Assessing Hmong Students’ Admission Process: Promising and Challenging Factors   Dr. Yoshiko Takahashi, OIE Faculty Fellow Alexandra Nottbohm, OIE Student Fellow

Academic Challenges of Hmong Students Nearly all (97%) of the Hmong students are first-generation college students. (source: Academic Characteristics of 2009 First-Time Freshmen Hmong College Students at a Western University) Nearly two thirds (62%) are from families with combined incomes of less than $24,000, ranking them as the most financially disadvantaged student population on campus by far. (source: Hmong (p. 1), by N. Rudd & M.T. Fernandez, 2010, Fresno, CA: Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning at California State University, Fresno)

College Admission Research Questions: What is the admission status of Hmong students relative to other ethnic groups? What are the critical factors as to why their applications were denied or incomplete?

GPA: 3.42 GPA: 3.25 Student Admission Trend (All) Fall 2016: All % Admits: 53% % Enrolled: 44% GPA: 3.25 Hmong Students Admission Trend Fall 2016: Hmong % Admits: 70% % Enrolled: 65% GPA: 3.42

Preliminary Findings: 2016 Local Admission Outcome by Race/Ethnicity Hmong (N = 518) Black (N = 323) Hispanic (N = 6,925) White (N = 1,560) Administrative Withdrawal 25.1% 31.6% 38.0% 55.7% Applicant Withdrawal .06% 3.7% 2.0% 1.3% Deny 18.5% 36.8% 28.3% 11.5% Matriculation 55.8% 27.9% 31.7% 31.5% 100.0%

Preliminary Findings: 2016 Hmong Admission Outcome by Location Local Hmong Students (N = 518) Non-Local Hmong Students (N = 82) Administrative Withdrawal 25.1% 24.4% Applicant Withdrawal 0.6% 4.9% Deny 18.5% 67.1% Matriculation 55.8% 3.7%

Preliminary Findings: 2017 Fall Enrollment Status by Race/Ethnicity (Local Only) Enrolled Not Enrolled Hmong (N = 289) 73.4% 26.6% API (N = 673) 62.3% 37.7% Black (N = 134) 62.7% 37.3% Hispanic (N = 2,304) 69.9% 30.1% White (N = 615) 71.1% 28.9% Others (N = 273) 66.3% 33.7%

What we found from the admission data Hmong students are coming to Fresno State with a much higher GPA than other ethnic minorities. Only a small percentage of the applications of local Hmong students were denied. The retention rate for the first year of Hmong students was much higher than for other ethnic minorities.

Why are they behind for the 6- year graduation? New Research Question So, Hmong students are coming to Fresno State with a competitive GPA and successfully completing the first year. Why are they behind for the 6- year graduation?

Enrollment Trends: Fresno State

Enrollment Trends: Community College

Enrollment Trends: Other 4-Year Institution

Implications Perhaps less prepared (low high-school GPA) Hmong students enter Fresno State as First Time Full Time Freshman (FTFTF), and the best prepared (high high-school GPA) Hmong students enter as transfer students. Reflects graduation rates 40% of Hmong FTFTF graduate in 6 years 78% of Hmong transfer students graduate in 4 years

Future Directions- Student Success Survey Developing a survey to investigate what challenges Hmong students may be facing Experiencing common challenges to academic success? Are these challenges unique to Hmong students? Does experiencing particular challenges predict institutional metrics? Survey developed from quantitative coding of 2013 AFSA Survey Utilizing case-control matching to create a control group of non-Hmong students matched on confounding variables (e.g., sex, High School GPA) to account for pre-existing differences