors in total.” The
college counselor taught the peer college counselors how to complete the college applications, so
they, in turn, helped other students complete theirs. As a peer college counselor, Dani’s role was
“navigating the UC application, [and] I was helping my peers navigate that as well.” Dani
struggled at first: “I remember it took me a really long time to complete my application because
I’m a nervous person. I would repeatedly look at everything. I would ask my college counselor,
‘What else do I need to do?’” Being a peer college counselor gave Dani more time and access to
the college counselor and a head start on their applications as they had to finish most of them
before they started helping more peers. James’s recollection of the college center was that it was
“open before school started, even after, and you could go there during lunch. If you had a
[service period], then you can skip that class and finish your application process. It was really
available to a lot of students.” James found the college center to be a “lifesaver; if that whole
center wasn't there, I’m not sure how I would have gotten through the actual process and
everything.”
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The college center was an important source of information and assistance for the students
in this high school. Valentina made some observations about the high school having one college
counselor: “She was great, but she obviously couldn’t divide herself. We were at least 350 or
more in our graduating class. She did her best, but the application process itself, you had to
figure it out on your own.” Due to the counselor’s limited availability, Valentina devised a
solution: “During my free period, I would go into the college center and just sit there and try to
figure it out if she was free and she would come help me,” so she went to the college center
during those times to ask how to complete the college applications. The time paid off, as
Valentina reflected, “At the beginning of the application process, I was very hesitant to ask for
help, and then toward the end, I was in the college center all the time, and I was cool with the
counselor there.” Even though East Los Angeles High School 1 had only one college counselor,
these students found valuable assistance, guidance, resources, and information. Michael’s
experience varied a bit from these students as he was a senior during the 2020–2021 school year,
and the school was still conducting business virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
college counselor provided college application workshops in a modified manner. As Michael
explained, “Our college counselor would have after-school Zoom meetings. She’d record the
lectures for those who couldn't make it, but she’d tell us the websites to go to and how to create
an account and how to get started.” Although the virtual assistance was not ideal for Michael, the
college counselor showed how services had to shift virtually to serve students during a
pandemic.
The college counselor also held one- or two-night workshops to help students and their
parents complete the FAFSA, which Dani and Valentina attended. James also sought assistance
with the FAFSA from the college center. Dani found the FAFSA “very intimidating” and found
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the language “inaccessible,” so they asked the college counselor for assistance but felt that one-
on-one would have been better. According to Dani, James, and Valentina, the college counselor
also held workshops where they discussed financial aid, including scholarships. James said, “the
college center [at East LA High School 1] would always tell you FAFSA, FAFSA, FAFSA is
going to pay for your college. It's going to help you out with the whole financial situation.” At
the college center, Valentina, James, and Dani found scholarship information. Valentina said
there was “a bin where they would place different scholarships. They also gave us a website to
look at where they had specific scholarships.” Michael also received information on how to
complete the FAFSA and scholarship information because the college counselor would give
them the information virtually. Completing the FAFSA can be difficult, so they found the college
center’s assistance helpful.
At East Los Angeles High School 2, Sofia did not have access to a full-time college
counselor. Sofia explained, “It's the same person. They were our English teacher and our college
counselor for all of us. She would have us in the morning class, so she would just introduce
everything about college and afterwards go into English.” The teacher’s shared role stood out as
an alternative when resources are limited. Sofia said, “the English teacher/college counselor
would explain about the requirements for all the colleges and what they want for you to apply.
What is the best way they'll see your application, and they’ll accept you.” The English
teacher/college counselor would also host a group chat with the students to give them updates on
the college admission decisions and reminders for the students to check the portal. Even though
the teacher/college counselor had a shared role, it seemed to facilitate access for the students as
they had daily contact with the teacher due to the scheduled English class.
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At East Los Angeles High School 3, a full-time college advisor was available to all
students. All the alumni from this school were seniors during the 2020–2021 school year, during
which the school was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ana, Gabriel, and Jasmine had a
great amount of one-on-one and hands-on assistance from their college advisor. Ana described
how the college counselor was highly involved in the college application process during their
senior year:
We first started off with Cal States because it was a little bit easier process where you
don't have to write as much. It was more like personal information, so we would as a
whole group since it was done through Zoom. We were all placed into the Zoom room,
and then he'll go over through a slide show like, “Okay, start filling out this section, and
then we'll go to the next section to fill it out,” and then he's like “don't submit it yet”
because then we will have to schedule with him or his assistant so that they can look it
over with us and then submit it and after that was done. We would transition to the UCs,
so start drafting your PIQs, and then they would look it over [and] help you out. It was up
to you to reach out if you needed the help, and then they would just say, “Did you fill out
everything?” And, again, they did the whole presentation like, “Okay, did you fill out
this, and this, and this? And then submitted it?” And it was done, and then the last one
was the Common App, which is the private schools and, again, the slide thing again. If
you wanted to apply and then again meet with your recommendation letter from the
teachers and “Did you have that done already?” And then they would submit that in “Did
you have a personal statement done? Did you get it reviewed from your advisor or your
college counselor?” And if it was done, “submit that in and start writing your own
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responses on the Common App and then get that reviewed again,” so you always had
someone checking up on you.
Gabriel agreed that the college advisor Ana described was very helpful with the college
applications, but his frustration was that the initial college advisor left the high school at the
beginning of his senior year. Gabriel was happy that the college advisor stayed until the
remaining of the school year. Jasmine appreciated the option to meet with the advisor. She said,
“Students had time to block appointments with him, and then he would work one-on-one with
them, and it all worked out pretty well.” The ability to meet one-on-one with the college advisor
was unique to this school, and the students liked having that option.
Ana, Gabriel, and Jasmine all received assistance with the FAFSA from their college
advisor. Ana said, “He will do the presentations, grouping all the seniors together and going over
how the application goes, step-by-step, so we'll open all our financial aids and follow him along
through the presentation.” Gabriel also found it helpful that the college advisor assisted him with
his financial aid application. Jasmine described how the college advisor helped her with her
FAFSA over the phone as she was having issues completing it and her parents were with her
during the phone call, trying to work together to figure out the information. Having the college
advisor as a resource to help them with the FAFSA application was very important to these
students.
Counselor’s Lack of Information and/or Support Toward 2-Year Institutions
Contributed to Student’s Fear of the Transfer Experience. The participants were asked if
they considered attending a 2-year institution. The students were afraid to pursue the community
college option as they did not know much about the transfer experience from a 2-year college to
a 4-year institution, or there was a lack of support from the college counselor. Three participants,
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Dani, Michael, and Valentina, expressed that their college counselor told them that going to a
community college makes it difficult to transfer to a 4-year institution. Dani described how they
felt: “I was afraid of the transfer experience. In the college center, there wasn't a lot of support or
communication about the transfer experience, so if I didn't know a lot about it. Then, I didn't
want to do it.” The college center’s lack of information about the transfer experience caused
some anxiety and assumptions among the students. As Valentina explained, “I think I did
consider going to [the local community college], but I just thought that it would be a lot more
work to transfer into a 4-year college, so I just decided not to apply.”
Michael also shared how the college counselor’s advice persuaded him, so he thought it
was “easier to attend a 4-year university than to go to community college and then transfer
because my college counselor told me that sometimes it takes a couple years to transfer
depending on your GPA and the financial aid.” Valentina added, “We were pushed to apply to
Cal States and UCs, to get into a 4-year college, and then your last resort was to apply to a
community college.” The college counselor played a role in dissuading the students from
applying to a community college either by abstaining from giving information about it or directly
advising against it.
College Counselors Were Instrumental in Informing Students About the College
Application Fee Waivers. College application fee waivers were important to the participants.
The college counselors were instrumental in informing students about the availability of these
waivers. Six of the participants, Ana, Dani, Gabriel, James, Michael, and Sofia, stated how being
eligible for all available application fee waivers influenced their decision to apply to 4-year
institutions and increased the number of applications they submitted. As Dani said, they
understood “that as a low-income student, I would get waivers for the CSU and UC apps and
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some privates, so I think there was this encouragement since a lot of us are low-income students
to take advantage of the waivers.” Dani received this information from the college counselor,
which was beneficial as it encouraged Dani to apply to more colleges.
The six participants who received the application fee waivers used the maximum allowed
for the CSU and UC applications, four per system, so they all applied to at least 8 4-year
institutions. Only five of them applied to private 4-year institutions that provided them with
application fee waivers. Ana shared how helpful the waivers were:
So that's when I took advantage of it, and I said I’ll apply to all 12 schools, and that's
enough for me to have options, and maybe out of the 12, and I won’t get accepted to all
of them, but it gives me a high chance and to think about my options from there, and so
that was a big help and just by getting that covered was like I don't have to worry about
that.
The application fee waivers also reduced the students' stress as it was money they did not have to
