Closing the Gap: An Overview of the Literature on College Persistence and Underrepresented Populations

November 2018

This literature review serves as a jumping off point for the exploration of college persistence among underrepresented populations, namely first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and minority students. It provides a broad overview of key statistics along with a list of widely documented barriers to persistence and existing interventions to improve persistence using national data and existing literature. This review allows readers to gather information on the existing data points, research, strategies to help inform and guide further work in the area.