Special issue: Healthy eating and physical activity in out-of-school time settings. Issue Editors' notes.

Abstract

Increasing access to and persistence in college is one of the critical issues in education today and presents multiple challenges for secondary schools for how to prepare and support their students to navigate this increasingly complex process. There are a growing number of interventions designed to improve college access and matriculation for high school students; this is particularly the case for low-income families and first-generation college-goers as many are at risk for not attending college. Gaining an understanding about the barriers facing the transition from high school to college is a crucial step. These obstacles include a multitude of factors—lack of access to resources at home or school, not having a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum or not taking advantage of these courses when available, and misperceptions or faulty information about the college-going process.