pay. Jasmine was the only participant that noted she did not qualify for the CSU and UC
application fee waivers. She said, “It was straining for submitting each application. You had to
pay like a good amount, so I would say that those were the only ones that we were kind of iffy
on.” Jasmine was affected negatively by not being eligible for the fee waivers. She questioned
which CSU and UC campuses to apply to as money was tight. Application fee waivers were
essential to increase student access to 4-year institutions.
Students’ Experiences Varied Depending on the Level of Interaction With Their Guidance
Counselors or School Advisors
The level of involvement of the guidance counselors or school advisors experienced by
the students was similar depending on which high school they attended. The level of interaction
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with guidance counselors or school advisors impacted the student experience. Having a higher
level of support from their guidance counselors and school advisors could benefit students as
they go through the college preparation and application process. The alumni from East Los
Angeles High School 3 had the most frequent contact with their school advisor in comparison to
the alumni from the other two high schools.
The alumni from East Los Angeles High School 1 had almost rare contact with their
guidance counselors. Based on these limited interactions, there was a disconnect. The students’
tone and facial expressions when speaking of their guidance counselors shifted to a more
negative space than when they discussed their positive experiences with their college counselor.
Dani said their guidance counselor “would give us handout like a paper and we put the classes
we wanted, and then we would give it to her, and that’s what she would do.” The guidance
counselor would only come in once a year to their class to talk about class options for the
following year. Michael’s counselor “always would come in our English class at the end of the
semester and she would give us a sheet to fill out our classes, and she’d tell us which ones we
needed to choose.” Michael provided more detail about the advice the guidance counselor gave
them, including how to register for AP classes. James described the level of contact with his
guidance counselor, “I feel like the bare minimum because each academy had its own counselor.
I feel the only time that she would check up on you is when you would visit her, she would never
reach out to you.” The high school was subdivided into academies or small learning communities
to create a more intimate atmosphere for students, and ironically this showed that the guidance
counselor was not actively engaging with the students. Valentina described her experience with
her guidance counselor:
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I was scared of her; I did not like her. She scared me, but she would make the schedules
for everyone. It wasn't a matter of what classes you wanted to take. It was you're taking
this class, and that's what you need to graduate, and that's that. The only time you got to
choose is if you enrolled in AP classes, and then she had to kind of schedule your other
classes around those.
Valentina’s fear of her guidance counselor did not allow for the ability to discuss her options in
an open setting.
The alumna from East Los Angeles High School 2 had more involvement from the
guidance counselor, but there was still more time they could have spent with the students. Sofia
said the counselors provided information about the admission requirements. She said, “Our
counselors would ask us individually to go to their office, and then they'll look into our grades. It
was just like once a year.” Sofia met with her counselor one-on-one but only once a year to
ensure she was on track with her admission requirements and grades. Sofia said that the guidance
counselors also assisted them with their PIQs during a workshop held by the high school, along
with other staff members from the high school.
As mentioned earlier, students at East Los Angeles High School 3 were placed into
advisory periods with a school advisor. The advisors at this high school were available to the
students daily and provided a high level of support. Gabriel expanded on his experience: “You
had an advisor for all 4 years of high school, and they were your support system. You would
meet with them at the beginning of the school day and at the end of the school day.” Having
daily access to the school advisor provided opportunities to build rapport and find support.
Jasmine’s advisor had a positive influence on her : “She was really the one who had been
pushing me a lot throughout my years,” and the advisor nominated her for a program that offered
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a full-tuition scholarship. The advisor helped her and some of her other peers, who were also
nominated, prepare for the interview. They would “meet up and just do practice rounds of
interviews and seeing how we should phrase a question, practicing within the time limit and all
of that.” Jasmine’s advisor advised Jasmine and helped her prepare for an intense scholarship
interview. Ana described her advisor: “She's kind of like the mother. She would just keep track
of everything because she wanted to make sure that we were at least like thinking about college
or applying. She would check in with you.” Ana was referring to the fact that her school advisor
would be working in conjunction with the college advisor to make sure the students were
completing all of the steps in the college and financial aid application process. There was also a
phrase that helped Ana to encourage her to apply to college, she said:
My advisor was like, ponte las pilas. Like, “Come on, you got it.” Like, “It's fine,” and
you know what, I would do it. What's the worst thing that can happen? I could get
rejected, and that's it, and I could always try again. You learn from that rejection. It’s
always redirection, as they say, and it is. You learn from it, and things happen, and that’s
why like that one statement itself, ponte las pilas, you know. I’m going to do it.
The statement ponte las pilas literally translates to “put your batteries on,” which is commonly
heard in Latinx communities, so it is interesting that the advisor used it to motivate her students
to give them the confidence to apply to colleges.
Friends Can Be Sources of Emotional Support and College Knowledge
Friends played two main roles in the process for these participants, primarily providing
emotional support and serving as information sources. Friends of the participants became sources
of emotional support by providing encouraging words and advice. The friends of the participants
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also became sources of college knowledge by assisting with their college essays and their college
and financial aid applications.
The friends of these students provided adequate emotional support during the process.
Dani, Jasmine, Michael, Sofia, and Valentina mentioned their friends would encourage them to
apply to the colleges of their choice. Michael’s friends also gave him recommendations on which
colleges were best for STEM majors, while Dani’s friend recommended schools with good
reputations.
Friends assisted the participants with college essays. Five of the students, Dani, Jasmine,
Michael, Sofia, and Valentina, talked about how they would review each other’s college personal
statement essays and PIQs. The students appreciated having their friends as additional sources of
college knowledge and informally built these emotional support groups. As Sofia described,
“We'll help each other with our PIQs and give each other ideas to be able to write and finish
them.” Valentina talked about the type of feedback they gave each other: “Tell me if there's any
grammar issues or spelling errors … how I can fix it to make it attention-grabbing. I want to get
to the point, but I also want to get my story across.” The creation of these friend groups to review
each other’s essays sounded like a camaraderie was formed that helped them get through
completing this task.
Friends assisted the participants with their college and financial aid applications. Ana
shared that she was the one offering help to her friends: “As for my friends, I was more the one
[asking], ‘Do you need help?” because I felt I understood it, and will even be like, “Did you do
this? Did you apply for this school too? Did you fill this out?’” Dani also shared why they helped
their friends: “I would want them to apply to school, so I would do the application with them,
and I’d be like, ‘Oh, when you get to this part, remember to do this,’ as I already done it.” Both
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Ana and Dani took the voluntary role of helping their friends as they seemed to have a good
understanding of the college applications. Dani also gathered their friend group and helped them
complete the FAFSA during high school and even the first years in college. Sofia talked about
the environment between her friends: “We all encouraged ourselves, we were pushing each
other, lifted each other up to be able to get it done, we all stayed in one room.” Having a place to
meet gave Sofia a chance to form a supportive friend group to get their college applications
completed. James was one of the students that discussed how he received assistance with his
college and financial aid applications:
My friend was really familiar with the website, so I would have questions, and [the
college counselor] was busy with a bunch of students because a lot of students would
come to her, then my friend would be right there next to me, we would fill out our
applications together, it was more like an after-school thing that we would do together
sometimes.
James appreciated that his friend was able to take the time to sit next to him and help him
complete his applications, even though the college counselor was unable to help due to the
demand on the counselor.
Navigational Capital
Yosso (2005) described having navigational capital as “the ability to maneuver through
institutions not created with Communities of Color in mind” (p. 80). People of color have social
and psychological skills to navigate these systems, such as schools (Yosso, 2005). This could be
described as resiliency in navigating social institutions (Yosso, 2005). Navigational capital was
seen among the participants in several instances, including asking for help from others, using
technology during the process, and persevering despite some personal challenges.
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Participants Took Initiative in Asking for Help to Close the Gap in Resources
As Yosso (2005) noted, the capitals are “not mutually exclusive” (p. 77), and the
participants’ navigational capital was seen in taking the initiative to ask for help from different
sources, as noted in familial and social capital. The participants relied on the people near them to
provide encouragement, knowledge, and hands-on assistance as they navigated the college
preparation, application, and selection process. Even despite knowing resources were limited,
they did not give up. For example, Valentina shared her thoughts:
I think that's mainly it. Like I said, [East LA High School 1] didn't really have many
resources, and it was more so like these are scholarships that are here. This is what we
know of … the rest you kind of just had to do on your own.
Valentina did not think her high school had many resources, but she utilized what she could,
including her college center counselor, as discussed in more detail under social capital. To add to
this, Gabriel captured the resiliency I saw in these students:
I’m still going to college. Despite all the struggles, I just want a better future for myself,
and I kind of just want to be like another role model for other Chicanx and Latinx young
boys out there, especially those who, like, are queer and are a part of … not only are they
queer, but they are also Latino. They're also first-generation, low-income.
Gabriel showcased how students are motivated to go to college for their own gain and to show
their peers that they can do it, too. It is important to note that these students’ resources and
capital varied, but they discerned how to access these sources of capital to help them get through
the process.

