ABSTRACT
A great deal of research has demonstrated the importance and value of educating a diverse student body that includes those of varying socioeconomic and racial backgrounds (Chang, 1999; Hurtado, Milem, ClaytonPederson, & Allen, 1998; Ibarra, 2001; Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). Positioned within this book, this chapter presents the need for an extended focus on low-income students’ persistence beyond the baccalaureate, and into graduate school. Each year, educators rightly celebrate the graduation of low-income students. Individual success stories are singled out, and students that have successfully navigated college to pursue a career in a worthwhile fi eld are highlighted with great university pride. However, implicit in these celebrated stories is an assumption that the achievement of a Bachelor’s degree is “good enough” for low-income students, as they overcame insurmountable odds to reach such an accomplishment.
