Korkow, J: Native Americans and College Success

Presently, fewer than 12% of Native Americans nationwide hold a degree beyond high school (Ting & Bryant, 2001). This percentage is the lowest among minority groups. The graduation rates of Native American students were the primary motivation for conducting this study. Previous research addressed success or failure among Native students from the researchers perspective, not the students perspective. This study focused on exploring success factors of Native college students and connections among these factors. This study described these factors and experiences through the qualitative methodology of grounded theory. The theory built from this study connected these factors and explored those connections. This study described the experiences of successful Native American college students who were persisters at a largely white, upper Midwestern, degree- granting institution. A goal of this research was to explain and better understand the linkages between experiences and events, which were related to Native American college success at a largely white, upper Midwestern, degree-granting institution.