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Technology Provided Accessibility to Students to College Information and College and
Financial Aid Applications
Technology became an important tool for all the participants in this study as they
navigated the college preparation, application, and selection process. All participants shared the
role of technology in different and various parts of their process. James said, “It definitely played
a big role because the whole application process is online, the whole FAFSA process is online. I
even do my homework online, so technology plays the very important role. Everything is
online.” Sofia liked having college applications online as it was “better” than doing it in paper
and sending it via mail and risking the possibility of it being lost. Having the college and
financial aid applications online created accessibility to the students.
Dani also agreed that “technology was really important because the application and
everything was online.” However, Dani had difficulty accessing it. They said, “We were a low-
income family, and I had to sit down with my mom and told her we need WIFI in the house, and
that was a conversation we had to have because it's money reallocated to this.” Internet access
can cause a burden on a family’s income, as it adds to their monthly expenses. Valentina’s
family could not afford the internet, so she said, “I was stealing my neighbor's WIFI because I
didn’t have WIFI. I think, at one point, [the high school] gave us Chromebooks with like our
own hotspot. They only gave it to us for like a year.” Valentina found the borrowed laptop and
internet hotspot helpful; the problem was that they did not last throughout high school. Even
when students have access to the internet, the speed and stability can cause issues with the
connection. Jasmine also liked that applications were online, but she struggled with the internet
connection at her home, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared,
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I was stressed out because we had to deal with the internet because my brother was on,
and then sometimes my mom had to do work from home as well, so it was difficult
because then I’d be in a Zoom class, and then it'd be lagging, or I’d be trying to do my
application, and it'd be lagging so, then I had to like wait, or somebody had to get off and
then I had to set up Zoom meetings with my counselor, so that would be affected.
Students also used technology to help them throughout the college preparation and
application process. Dani and Michael mentioned they did much research about colleges and
majors using the internet, so it was very helpful information and easy to find. Gabriel also used
the internet to use Instagram and Google to look up scholarships to apply to. Valentina found the
College Board website helpful as they had different resources on their website. There is much
information that students can now find online that would be useful as they go through the college
choice process.
Four participants were in junior year of high school, and one was in senior year of high
school when the COVID-19 pandemic started shutting down schools and other entities
worldwide in March 2020. A few participants shared their experience with technology as it
became the main source of communication with their schools. Michael’s last year and a half of
high school were during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so instruction shifted online,
and he struggled to keep up. Michael explained, “I can't really pay attention to online classes
because I have a very short attention span. Instead of participating in an actual in-person class, so
it was hard for me. I would always get bored.” Michael was not engaged in his classes via Zoom,
causing him to struggle with his grades. Sofia did not always like being on the computer. She
said, “With this whole COVID thing, using the computers is not that bad, but it's more draining
being on Zoom more than an hour, and it’s a bit draining.” Sofia found herself getting tired from
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being on the computer all the time, which only intensified through the college and financial aid
application process. On the other hand, Ana shared how her school used computers in many of
her classes and taught her how to write emails and use programs like Google Docs and Google
Hangout. She said, “We were definitely prepared when it came to the pandemic. If you needed a
computer to take home, you could use the one that you were borrowing from the school, and we
practiced a lot with it.” Ana seemed to adjust fairly quickly as her school promoted the use of
technology within her classes prior to the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us to
use technology more frequently, and it had a significant impact on these students’ lives as they
worked on completing high school and going through the college choice process.
The College Preparation, Application, and Selection Process Taught Participants to Persevere
Despite Personal Challenges
The participants were asked to reflect on the challenges they encountered in the process
and the skills they learned throughout the process. The students learned a lot about themselves
and valuable life skills that they could use beyond the college preparation, application, and
selection process. All of the participants shared a challenge or difficulty they experienced and
how they persevered despite these challenges. Some of the students also experienced self-doubts
about which colleges would accept them, that it did influence them not to apply. There were a
few students whose parents were undocumented, which created another layer of challenges due
to the sensitivity of this issue.
Some of the students struggled with their college essays, while others with their financial
aid applications. James learned to talk about himself and his background as he had to do so for
the college essays he wrote. He also learned about how to handle tax information, as he said, “I
know what a 1040 is now. I know what a lot of these terms mean, and I feel that's definitely
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really useful in the real world.” Michael also learned to talk about himself through the personal
statements to “make it seem that you're a better candidate.” Jasmine talked about how it was
difficult for her to complete her FAFSA, but she used the opportunity to learn how to complete it
from her counselor. She said, “I had to like, grabarmelo, learn it once and then be like okay now,
I have to apply it, so that did help in terms of just simply filling out government forms, and now
I’ll know what to expect.”
Some students struggled with getting access to assistance with their college and financial
aid applications. The participants had to find ways to get this help. Communication was a major
skill the participants brought up that they learned from this process. Gabriel said he learned
“having to advocate for yourself with teachers and professors and wanting help, also going to
office hours falls into the category of looking for or self-advocating for yourself.” Valentina also
said, “Advocating for yourself is definitely the biggest skill that I learned,” as she shared that she
has to do that at her current 4-year institution to access campus resources. Gabriel and Valentina
acknowledged self-advocacy, but it was a common theme across other participants. Dani learned
much from the tasks surrounding college preparation and application: “The whole culture around
your senior year is college preparation so, you prepare, you go to different workshops, you ask
people different questions, and you always try to stay one step ahead because it is a complicated
process.” Dani kept in touch with the high school college counselor, so they learned it was
important to take the initiative in college and meet regularly with their major counselor to make
sure they were on track for college graduation. Sofia also learned how to communicate with
others like “my peers, my professors, and having to engage one-on-one with them.” This is
something she was not able to do as much before. Ana also agreed that “communication is
always key like people say. I think it's definitely true. I definitely communicated a lot with my
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advisor and then my college advisor and a lot of teachers and my peers,” which Ana did to get
the help she needed with her college and financial aid applications.
Since preparing and applying to college can take many years and many steps, some of the
students struggled with being patient. Patience was another skill learned from this process.
Gabriel shared that “patience is a virtue” as he said he tried to implement this as he navigated the
process. Jasmine provided more detail on her reflection regarding patience:
I would say I would honestly go back in time and just tell my previous self, just make
sure to have the patience because, again, it was a very long process, and I was new to all
of it, and my parents couldn't help me out because they didn't really know as much, so I
had to learn it for them and then explain. So, there were moments where I was very
frustrated, where I didn't want to continue doing the process, and I was like, “I’m just
done.” But really just going back and telling myself to have the patience and to be aware
that this is something I need to get through, this is a small stone compared to the huge
things I’m going to do as an adult, so I would like to go back in time and be like this is
nothing, you can get through this, just having the patience.
Through the long process, these students did not give up and kept moving forward despite the
challenges and difficulties they encountered.
Students’ Self-Doubts Influenced Their Decisions on Where to Apply to College. The
students did struggle emotionally as they prepared and applied to 4-year institutions. Four of
them doubted themselves about getting accepted into particular institutions and decided not to
apply, and, looking back, they would have changed things and applied to those colleges and
universities. For instance, Dani said,
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I doubted my potential when I first applied to schools. I was like, “I’m not going to get
far,” so that's why I only applied to certain tier UCs, and I feel I could have given myself
more credit and more grace and apply to a Tier 1 school, the best UCs, and I feel that's
something that, I don't like using the word “regret.” That's something I’ll always regret
that I didn't give myself more credit for what I’ve done, so that's something that I would
definitely change.
Another student, Ana, doubted whether she would get accepted to college, but she still
applied to the institutions of her choice. Then, she thought, “What if I’m not getting the right
amount of money? What if I’m not given the great amount of resource money, and then I can't go
to that college? What was my alternative from there?” Ana’s worry was valid as students will
only get a financial aid offer if they are accepted to the college or university.
