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The purpose of this study is to examine racial/ethnic and gender variations and intersectionality in the knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors pertaining to substance abuse (SA) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention among racial/ethnic minority college students (ages 18–24) in South Texas. A total of 535 minority students completed a baseline survey between 2014 and 2016 (N = 535). Results revealed statistically significant (ranging from p <.05 to p <.001) racial/ethnic and gender variations in SA and HIV/STD prevention-related knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. However, the significant interaction effects (i.e., intersectionality) were observed only for two of the nine composite variables. That is, although male minority students exhibited lower levels of awareness of sexual risks and safe sex negotiation skills than female minority students, Hispanic male students appeared to fare better in both awareness of sexual risks (p <.01) and safe sex negotiation skills (p <.05) compared to students of other racial/ethnic origin. Implications for prevention and intervention work involving minority college students are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior studies suggest that Federal Work-Study (FWS) participation is positively associated with student learning, persistence, and academic achievement at four-year institutions. Limited research, however, has evaluated whether FWS participation improves academic success among students attending community colleges. Purpose and Research Questions: The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how FWS participation impacted academic performance and enrollment outcomes among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of students attending a large, urban community college (UCC) system in Texas. There were two research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of students at UCC who participated in FWS, compared with their peers who did not participate? (2) After controlling for self-selection bias, are there significant differences in academic success (i.e., cumulative GPA; credential attainment and/or four-year transfer) among UCC students who did and did not participate in the FWS program? Research Design: The longitudinal data set (fall 2010 through summer 2016) analyzed in this study was built using detailed student-level transcript data records. The full sample included 8,837 students who had filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (a necessary step to receive FWS funding), but the primary focus was on the subsample of FWS participants (n = 260). Descriptive analysis was performed to compare the demographic and academic characteristics of FWS participants with nonparticipants. To assuage self-selection bias, propensity score matching (nearest neighbor matching algorithm) was used to match similar students who did and did not participate in FWS. We employed multiple regression and logistic regression techniques on the matched data to investigate whether FWS participation was associated with students' academic outcomes. Results: Relative to their non-FWS peers, FWS participants at this community college were more likely to be female, African American, 24 years of age or older, very low income, and academically underprepared. After successfully matching FWS participants with similar non-FWS participants, results indicated that FWS participation was associated with a higher cumulative GPA and significantly higher odds of credential completion and/or vertical transfer. Conclusions: There are important equity implications in our findings; the results suggest that the FWS program can improve educational outcomes for student populations that are often marginalized and underserved by the higher education system. We describe several ways that the FWS program could be redesigned and expanded to better meet the needs of community college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Most research regarding sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations is limited to examination of cigarette or general tobacco use or does not examine heterogeneity across SGM groups other than lesbian or gay and bisexual individuals. This study examined differences in the odds of current use and age of initiation of five tobacco/nicotine products among three groups of SGM young adults who self-identified as (1) gay or lesbian, (2) bisexual, and (3) queer, transgender, or "other," compared to their heterosexual peers.Methods: Participants were 4252 college students aged 18-29 years from 24 colleges in Texas who completed an online tobacco use survey. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine the odds of SGM participants currently using each tobacco product. Multilevel linear regression models were used to examine the association of current product users' SGM status with self-reported age of each product's initiation. All models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors and accounted for students clustered within each college.Results: At least one SGM group had significantly greater odds of currently using every tobacco product type compared to heterosexual participants, except hookah. There were few differences across groups in age of initiation. However, queer, transgender, and "other-" identified participants initiated e-cigarettes 1.34 years younger than heterosexual participants, and bisexual participants initiated smokeless tobacco 3.66 years younger than heterosexual participants.Conclusions: Findings highlight some significant tobacco use disparities among SGM young adults compared to their heterosexual peers. Longitudinal studies with larger group sizes will identify prospective predictors of sustained SGM-related tobacco use disparities.Implications: This study extends the current literature by including the sexual and gender minority identity options of queer, transgender, and "other," highlighting disparities in tobacco use between young adults in these subgroups compared to their heterosexual peers, particularly in noncigarette tobacco product use. Findings underscore the need for the Food and Drug Association and other health agencies to tailor health communication efforts specific to sexual and gender minority populations pertaining to the risks and harms surrounding tobacco product use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This article examines how knowledge about the Texas top 10 percent law influences college enrollment decisions of high achieving minority and nonminority students. Methods. Using a representative survey of graduates from Texas public high schools in 2002, we compare self-reported and transcript-verified class rank and estimate probit models to assess the likelihood that top-ranked minority students know about the law. Results. Family socioeconomic status largely explains why highly ranked black and Hispanic students know less about the top 10 percent law than comparable whites, but parents' lack of fluency in English is a significant information barrier for college-bound, top 10 percent Hispanic students from predominantly minority high schools. Nearly one-fifth of college-oriented black and Hispanic top 10 percent seniors who did not know about the law failed to enroll anywhere. Conclusion. Inadequate information about the top 10 percent law undermines enrollment of talented minorities in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates Texas House Bill No. 588, known as the Ten Percent Plan, which was legislated to provide a race-neutral guideline to increase minority enrollment at Texas state universities. In response to the Fifth Circuit's decision in Hopwood v. Texas, which effectively ended the use of traditional affirmative action programs in Texas higher education admissions, the Texas legislature passed Texas House Bill No. 588. The bill provides that Texas students in the top ten percent of their graduating high school classes shall be admitted automatically to any Texas state university without consideration of their standardized test scores or any other criteria. By utilizing a race-neutral guideline for admissions, Texas legislators believed the Plan could increase minority enrollment at Texas state universities while avoiding an equal protection challenge. Furthermore, the legislators hoped that the Plan would attract students from high schools that did not traditionally send large numbers of students to the Texas university system, including schools with large minority populations and rural schools. However, despite its promise as an alternative to traditional affirmative action programs, the Plan failed to alter significantly minority enrollment at either the University of Texas at Austin or Texas A & M University during the first year of its implementation.