The unusual request for parental participation was part of a stepped-up effort by the predominantly Hispanic community college in McAllen to enhance the retention and graduation prospects for its first-generation college students by making the college experience more of a family affair from the beginning.
Such parent orientations are not unusual at four-year schools, but the strategy is fairly new for open-access institutions that serve such disparate constituents as first-time undergraduates and adult learners. Like their four-year counterparts, community colleges focus on college completion, experts say, and South Texas is among those colleges that discovered the importance of demystifying the higher education process for Latino parents who’ve never traveled that path.