Parents’ Undocumented Status Created Additional Concerns and Barriers to
Students. A few participants reported having a parent or parents without any legal residency or
citizenship status in the United States. Due to the sensitivity of this issue, no pseudonyms were
provided to further protect the participants and their family members. The participants had to
find ways to get the help they needed to answer certain questions related to their parents’
citizenship or residency status. This caused additional stress on the participants as it was another
barrier to overcome. One participant said,
I think specifically to the demographic questions, when they would ask questions about
your parents or income as undocumented immigrants. So, I [thought] I can't put them at
risk, and I don't want to put them at risk for anything.
Answering these questions created much concern for this participant. However, they shared,
“Somebody already has gotten to college, and their parents are safe. I’m going to go to college
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and make sure that my parents are safe. There was a way to do it, so I was going to do it.” This
participant was determined to fill out the college and financial aid applications without
compromising their parents’ safety.
Another participant shared how they struggled with the financial aid application process
as both parents were undocumented. The participant said,
I made sure that everything was done. I know it was a bit harder for me because my
parents didn't have papers, so the process is a bit longer. It takes more time. I did have to
send a separate paper signed, so I had a wait. They asked about social security or
something. It was very tedious, and then we did have to call a lot to the [financial aid]
office to make sure that things were done right. My counselor would call and figure it out
as well, so it was a very long and hard process. But I would say, despite all that, we did
learn a lot from it and how to do it again when it's time. So, yeah, it was a hard
experience, but we learned from it.
The financial aid applications ask for sensitive and personal information from the parents and the
students. It was great to hear that this participant did not give up and asked their counselor for
help to navigate the application.
Resistant Capital
Resistant capital refers to the behaviors and actions of resisting and challenging
inequalities (Yosso, 2005). Yosso (2005) also explained that conserving and sharing the different
types of community cultural wealth is part of what makes up resistant capital. Resistant capital
was evident in the stories the participants shared in the interviews. The participants had different
familial units, attended different high schools, and had access to different resources, yet they
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experienced similar challenges and difficulties. They all exhibited resistant capital in different
ways.
Increasing Latinx Representation in College Was a Motivating Factor to Go to College
Many of the participants knew that there was still a smaller representation of Latinx
students in college, and they felt it was important to increase it. The participants were aware that
there were challenges that they might face as they applied to college, but they persevered. As
Dani shared,
I decided to go to college. I knew, I understood because it was told to me that the Chilat
population in universities and colleges isn't big because there's just different screens of
either racism, classism, elitism that prevents students of color and the Chilat population
to find themselves there, so then I had a rencor of that. I was like, “Well, I’m going be
one of those students in there then.” Yeah, I wanted to prove that I could get there [and]
that it didn't matter that I was a person of color, a Chicanx person, I was going to get
there, and if I had to put up with a lot of bullshit, then I would because I wanted to get
there, so it was just learning those statistics and then, in turn, taking that fuel to see
myself through that.
Dani knew what Latinx or Chicanx students face when trying to go to college, but it did not
dissuade them. Instead, it motivated them to continue to apply. Michael spoke up for Latinx
students and his community through his college essays. He said, “I explicitly said that I’m Latino
and that the community itself is not as bad as people say, but it's difficult because they don't
really have a voice. I kind of advocated. We should be accepted to colleges more.” Michael
spoke up about the challenges of East LA and the importance of giving people from there a voice
and a space at colleges. Jasmine also wanted to contribute beyond herself. She said, “I’m not
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only doing this for me. Obviously, it's for my parents, and it's for the community because we
don't have that many Latinx people going into college, so that was something that served as a
motive.”
Some students did not feel like they belonged at these institutions as Latinx people, but
they moved forward despite the discomfort. Gabriel expressed not feeling a sense of belonging at
his 4-year institution: “ I feel like I had to look very hard for a lot of things under the system that
we're in, which is a primarily White institution that still caters to like White, non-Latinx, White
students. It's still very hard.” Gabriel found it difficult to access resources and fit in at his
institution. However, he was determined to stay at his institution. Ana almost did not apply to her
dream 4-year institution because she became aware of the small percentage of Latinx students
enrolled in her major of choice. Ana described her thoughts as a “Latina woman. I was very
scared because a majority of colleges are White, so I knew [the university’s] film department
[was] very discouraging because it was dominated by White students, and it's very rare for a
person of color.” Ana thought there was a slim chance she would get accepted to the film major
at this university because of her ethnicity, but she still applied.
Parents’ Examples Were Sources of Strength, Perseverance, and Inspiration for Their
Children
The participants shared the lessons they learned from their parents. Some of the parents
were a source of strength and inspiration, especially as the students were stressed throughout the
process. The parents’ experiences served as a motivator for the students to persevere in applying
to and attending college. Valentina shared a bit about her mother’s struggles and physical
ailments:
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I’ve seen her change jobs; I’ve seen her work countless hours. She's just a really big role
model, so it's like I’m not going to fall behind. Like, I gotta get my shit together, so that's
where I get it from. My mom is very ambitious as well.
Jasmine also shared a bit about her parents’ story:
My parents came here for me to have a better life and achieve that American dream, so I
was like, “Why should I waste all this hard work and not get that education?” So, that's
something that I kept in the back of my mind, where I was like, “My parents came here.
They sacrificed everything. Of course, I need to continue achieving things.”
Michael also shared, “My own mindset. I don't like to give up on stuff. When things get hard, I’ll
get frustrated and a little angry, but I’ll keep on going because I don't like to give up.” When
asked where he learned that, he responded, “Probably my parents because my parents are also
very stubborn, but they're like a different type of stubborn.” Dani talked about what they learned
from their mother: “She's taught me and my sister a lot of discipline, a lot of see it through and
pushing myself beyond what's expected from a very young age. In turn, I do the same with
myself.” Sofia shared what her mother told her all her life: “My mom, she had a rough patch, and
she tries not to see the negative in many things. She tries to think positive. She shares that with
me a lot. She encourages me to think more positive than negative.” The participants described
how their parents’ actions and words impacted their views on life and their goals.
Racist Incidents Motivated Students to Go to College and Prove Others Wrong
Two participants shared incidents in which they experienced racism. These racist
incidents were probably meant to deter or belittle them, but they motivated the students to go to
college and prove to others that they could do it. Valentina experienced racism regarding her
language. As she described,
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I don't think at any point I’ve been embarrassed to speak Spanish. There's been racist
remarks or prejudice here and there outside of my community, but it's never made me
feel bad about who I am or where I come from. It’s more so, “I pity you for being small-
minded and not accepting others more so.”
Valentina did not let people’s insecurities about her being fluent in a language other than English
change who she is and her language preference.
Jasmine was part of a club in high school that traveled to competitions against other high
school students. Jasmine shared that she and her classmates had to fundraise to attend these
events, unlike her competitors. She shared that at those competitions, they had conversations
with students from those other schools and described it as “there were a lot of conservative
students who had a very closed mindset. When they did hear people of color finding ways to
strive like a lot of them, they did have negative reactions toward it and still do.” When pressed
for more information, she said these students were “predominantly White” and said things like
“You're not fit to be a college student” or “You won't get out the community.” However, Jasmine
did not let these racist comments and interactions stop her. She said,
Despite there being those comments made of “you can't do it,” it gave me even more of a
reason to be “No, now you're going to watch me do it,” and I would say that was really
something that idea of if this is, given to me in this moment, of course, it was because of
my hard work and everything wasn't just handed to me, of course, I am going to take that
opportunity, and I am going to, I’m going to take it. I’m just going to try and strive the
best I can.
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Jasmine received a full-tuition scholarship to a private 4-year institution and took the
opportunity. Valentina’s and Jasmine’s tenacity of is evident in the way they reacted to these
racist incidents.
Conclusion
Disseminating the experiences of Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles
as they prepared and applied to 4-year institutions was a complex process. There were
similarities among the participants’ experiences and poignant differences in their community's
cultural wealth. The participants felt supported in emotional ways and hands-on approaches at
some points, but there were also times of isolation and self-doubt. All the participants had
varying levels of access to the different sources of community cultural wealth, yet they did not
let that deter them from applying and attending a 4-year institution.

