Academic Performance Differences of First-Year Undergraduate Asian And Pacific Islander Students in a Large Urban Four-Year AANAPISI in Texas

Background: Model minority myths have suggested that Asian Americans are high achievers who are without barriers to success. Due to this myth, the problems and needs of the underrepresented and underachieving Asian and Pacific Islander (API) students often can be overlooked in higher education. This study compared the differences in academic performance within API populations based on the residency status (U.S.-born, foreign-born, and international), geographic origin (five regions of Asia and the Pacific Islands), and ancestral countries of origin. The study occurred at one of two 4-year AANAPISI (Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution) in Texas. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze five factors: (1) the academic outcomes (grade point averages, credit hours earned, and academic standing status) of the overall sample of students who classify as API at a large urban four-year AANAPISI in Texas; (2) the differences in the academic outcomes of the residency status, regions, and ancestral countries of origins; (3) whether the retention and graduation rates of students differ by residency status, regions, and ancestral countries of origins; (4) whether there was a relationship between parents’ level of education and the academic outcomes of first-generation API students, and how different the academic outcomes by residency status, regions, and ancestral countries of origin, and (5) whether the parents’ level of income related to credit hours earned for first-generation API students. Method: The archival sample comprised a cohort of 1,445 first year first-time-in-college (FTIC) undergraduate students in Fall 2016 who self-identified as Asian or Pacific Islanders. This cohort was followed every Fall until the beginning of Fall 2020 and/or Fall 2021 (fourth and fifth-year graduation rate marks). The study used a quantitative approach that combined descriptive, causal-comparative, and correlational designs. SPSS was used to present the descriptive statistics that described the sample characteristics and analyze group differences (MANOVA) and correlations (Spearman rho). Results: For the 1,445 overall samples, the APIs had average GPAs of more than 3.0 and were 90% in good academic standing. However, the credit hours earned were short of the targets of 120 credit hours in the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021. There were significant differences for academic outcomes, as well as retention and graduation rates, based on regions and ancestral countries of origin, but not for residency status. The 4-year graduation rate for the API students in the urban public AANAPISI in Southeast Texas was 44.2% compared with 33.3% (the national average). The 5-year graduation rate was 64.8%. For the 531 first-generation API students, only their mother’s (not their father’s) education correlated with academic standing status, although it was very weak. Interestingly, the less educated the mother had been, the higher the child’s academic standing was. Similar to the overall sample, there were also significant differences for the first-generation API students’ academic outcomes based on regions and ancestral countries of origin, but not for residency status. There was no correlation between parents’ level of income and credit hours earned by the first-generation API students.