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Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations
This qualitative study was conducted to understand the role of community cultural wealth
in supporting Latinx students from East Los Angeles as they prepared, applied, and enrolled at 4-
year institutions. This study allowed for the students’ voices to be heard as they shared their
reflections on their college preparation and application process. This chapter includes a brief
discussion of the findings and recommendations to students, parents, other family members, and
school personnel. Suggestions for future research are also included.
Discussion of Findings
The previous chapter presented findings on the college preparation experience of Latinx
students from East Los Angeles. That chapter presented findings according to six types of
capitals in Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework. An analysis of the findings
revealed four prevalent and overarching themes throughout the participants’ experiences. This
chapter discusses those themes: the interrelationship of the types of capitals that make up
community cultural wealth, the creativity and perseverance in the students’ actions, the role of
agency, and the intersection of the participants’ first-generation college student identity with
their experiences. In addition to these four themes, I will also discuss the impact of COVID-19
and access to technology.
Before proceeding to the discussion below, it is important once again to acknowledge the
importance that the place of East Los Angeles played in this study. By highlighting the
experiences of graduates from East Los Angeles, it is hoped that this study also offers insight
into this important community more broadly. Through the interviews, the participants revealed
their authentic selves and were not afraid to share hard truths about their experiences. Some
acknowledged that having the opportunity to share their stories was an honor. The assets of the
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community of East Los Angeles, such as strength, creativity, and hope, inform the discussion
points that follow.
The Interrelationship of the Community Cultural Wealth Capitals
Through coding, analyzing, and interpreting the data, I agree with what Yosso (2005)
asserted about the types of capital in community cultural wealth: the “various forms of capital
are not mutually exclusive or static” (p. 77). There were several findings across the forms of
capital. Therefore, there was an interrelationship between the capitals. These included
aspirational with familial and social capital; familial with navigational and resistant capital;
linguistic with familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital; and social with navigational
and resistant capital.
Aspirational and familial capital intersected for the students. The emotional support and
encouragement the students received from family members were examples of aspirational and
familial capital since the students were connected to these individuals through family ties. There
was also a relation between aspirational and social capital. The students received aspirations
from their teachers and advisors, who also assisted with college applications and were a source
of social capital.
Familial capital played a key role in the participants' process, and there was a relation to
navigational and resistant capital. Parents and family members provided a strong support system
for the students, showing their familial capital. In addition, family members directed the students
toward education and showed them the skills they needed, making them sources of navigational
and resistant capital. Specifically, parents were role models and taught the students to persevere
and pursue their dreams despite obstacles, thereby enhancing resistant capital.
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Moreover, there were several interrelationships with linguistic capital, such as with
familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital. The participants’ linguistic capital came from
their multilingualism. The participants’ linguistic capital allowed them to connect with family
members, which is considered familial capital. Multilingualism also gave them the ability to
communicate with community members and other Latinx people, another facet of social capital.
The participants also learned how to navigate their world in two languages and used their
multilingualism as a source of pride and connection to their heritage and community, falling
directly into navigational and resistant capital, respectively.
There was a relation between social with navigational and resistant capitals. The
participants had access to various individuals who gave them information and assistance and
were a source of their social capital. The participants accessed these resources as they employed
their navigational and resistant capital to get the support they needed. The students’
circumstances lend themselves easily to this framework. Even though the participants did not
label their experiences as using a specific capital or series of types of capital, it was evident that
they did exist in how they navigated college preparation and application.
Participants Responded to Adversity With Creativity and Perseverance
The participants shared their experience, strength, and hope through the rigorous, long,
and stressful process of preparing and applying to college and ultimately selecting and attending
a 4-year institution. The participants resourcefulness, creativity, and perseverance served a prime
example of the tenacity of people from East Los Angeles. The participants may have been aware
that they had fewer resources than other students, even within their same high school. This
encompassed receiving college knowledge and access to assistance. The participants’ awareness
was derived as they talked about the level of involvement of their parents, siblings, extended
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family, teachers, college counselors, guidance counselors or school advisors, and friends during
the process. Despite the inequities in access to college knowledge and assistance with college
preparation and college and financial aid applications, the students found creative ways to get the
assistance they needed.
As Means et al. (2019) found, “student participants’ use of any form of Community
Cultural Wealth is an act of resisting oppression to realize their goals” (p. 146). Means et al.
(2019) found that these students exhibited five of the six types of Yosso’s (2005) community
cultural wealth to reach their educational goals. In this study, all six types of capital were seen
among the students. Valentina found a creative way to get one-on-one time with the college
counselor by figuring out the time of day the counselor was available, knowing was a hard
commodity to come by. Michael and Gabriel asked their siblings for assistance with their
financial aid applications when their parents could not help. Dani asked their English teachers for
feedback on essays as they were not confident in their writing skills. Despite the extra challenges
to get assistance, the participants did not stop pursuing their dreams to go a 4-year institution,
and they persevered. Even some students who experienced racist incidents did not let that deter
them. When the participants described that they learned not to give up and were motivated to
continue moving forward by their parents, it was clear that these students were resilient because
they were prepared to be so. The participants also experienced self-doubts at times and
acknowledged that preparing and applying to college was not easy, but they still applied and
attended a 4-year institution.
Participants Exhibited Individual Agency in Accessing and Applying Capitals
Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model explains the richness of wealth
students of color can find within their community and how each capital brings value to the
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student. However, looking at the students’ experiences through the lens of community cultural
wealth focused on them deriving capital and support from others instead of on how they made
decisions about their life and why. These individually driven sets of actions can best be described
as individual agency. The linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital were more personal at
times, but they still did not fully capture the individuals’ agency in how they accessed the
different forms of capital.
The cultural ecological model of Tierney and Venegas (2009), which was used to
examine “how students think about going to and paying for college” (p. 365), may bring some
clarity. This model assumes students have agency in their decision to attend college, and these
decisions are made as students interact with different people in their family and social circle
(Tierney & Venegas, 2009). Throughout the findings, these students had several community
cultural wealth sources that helped them prepare for and apply to college. Even with community
cultural wealth, the students exhibited individual agency as they made decisions on where to
apply, where to seek and accept college knowledge, where to look for assistance, and in selecting
a 4-year institution.
Students’ Experiences Demonstrate the Intersectionality That Exists Within the First-
Generation Identity
All participants identified as first-generation students as none of their parents had a
bachelor’s degree. Since none of the parents had attended college, the participants had to rely on
other people for hands-on assistance with the college preparation and application process.
Having less support and college knowledge from parents is a common occurrence among first-
generation students, as supported in the literature (Engle, 2006). As described earlier, all of the
participants relied on their college counselor. Some students found through social capital other
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sources of assistance, like teachers and friends. Some students had help from family members,
such as siblings and cousins.
Despite experiencing additional challenges due to their first-generation identity, all of the
students’ experiences did not align with the literature. First-generation students are more likely to
start at 2-year colleges, go to college part-time, work while in college, or delay starting higher
education (Engle et al., 2006; Engle & Tinto, 2008), but none of these situations applied to these
students. Engle (2006) found that parents tend to provide less encouragement and support to
attend college to their first-generation students, but this study found the opposite. Even though
the parents of these participants were unable to provide physical assistance with the college and
financial aid applications as supported in the literature (Engle, 2006), they provided emotional
support and encouragement to the participants. Extended family members and people from
school also motivated and supported students through the process. Being first-generation was a
barrier to higher education that all participants confronted, but it did not deter them.
The Impacts of COVID-19 and Access to Technology
The interviews for this study were conducted during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The interviews took place over Zoom in December 2021 and January 2022. Having access to this
technology was instrumental in completing these interviews during a precarious time.
Technology was also a major factor in the experiences of these participants as they prepared and
applied to 4-year institutions. The students accessed information and college, financial aid, and
scholarship applications, and other forms required online. Also, five participants were still in
high school when the COVID-19 pandemic started in the spring of 2020. The impacts of the
COVID-19 on these students’ experiences were clear as they spoke about how it affected them to
have online classes and only being able to speak to their teachers, college counselors, guidance
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counselors or school advisors, and friends virtually. The lack of in-person access to these
essential sources of social capital made things more challenging. It also exacerbated other
existing challenges like limited internet access, which was critical as all applications were
available online. As we move forward during this pandemic and after it is over, we will see what
other long-term impacts it has on students attending 4-year institutions.
Recommendations for Practice
Based on the results of this study, I offer the following recommendations. These
recommendations are primarily directed to three important stakeholder groups involved in the
experiences of Latinx high school students in East Los Angeles as they prepare for and apply to
4-year institutions: students, parents and other family members, and school personnel, including
administrators, teachers, and school counselors or college advisors.
Encourage and Help Nurture Multilingualism
The participants had many positive and negative experiences to share. Linguistic capital
was difficult to ask about, but I was glad I did as the participants shared how they found it
helpful when applying to colleges, but most importantly, it helped them in their life in general.
One recommendation would be to encourage and help nurture multilingualism in communities so
that students can be proud of their multilinguistic abilities. Being multilingual is not just helpful
for college, but it is also a connector to our culture, families, and friends. It is a tool to help
others who may need assistance with translation or interpretation. Parents, siblings, cousins,
friends, teachers, counselors, and community members can encourage speaking other languages
by normalizing the experience and not making anyone feel bad for speaking another language or
having an accent. Another recommendation would be to promote other forms of linguistic capital
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that reflect the diversity of East LA, such as the media available in Spanish, communication with
businesses, and forms of expression including music, murals, and events.
In this study, the participants only brought up English and Spanish as languages pertinent
to them. Spanish is the top spoken language in the United States after English (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2013). Among the East Los Angeles population over 5 years old, 86.8% speak a
language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.-a). It is assumed that Spanish is
the most popular language in the area due to the large Latinx population. Regardless of the
language, the community’ language diversity must be welcomed, as there are probably other
languages spoken. These other languages include indigenous languages from Latin America
(Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo, 2021). Even when bilingual education was restricted in
California, the need for bilingual education did not disappear (Farruggio, 2010). Multilingualism
can be encouraged by supporting the accessibility to education in different languages in addition
to English. We can also support students to include their language skills in their college
applications.
Strengthen Ties Within Community Networks
The participants found much support and encouragement from their families, friends,
teachers, college counselors, and guidance counselors or school advisors. I would encourage
students to seek and maintain these support systems embedded in their family and community.
Students can achieve this task by asking questions about college preparation as early as possible,
even before high school. They can ask their guidance counselors, school advisors, and teachers.
Once the students are in high school, they can ask the college counselor (if available) about
preparing for college and start getting information about what to expect for the college and
financial aid application process in their senior year of high school. Building college knowledge
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is an important component of preparing students for college to apply and enroll at a post-
secondary institution (Conley, 2010). Students can also reach out to their immediate and
extended family members who have gone to college or have been through the preparation and
applications to ask them for advice, tips, and assistance. Building a support system with friends
is also highly recommended as it is good to have people to relate to that are experiencing the
same thing at the same time you are. These support systems could entail having a regular
meeting time to work on college and financial aid applications or sharing college essays to
review for feedback. These meetings with friends could also include time to discuss the
challenges they are experiencing to brainstorm possible solutions.
Increase Parental Involvement at All Stages of the College Preparation and Application
Process
The participants' parents provided emotional support and encouragement to their
children. This is supported by the research as parents influence the type of institution a student
attends (Perna & Titus, 2005). As the research supports, the role of Latinx parents can be very
important (Auerbach, 2006). This was very impactful for the students as they experienced much
stress going through the process. The participants also would have liked the parents to provide
hands-on or physical support when needed. If possible, the parents should be involved as much
as possible. If the parents cannot assist with college preparation because they did not go to
college themselves or are unsure of what that entails, they can then contact the school to get
information. The parents can request a meeting with the school advisor or guidance counselor,
and if the school has a college counselor, parents should also request a meeting with them, too.
Parents can also ask the school if there will be any workshops relating to college preparation,
college applications, financial aid, scholarships, or any other related topics. If there are any
151

workshops, parents could attend with their students to learn more and stay connected to the
school. Parents could also check in with their students about their high school classes, track their
progress on their A-G requirements, ask about their college applications, and go with them to
workshops. This kind of involvement would help students, especially first-generation students,
not feel alone.
Discuss College Selection Criteria, Including Location, Early in Process
Many of these participants’ parents had an issue with their students choosing to go to
colleges far away from home and preferred them to stay at home or close by, which is in line
with previous research (Fann et al., 2009; Kiyama, 2010). It is recommended that parents talk to
their children to discuss their reasons for going to colleges far away, so they can find a
compromise that works for both sides. Students can be allowed to seek new opportunities
without severing cultural ties. This communication should occur before students submit their
college applications to allow time for processing on both sides.
Increase Access to College Counselors
It is highly recommended that schools continue to increase the number of college
counselors to allow for more manageable caseloads. As seen in East Los Angeles High School 3,
having fewer students on their caseload allowed for frequent one-on-one interaction, which was
not the case at East Los Angeles High Schools 1 and 2. This was not surprising as Corwin et al.
(2004) found that students of color tend to go to overcrowded schools with less access to
counseling. As McDonough (2005a) found, having frequent and easy access to counseling can
increase students’ chances of going to a 4-year college or university.

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Increase Support from Teachers in the College Preparation, Application, and Selection
Process
Providing Latinx students with collaborative and strong support from teachers and
counselors can also help increase the number of students going to 4-year institutions (Roderick et
al., 2008). The impact of the support from teachers and counselors was seen in the assistance and
advice they provided to students. Teachers can specifically provide feedback on college essays
and, more importantly, encourage them to start writing them before their senior year of high
school. Teachers can also inspire students to go to college, share college knowledge,
academically prepare them for college, and encourage them to apply and enroll at a 4-year
institution. Teachers play a critical role in assisting students by having daily contact with them,
showing students they care, and being a consistent resource.
Provide Targeted Assistance for Completing FAFSA
In this study, the students noted difficulties with the FAFSA. The college counselors
were instrumental in helping them by providing individual hands-on assistance. This
recommendation is supported by the literature, specifically when working with low-income
students (Venegas & Hallett, 2008). The participants in this study also admitted how difficult
completing the FAFSA was for them, but the college counselor was a critical resource for many
of them. As Venegas and Hallett (2008) found, providing individualized assistance can benefit
students, particularly those from low-income families.
Increase Access to Technology Equipment and Internet Connectivity
Technological equipment and the internet were major tools for the students during their
college preparation, application, and selection as well as when applying for financial aid. It is
important for students to continue to have access to the internet, including reliable connectivity,
153

and to technological equipment to make sure students can apply to college and to financial aid.
The students in this study also noted the importance of having access to information and to
resources virtually.
Use Advisory or College Preparation Periods Strategically
There is also potential in using advisory or college preparation periods to increase the
opportunities to give students college knowledge, including informing students of all their
options (Conley, 2010). The three high schools in this study offered advisory or college periods,
some with little or no structure, and others provided more specific assistance to students during
the college application process. Frankly, these class periods are untapped potential in that
students are required to attend, so it is an ideal time to provide them with information and
support for college preparation, application, and selection. The students would benefit from
dedicated time during the school day to receive the support and assistance they need.
Future Research
There has been limited research on the experiences of Latinx students from high schools
in East Los Angeles as they prepare and apply to college in general, but especially concerning
those going to 4-year institutions. Previous studies using the lens of community cultural wealth
in East Los Angeles focused on parents instead of students (Guzmán et al., 2021; Urdiales,
2017). This study has sought to fill this gap. Building on this study, there are several areas for
additional research.
First, additional research could be a case study of one high school in East Los Angeles to
compare students’ experiences with college preparation and application in a more controlled
setting, and the results would be more applicable to that particular school. This would be
valuable as this study was not specific to one high school in the area, but there were enough
154

participants from two specific high schools to give an outlook on the differences in resources and
experience. For example, the alumni from East Los Angeles High School 1 reported having
trouble getting hold of the one college counselor due to the vast number of students, while the
alumni from East Los Angeles High School 3 had no issue meeting individually with their
college counselor. The alumni from High School 1 also had almost no contact with their
guidance counselor, while the alumni from High School 3 had daily contact with the school
advisor. By delving further into a case study, it is possible to find why the structure is in place
and what can be done to further support students.
Another direction could be researching what the schools are doing to prepare students
academically for college. As Perna (2005) found, academic preparation is essential in whether a
student will go to college. A few students in the study mentioned the importance of the AP
courses in preparing them to go to a 4-year institution. However, this study did not focus on
academic preparation or whether all students have access to it. It would be important to
determine if all students are academically prepared for college, even if they are not enrolled in
AP classes.
Finally, one participant was a peer college counselor at their high school and was tasked
with helping their peers through the college and financial aid applications. Additional research
into how to effectively run a peer college counseling program could be beneficial as high school
college counselors use peer college counselors to meet the demand for these services. Having
access to proven best practices would be helpful to them in assisting students when they are
unable to hire additional full-time college counselors.

155

Final Reflections
This study has several recommendations for the students, parents, and school personnel at
high schools in East Los Angeles. I learned much about the participants and am grateful to have
had the opportunity to share their experiences with the research world. I knew it was important to
capture the participants’ voices in research before I started this dissertation, but I was impressed
and pleasantly surprised with how honest and open they were with me. It meant very much that
they were invested in sharing their stories with me and shared my love for East Los Angeles. My
love for representing East LA is so great, that I felt it appropriate to wear a t-shirt during my final
defense with the famous landmark sign located in East LA. One my cousins, Derek Morales,
drew the famous landmark and screen-printed the design into a t-shirt to wear for my dissertation
defense. Derek is 13 years old and drew it all by hand, with the exception that the font was
computer generated and operated artistic expression by adding the downtown Los Angeles
skyline in the background. This drawing can be seen on Appendix G.
The participants’ perseverance, agency, and community cultural wealth speak of their
strength and determination despite not having an ideal college preparation and application
environment. I hope people acknowledge that people from communities like East Los Angeles
have so much to offer to this world, even though they might not see it from the outside.

156

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https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006
Zarate, M. E., & Pachon, H. P. (2006). Perceptions of college financial aid among California
Latino youth (Policy brief). Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

179

Appendix A: Recruitment Email with Qualtrics Recruitment Questionnaire Link
To: [Individual or Organization Email Address]
From Email: ochoal@usc.edu
From Name: Liliana Ochoa-Springer
Subject: College Preparation & Application Process -Dissertation Study

Dear [Individual or Organization],

My name is Liliana Ochoa-Springer and I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern
California. I am looking for alumni of high schools in the East Los Angeles unincorporated area
that are currently enrolled at 4-year institutions in the United States to participate in my study for
my dissertation, which is conducted under the supervision of faculty member, Dr. Robert
Filback.

My dissertation is titled, East Los Angeles Latinx Student Voices: Navigating the Path to a Four-
Year Institution. My research aims to understand the experiences of Latinx alumni from high
schools in East Los Angeles as they navigated the college preparation and application process to
4-year institutions.

I was hoping you could forward my flyer to any potential participants. If they are interested they
simply need to fill out this 3-minute survey. https://tinyurl.com/eastlastudentvoices
All participants of the questionnaire and interview will remain anonymous in the research report.

For more information or questions contact me at ochoal@usc.edu.

Thank you. I really appreciate your time.

Liliana Ochoa-Springer
University of Southern California Ed.D. Candidate

Attachment
Study Recruitment Flyer

180

Appendix B: Qualtrics Recruitment Questionnaire Link
Thank you for participating in this questionnaire. There is no obligation for you to participate in
this questionnaire and can choose to not complete it at any time. There is no negative impact if
you choose not to participate. Your responses will remain confidential. If you are interested in
participating in a confidential Zoom interview for a doctoral dissertation research study, please
enter your contact information at the end of the questionnaire.

Are you 18 years of age or older?
o Yes
o No

Did you live in the East Los Angeles unincorporated area of Los Angeles County while in high
school?
o Yes
o No

If yes, which of these high schools did you attend and graduate from?
o Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School
o City of Angels Independent Studies
o Ednovate-Esperanza College Prep
o Esteban E. Torres High School
o Hilda L. Solis Learning Academy
o James A. Garfield High School
o Monterey Continuation High School
o Ramona Opportunity High School

If you selected a high school above, what year did you graduate from there?
____________

Are you a current undergraduate student at a 4-year college/university in the United States?
o Yes
o No

If yes, what 4-year college/university do you attend? ______________

Did you begin at your college/university following high school graduation?
o Yes
o No

How long have you attended your current college/university?
o Less than 1 year
o 1–2 years
o 2–3 years
181

o 3–4 years
o 5 or more years

Do you identify as Latinx/a/o or Hispanic or Chicanx/a/o?
o Yes
o No

If yes, could you specify how you identify from these options: Latinx/a/o or Hispanic or
Chicanx/a/o?
____________

Would you be interested in participating in a 60-minute interview via Zoom?
o Yes
o No

If yes, please provide the following information:
Name: ________________________
Pronouns: ________________________
Phone number: ________________________
Email address: ________________________
Other contact: ________________________

182

Appendix C: Study Recruitment Flyer

183

Appendix D: Information Sheet

184

185

Appendix E: Interview Protocol
Researcher’s Name: Liliana Ochoa-Springer
Research Question
Using a framework of community cultural wealth, what are the experiences of recent
Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles as they prepared for and applied to
4-year institutions?
Introduction
Thank you for your willingness to participate in my research study. I really appreciate
your time today to answer my questions. As mentioned earlier, this interview should last about
60 minutes -is this still okay with you? Before starting the interview, I wanted to provide you a
quick overview of my study. I am a doctoral student at USC and am conducting this study as part
of my dissertation as well as my own interests, both professional and personal. I am particularly
interested in learning more about the experiences of Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los
Angeles when they prepared for and applied to 4-year colleges and universities. Were you able to
review the information sheet provided to you via email? Did you have any questions? The data
taken from this interview will be solely used for the purposes of this research study. Although I
may use some direct quotes from this interview, I assure you that your responses remain
confidential. Your name will not be used nor any personally identifying information. Is there a
specific pseudonym you would like me to use or do you prefer that I select one for you? In order
to help accurately capture your responses, I would like to record during the interview. The
recording and the notes I take during the interview will not be shared with anyone and will be
stored in a password-protected file that is secured and stored on my laptop. Do I have your
186

permission to record this interview? Do you have any questions about the study before we get
started?

Table E1
Interview Questions (With Probes)
Question Capital type
We will be discussing your experiences preparing for,
applying to, and selecting a college/university, but I will
first start by asking you about East LA

When you think of East LA, can you tell me about a
[landmark/place/event] that feels like home?
Imagine I’m not from East LA, how would you describe
your community to a new friend?
Could you tell me more about yourself? How you
identify, anything that you feel comfortable sharing?
Familial/social/linguistic
When did you first think about going to college? Aspirational
What or who in particular helped inspired you to attend
college?
Could you expand and tell me more about your
aspirations?
Aspirational
Tell me about your experiences with the college preparation
process. Definition of college preparation process: taking
steps to prepare for college, such as academic preparation,
involvement in extracurricular activities, keeping track of
application course requirements (i.e. A-G requirements)
and exam requirements (i.e. SAT/ACT), building college
knowledge about the college application and financial aid
application processes, dual enrollment, engaging in
college searches and college tours and fairs.
Did you learn about the specific steps to take for college
preparation from a specific source, if at all? If yes,
how?
What was the level of involvement of your family or
friends in your college preparation process, if any?
What role did your counselor play in this process, if at
all?
Social/navigational/familial
187

Tell me about your experiences with the college application
process.
How did you learn how to apply to college?
You mentioned you applied to UC’s/private institutions;
how did you work on your PIQ/essays required for the
applications?
How did you receive your transcript and check on A-G
requirements?
What was the level of involvement of your family or
friends in your college application process, if any?
What role did your counselor play in this process, if at
all?
Were there any specific resources you utilized during
this time, if any?
Social/navigational/familial
Can you provide a specific example that best describes what
motivated you to continue to prepare for college and
apply?
Resistance
Describe a challenge you encountered when preparing and
applying to college. How did you overcome that
challenge?
Where did you learn this behavior? or What do you think
influenced this behavior?
Resistance
How did you decide to apply to 4-year colleges/universities?
What aspirations did you have in regard to attending a 4-
year institution?
Aspirational/social
How many applications did you submit to 4-year
colleges/universities? Why that specific number?
Aspirational/social
Did you consider attending 2-year colleges? Why or why
not?
Aspirational/social
Did you feel supported to apply to the colleges/universities
of your choice? If yes, how? If no, why not?
What about other people in your life?
Familial/social/resistance
Tell me about your experiences with the financial aid
application process.
How did you learn about financial aid and the
applications required?
Did someone help you complete the FAFSA?
What was the level of involvement of your family in
your financial aid application process, if any?
Social/navigational/familial
188

Were there any specific resources that were helpful with
learning about financial aid and the application
process, if any?
Were there any specific resources that were helpful in
learning about scholarships? If yes, did you apply to
any of those scholarships?
Tell me about your experiences with the college selection
process once you found out were you admitted to.
Were the school, friends, or any other people involved in
this process, if at all?
Did someone help review your financial aid package?
How did your family support your decision to attend this
4-year college/university, if at all?
Familial/social/navigational
Were there other resources that were helpful to you during
the college preparation, application, and selection process
that you have not mentioned?
Is there anything else that you would like to share about
your experiences with this process that we haven’t
covered yet?
Familial/social/navigational
What role did technology play in your journey to a 4-year
institution, if at all?
Aspirational/social/navigational
You mentioned language earlier or let’s talk about language
for a minute. Tell me about your language background
and how it either helped you or hindered you in thinking
about preparing for or applying to college.
For some people being bilingual can be very
empowering, something that is looked at as a positive,
how was your experience in a larger way?
If you are bilingual or multilingual, how do you feel it
has benefitted you in your life and in this process, if at
all?
Linguistic
A lot of systems and structures that are in place are not
supportive of Latinx students attending college, can you
think of any instances or examples in which you had to
advocate for yourself to get the assistance you needed
when going through the college preparation and
application process, if any?
Why do you feel you kept going with the process to go
to a 4-year institution directly after high school?
Resistance
189

What skills did you learn during the college preparation and
application process that are helping you now that you’re at
a 4-year institution?
Knowing what you know now, what might you have
done differently?
What advice would you give a family member or close
friend going through the process?
Social/navigational

Closing
Member Checks: I would like to take a moment to quickly summarize the main themes that arose
through our interview to make sure I understood you.
Snowball sampling-Would you happen to know anyone that might fit the criteria for my study
and would like to participate? If no, that’s ok. If yes, would you be able to provide their
contact information? Or if you prefer you can simply forward my email and study flyer to
them. Thank you.
Is it okay to reach out to you afterwards if I needed clarification?
I would like to thank you for your time to complete this interview. I really appreciate it. You will
receive the Amazon $25 gift card via email within 2 business days. Thank you again!

190

Appendix F: Interview Responses About East Los Angeles Community
Imagine I’m not from East LA, how would you describe your community to a new
friend?

Table F1
Responses About East Los Angeles
Ana I would describe East LA like a comunidad or familia, so I think it's crazy, because
in high school too we talked about this ‘how would you describe East LA?’ I
mean there's not a lot of schools that are supporting education for minorities, so
our school had these core values that are represented, who we are as people and
every time I would talk to someone that wasn't part of my school, we like to
describe East LA as ganas, familia, PMC, which is basically positive multi-
generational change where we're getting an education, so we could help our
community in the future. So, we would do community hours, and that will be
described as PMC and I really loved, how you walk down the streets with your
uniform and see moms or parents and they’ll ask, “Where is that from?” and I’m
like “Well, this is my school East LA High School 3, and it's this community
that you feel close to home, that you're with the people, the same background as
you and even talking to people as the same background, you just feel like this is
my community” . This is how I feel, and I think one word to describe East LA
would just be feeling like a family and you feel like you, almost know
everybody when you're walking down the street if you're always there.

Dani I would describe East LA as a really culturally rich location, with a huge
population of Latinx people, in my personal experience, a lot from Mexico and a
lot of folks from Central America as well. It's a real community solid place
where you see a lot of support and there's definitely a lot of history within the
community.

Gabriel I would say it's not for the faint of heart because growing up, I would say it was a
remote I wouldn't say it's a bad area but it's not a safe area either and it's not an
ideal area to be in for like I want to say a lot of people. But I think now it's
calmed down a little bit, but I still say we still have that kind of reputation of
gang violence and stuff like that, especially since we're like neighboring Boyle
Heights and Monterey Park, which are two like vastly dangerous areas quote
unquote. But I also like to incorporate my own knowledge of East LA in
general, as in the Chicano activism, like the history that it has within that area.

James It’s hard to describe I guess really cultural because I mean you're never really
going to find another place like this outside of Los Angeles, really. I mean the
191

food's great it can be dangerous at times for sure, but you know the best part
about it is probably the people, because I mean once you kind of get invited to
somebody's house the atmosphere is super friendly, we're super family oriented
it's like if you're stepping into our house you're definitely like a member of our
household I guess you know, like heartwarming I guess I’m not sure how to
describe but that's the best way I could say it.

Jasmine I would definitely say, like any community, we do have our ups and downs, but
the community is very strong when it comes to our traditions and culture, here
we are very prideful of where we are from and we love to show it, whether it’s
through fashion, through education, again through art, different ways. We're just
very strong on tradition, and family and everything, and we always have each
other's backs.

Michael It's very busy you see a lot of taco trucks and everyone sort of I don't want to say
friendly, but you know the kind, there is a sense of community here. You don't
really have to worry about anything bad happening, while you're walking down
the street at like 9pm because it's always busy.

Sofia I think if I were to describe it’d be like comfort, I mean everyone is very
welcoming in East LA, they’re very everyone like knows each other in one way
or another, like family wise. I feel as a community a lot of people engage with
each other, depending on where they go, I think that's the way I would describe
it.

Valentina I would say East LA is dominantly Latino, Latina community. You will hear some
sort of music coming from either a car or someone on a bike that has a speaker
with them, or just a house like my neighbor blasts music all day nonstop. I don't
know how she doesn't get tired, but she blasts music all day and we have ice
cream trucks that pass by, almost every hour it's pretty cool because my brother
comes down here, he's like we don't have that up North it's just here. We have
the street vendors of course like the eloteros, the trucks, and I would just say it’s
a vibrant city.

192

Appendix G: Drawing of East Los Angeles Landmark

Note. Image is original artwork created for this dissertation by Derek Morales. Used with
permission.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study examined the experiences of Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles as they prepared and applied to a 4-year institution in the United States. This study looked at how Latinx alumni from high schools in East Los Angeles prepared for and applied to 4-year institutions. This qualitative study included semi-structured interviews with participants who identified as Latinx/a/o, attended and graduated from a high school in the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles, attended a 4-year college or university directly after high school and were current undergraduates at a 4-year institution in the United States. The community cultural wealth model was the conceptual framework used for this study. Findings from this study revealed that participants accessed community cultural wealth and the different sources of capital during the process. Recommendations include strengthening ties with community networks, ways parents can support their students through the college preparation and application process, and increasing access to college counselors during high school.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ochoa-Springer, Liliana (author)

Core Title East Los Angeles Latinx student voices: navigating the path to a 4-year institution

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2022-08

Publication Date 06/10/2022

Defense Date 05/18/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag college application,college preparation,East Los Angeles,Latinx,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Filback, Robert A. (committee chair), Corwin, Zoe B. (committee member), Venegas, Kristan (committee member)

Creator Email lochoa0321@gmail.com,ochoal@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111339683

Unique identifier UC111339683

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Ochoa-Springer, Liliana

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20220613-usctheses-batch-946 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu