UCLA community college review: the overlooked minority: Asian Pacific American students at community colleges.

This review examines the impact of Asian Pacific American (APA) students' characteristics and experiences on their academic achievement. The article begins by describing the demographics and diversity of this group, and it explores the challenges posed by APA community college students' background characteristics and influences, the model minority stereotype, and identity development. The limited research that focuses on APA students at community colleges is summaried, as well as broader research on APA students in general. The article concludes with implications for practice and recommendations for future research.

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Over the last several decades, Asian Pacific American (APA) students have captured public and scholarly attention for their increasingly visible presence in the halls of academia. Most of that attention has been focused on either supporting or debunking the widespread portrayal of Asian Pacific Americans as a model minority--hard-working and academically successful students who attend the most selective colleges and universities in the country. However, in the news media and in higher education research, a significant subset of the APA student population has largely been overlooked: APA students at the nation's community colleges. Over 40% of all APA students enrolled in higher education in the United States attend community colleges, and in 2000-2001, Asian Pacific Americans made up 15% of all students enrolled in two-year institutions (Harvey, 2003).

The community college APA student population is a sizable force nationally and continues to grow. From 1980 to 2000, APA enrollment at two-year institutions nationwide increased 224%, from approximately 124,000 to 402,000 students (Harvey, 2003). This mirrored trends in APA student enrollment in higher education overall, which more than tripled in the same time period. The number of associate degrees conferred upon APAs grew 229% in those two decades, a larger increase than for any other racial group. In California, which has the largest APA population of any state, the proportion of APA students in community colleges more than doubled between the years of 1980 and 2000 (Wassmer, Moore, & Shulock, 2003).

As these figures indicate, APA students at community colleges are a growing population that can no longer be ignored. Therefore, this review will examine the characteristics and experiences of APA students at two-year institutions, highlighting the heterogeneity of the population in relation to such factors as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and immigrant background. We first describe in more detail the demographics and diversity of this group. We then identify and summarize the research that specifically focuses on APA students at community colleges. However, due to the scarcity of this scholarship, we must look to the broader literature on APA students in higher education in order to highlight the various challenges that APA students face, although we point out the unique characteristics that differentiate APA students at two-year colleges from those at four-year institutions. In order to address the needs of this overlooked minority, this article concludes with implications for practice and recommendations for future research.

Demographics and Diversity of APA Students

Although the term Asian Pacific Americans, or APAs, is frequently used, it is difficult to generalize about the group as a whole because of its diversity and complexity. The term has become the most common racial (or pan-ethnic) designation to encompass the wide array of ethnic groups that trace their ancestral roots to the continent of Asia or the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The exact boundaries of the term are still debated, causing the definition at times to be inconsistent, situational, and political (Hune & Chan, 1997). In addition, APAs can be multi-ethnic or multiracial, variables the U.S. Census only began to track in 2000.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines "Asian" as those individuals who have origins in "the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent" (Barnes & Bennett, 2002, p. 1). The 2000 census counts 25 Asian groups, including Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Pakistani, Vietnamese, and an "Other Asian, not specified" category. There are 11.9 million Asians (including those who reported Asian and one or more other races) in the United States, and they make up 4.2% of the U.S. population. Chinese are the largest group, followed by Filipinos and Asian Indians. The census also counts 24 different Pacific Islander groups, including Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Fijian, and Samoan, which together comprise 0.3% of the U.S. population (Grieco, 2001).

Asian Pacific Americans differ from each other not only in ethnicity, but also in socioeconomic status, language, culture, politics, religion, immigrant status, generation in the United States, educational background, and so forth. Hune (2002), for example, notes changes in the APA population that have accompanied the waves of immigration from the 18th century to today. The earliest immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and India generally came as low-wage laborers and faced discrimination, exploitation, and severe immigration restrictions. In contrast, those who have immigrated since the 1965 Immigration Act are a much more diverse population, ranging from educated professionals from all over Asia, to Southeast Asian refugees fleeing the effects of the Vietnam War (Hune, 2002). Furthermore, within the same ethnic groupings, there exist noteworthy differences between those who were born and raised in the United States and those who immigrated as adults. These differences affect an individual's ethnic and national identity, available resources, and opportunities for education and a career.

Data on APAs are often presented in the aggregate because of small sample sizes or for the sake of convenience. Yet as this article reveals, aggregation of APAs conceals important distinctions between groups and can result in an oversimplified portrayal of APAs as a homogenous group (Hune, 2002; Hune & Chan, 1997; Liang, Ting, & Teraguchi, 2001). Hune and Chan recommend disaggregating APA data by ethnic group and presenting it alongside aggregate summary data. We agree; the diversity of backgrounds in the APA population necessitates disaggregation of groups in order better to understand and address the needs of all students.

Studies on APA Students at Community Colleges

Research that focuses specifically on APA students at community colleges is quite limited at this point. A recent search of the literature resulted in only eight sources, each of which will be discussed in more detail in the paragraphs to follow. In only one of these studies (Laanan & Starobin, 2004) have the researchers attempted to examine this population on a national scale. The other studies have examined APA students within the context of a state or local community college system or a particular campus. Despite the limited scope of this research, these sources reveal the remarkable diversity of APA students' backgrounds and experiences at community colleges.

Although overlooked in academic scholarship, the increased presence of APA students in community colleges has slowly begun to garner national attention. The U.S. House of Representatives recently proposed creating an "Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institution" designation, following the models of historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, and minority serving institutions. Laanan and Starobin (2004) analyzed Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data to propose criteria for community colleges that could qualify as APA-serving institutions. When using the legislative definition of institutions with at least 10% APA first-time, first-year, full-time students, and at least 50% of the student body receiving federal financial aid, community colleges in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, California, and Hawaii were included. National recognition of APA students in community colleges, legislatively and through research, helps to challenge the model minority myth and to demonstrate that APA students attend all types of colleges, not just elite research institutions.

Focusing on a subset of the APA population within a particular state, Yang, Rendon, and Shearon (1994) developed a profile of Asian students (not including Pacific Islanders) who matriculated at North Carolina community colleges. Using data from a fifty-item questionnaire distributed throughout the state system's 58 two-year institutions, the authors compared Asian students in the sample and in the general student population at the colleges. Yang et al. (1994) found that the Asian students have similar demographic, socioeconomic, and academic characteristics compared to the general student population, yet they differ in their educational goals, graduation intentions, influences and motivations for enrolling in programs, and factors impeding entry to college. For example, a greater percentage of Asian students taking credit courses intend to transfer, compared to their community college peers. In addition, friends and family members play a more important role in Asian students' decisions about which college to attend.

Other research aims to highlight differences in backgrounds, experiences, and academic achievement among various APA ethnic groups. For instance, Chu's (1991, 1992) studies of five groups of APA students (Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) found that factors that affect academic achievement vary by ethnicity. In his sample, Korean Americans had the highest mean college GPA, while Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, and Vietnamese Americans had the lowest mean GPA. Chu speculates that some of the differences in academic achievement between these groups may be due to differences in educational background, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, and acculturation. These results point to the danger of aggregating data on APA students without distinguishing between subgroups.

In contrast to Chu's research, another study disaggregating APA community college student data from the LACCD revealed few significant differences among APA ethnic groups. Nishimoto and Hagedorn (2003) found no statistically significant differences between APA ethnic groups in relation to the course completion ratio, a measure of persistence for community college students. The course completion ratio is defined as the number of courses successfully completed in a given year (with a grade of C or above), divided by the total number of courses attempted. Nishimoto and Hagedorn (2003) did find, however, some statistically significant differences in grade point averages between APA ethnic groups, but these differences were not tied to students' persistence. Further research using larger samples, perhaps on the state or national level, may help to resolve the conflicting results obtained by Chu (1991, 1992) and Nishimoto and Hagedorn (2003).

Demographics and characteristics of APA students at community colleges are likely to vary from one institution to another, depending on the demographics of surrounding ethnic communities. For example, in a qualitative study of 168 APA students at Rancho Santiago Community College (RSCC) in Orange County, California, Pham and Dykstra (1996) discovered that a majority of those students are immigrants; 66% reported attending high schools outside the United States, and 72% reported living in the United States for less than 5 years. Study participants chose to attend RSCC because of family and friends' recommendations, convenience in location, and affordability. Immigrant APA students such as those at RSCC are less likely than are native-born students to have the social capital to navigate the U.S. higher education system successfully and are more likely to face academic challenges due to limited English proficiency. Therefore, Pham and Dykstra (1996) recommend presenting new student orientation in other languages, adding more Asian language and ethnic studies courses, improving English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, and establishing an Asian resource center with services in various languages.

Other APA students, however, are not recent immigrants and in fact have a long history in the United States. Makuakane-Drechsel and Hagedorn (2000) focused on one of these groups: Hawaiian students who have ancestry tied to the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands. Native Hawaiian students, as they are commonly termed, are often overlooked under the broad APA label, yet are a significant population historically and politically, especially in the state of Hawaii. The authors examined the factors that predict transfer from one of the four public community colleges on the island of Oahu to a four-year institution in Hawaii, as well as the factors that predict completion of vocational-technical programs at those community colleges. Significant predictors for transfer included taking more credit hours, receiving financial aid, having a higher GPA, attending an urban high school, and starting with credits from a four-year institution (known as "reverse transfer"). Of these factors, the first three were also significant predictors for persistence in vocational-technical programs. Native Hawaiian students' needs are different from those of the immigrant APA students featured in Pham and Dykstra' s (1996) study; rather than ESL programs or services in multiple languages, Makuakane-Drechsel and Hagedorn (2000) recommend targeted scholarship funding and counseling programs to help Hawaiian students achieve educational success.

Extant research has also begun to identify barriers and challenges facing APA students at community colleges. According to Pham and Dykstra (1996), some APA students on community college campuses reported dissatisfaction with unwelcoming attitudes and unhelpful teaching styles on the part of some faculty, incidents of stereotyping and discriminatory behavior from staff and students, and a lack of APA representation among the faculty. Other APA community college students have recounted feeling marginalized on campus. Frank (2001), for example, explored the backgrounds, experiences, and challenges of students from a very specific APA subgroup: ethnic Chinese from Vietnam who live in the San Gabriel Valley region of Southern California. Chinese-Vietnamese people in the United States face marginalization from several directions, including from the dominant American culture, from other Vietnamese who are not Chinese-speaking, and from higher status Chinese from Hong Kong and Taiwan. The local community college contributes to the social isolation and marginalization experienced by these students by not recognizing their unique situation. Frank (2001) urged institutions to include a more nuanced discussion of language and identity issues in their dialogues about diversity.

Further insight into the various challenges faced by APA community college students can be gleaned from the broader literature on APA students in higher education. While the popular press has emphasized the educational successes of the APA population, thereby feeding the model minority stereotype, a growing body of scholarly research is showing that APA students continue to experience significant challenges and obstacles in their quest for higher education. The following sections will explore the challenges posed by students' background characteristics and influences, the model minority stereotype, and identity development during the college years. In pulling from the larger realm of research and writing on APA undergraduates, we recognize that differences exist between APA students at two-year colleges and those at four-year institutions (and we will draw attention to those distinctions when appropriate), but these themes in particular seem to resonate with what we know of the backgrounds and experiences of APA community college students.

Background Characteristics and Influences on Academic Achievement

Chew-Ogi and Ogi (2002) refer to APAs as a "bimodal" population, meaning that large numbers of the population are concentrated on opposite extremes of the scales of success. While there are certainly APA students who live up to the model minority image of academic success, there are also many who are considered "at risk" in higher education due to a combination of individual, family, school, and community factors that put them in danger of not completing a college degree. Yeh (2002) discusses such risk factors, which often stem from students' immigrant status, English language proficiency, family expectations, and socioeconomic status. While in some cases these background characteristics may prove to be an asset, they often complicate or hinder students' ability to reach their academic potentials.

Immigrant Status and English Language Fluency

Because both national and local data on immigrant student enrollment is so limited (Szelenyi & Chang, 2002; Gray, Rolph, & Melamid, 1996), it is difficult to state precisely the percentage of APA undergraduates who are immigrants. Data from selected community colleges indicate that immigrants are an especially large proportion of the APA community college student population. Among 846 APA respondents in a 2001 survey of students in the Los Angeles Community College District, 60% had attended foreign elementary schools, and 45% had attended foreign high schools (Wang, Chang, & Lew, 2005). We speculate that immigrants are more highly represented among APA students at two-year institutions than at four-year institutions, but further research is needed to test this hypothesis.

APA immigrant students face a number of challenges and obstacles on the road to educational attainment. To begin with, the process of immigration and acculturation carries with it many emotional stresses, from issues of identity to differences in cultural and academic expectations (Brilliant, 2000; Hodne, 1997). Interviews with selected APA immigrant students at an urban public university revealed the reality of their struggles against language barriers, social isolation, long work hours, family pressures and responsibilities, overt racism, and subtle discrimination (Kiang, 1992). Refugees, such as those from the Southeast Asian nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, who have been forced from their countries of origin by war, political oppression, or religious persecution, face the additional consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder (which can include symptoms of depression, guilt, anxiety, and anger) as well as the social stigma of dependence on government assistance or low-wage jobs (Do, 1996; Kiang, 1992; Nguyen-Hong-Nhiem & Halpern, 1989).

Further, immigrant students may be unfamiliar with the forms of academic work and skills required to succeed in the American educational setting and may be culturally inhibited from seeking help from counselors or academic advisors (Do, 1996). One study shows that college ESL instructors primarily perceived students who had immigrated earlier in their youth and had graduated from U.S. high schools as academically lacking, rather than "hardworking, highly motivated students who had triumphed over adversity," as they had been known in high school (Harklau, 2000, p. 46). Language difficulties have pushed some APA immigrant students to avoid courses that depend heavily on English fluency and to choose majors in math and science instead, which may affect not only their career directions but also their long-term integration and success in American society (Hsia, 1988).

However, research indicates that, despite the challenges, many APA immigrant students do as well or better in higher education than native-born students. A study of students at a suburban public community college in the Midwest found that limited-English-proficient students (mostly from Asia and Europe) did not differ significantly in academic achievement from the overall student population (Bers, 1994). Another study showed that college students from immigrant families in the San Francisco area performed at the same levels as those from American-born families. Although Filipino American students in this study tended to lag behind their peers on most indicators, students from East Asian backgrounds generally had enrolled in greater numbers at four-year colleges and had higher GPAs than did other immigrant groups (Fuligni & Witkow, 2004).

Not all APA immigrant students are academically successful, however, and their level of achievement can be affected by a number of variables. Portes and Rumbaut (2001) posited that early educational attainment among second generation immigrants depends on socioeconomic status, family structure, length of residence in the United States, fluency of language, and school and neighborhood environments. However, later educational achievement--including performance in higher education--is more heavily influenced by educational expectations and self-esteem. Although these studies greatly facilitate our understanding of the relationship between schooling and immigration, more research is needed to determine the factors that contribute to immigrant student resiliency and success in higher education.

Family Influences and Expectations

Family plays an important role in the lives and academic careers of many APA students. For instance, choices of majors and careers may be heavily influenced by parental concerns for economic security and concepts of success and honor. Leong and Gim-Chung (1995) cited studies that indicated that APAs are the only racial group to rank parental pressure as one of the five most influential reasons in their choice of career. Traditional career counseling, which focuses primarily on exploration of individual interests, may not work well for APA students if it does not take into account this greater emphasis on family interdependence within APA cultures. APA students may need assistance in reconciling individual interests with family expectations (Kodama, McEwan, Liang, & Lee, 2002).

APA students can also have responsibilities to their families that take time and energy away from their education. In lower-income immigrant families, college-age children may be expected to work and contribute financially to their family income. They also serve as culture brokers and interpreters between their immigrant parents or grandparents and English-speaking institutions and society. Students in this situation often choose to live at home while attending college, or select a college primarily because it is close to home (Kodama et al., 2002). These factors are more salient for APA students at two-year institutions than at four-year institutions, since community colleges draw students from a local radius and usually do not provide on-campus housing. Yet these same dynamics can hinder students from making use of campus resources. For instance, Chang (2005) found that APA students are least likely of any racial group to interact with faculty at community colleges. She hypothesized that APA students may rely heavily on family and ethnic networks that exist outside school instead of seeking such help on campus. Community college counselors, therefore, need to be proactive in reaching out to APA students and referring them to helpful faculty and campus resources.

Differences exist among APA ethnic groups in regards to the influence that family has on students. Teranishi (2002) noted differences between Filipino American and Chinese American students from low-income families. Filipino Americans are more likely to have family obligations to work, contribute financially to the family, and take care of younger siblings. Chinese American students, on the other hand, are encouraged by their parents to focus on their education rather than worry about job, finances, or family. Also, Filipino American parents are less able to provide guidance to their children on how to navigate the U.S. educational system, because many of these parents received their postsecondary degrees in the Philippines.

Socioeconomic Status

Another challenge facing many APA families is that of socioeconomic status. Poverty rates for APAs are nearly double the rates for Whites, and APA families in metropolitan areas are more likely than are Whites to live in crowded conditions (Hune, 2002; Hune &Chan, 1997). Socioeconomic conditions can also vary widely by ethnic group within the APA population. For example, about 40% of Laotian and Cambodian Americans in the United States live below the poverty rate; over 94% of Tongan, Cambodian, Laotian, and Hmong Americans do not complete college; and only 31% of Hmong Americans graduate from high school (Liang et al., 2001).

As previously mentioned, the socioeconomic situations of students' families may also impair academic achievement, as parents or other family members may expect students to work long hours, take care of siblings or children, begin full-time work immediately after high school, or (especially for women) get married and have children at a young age. Parents of APA students from low socioeconomic backgrounds may work such long hours that they are not home to provide emotional support and guidance. Furthermore, APA students who are the first in their families to attend college in the United States typically must figure out how to navigate the higher education system on their own, since their parents are often unfamiliar with institutional norms and expectations. APA community college students in this situation need additional support and guidance from counselors and faculty members if they are hoping to transfer to a four-year institution.

Model Minority Stereotype

The model minority stereotype, which can be argued to be a positive portrayal of APA students, can also serve as a major obstacle facing students in their educational pursuits. APA students as a whole are widely considered to be high academic achievers who are overrepresented in higher education and therefore not educationally disadvantaged like other minority groups (Teranishi, 2002). Suzuki (1977, 2002) wrote that in the latter part of the 20th century, APAs became seen as a successful, problem-free minority group that--educationally at least--were "outwhiting whites" (Suzuki, 2002, p. 21). Yet this observation homogenizes what in reality is an extremely diverse population and ignores the long history of hostility, racism, and discrimination that APA communities have faced in the United States and, in some cases, continue to face.

When institutions assent to the model minority stereotype, APA students' complaints of discrimination or unequal treatment are likely to go unheeded, and real needs for services among APA communities may be overlooked. Pope's (2002) study of minority mentoring at two-year colleges supported this assertion. He found that while Asian American students recognize the potential benefits of mentoring in their college education, they also feel the least supported by their institution's mentor program. Pope hypothesized that institutions may be subscribing to the model minority stereotype and therefore not targeting services or making them accessible to APA students. The model minority myth can negatively affect APA students in other ways as well. Research has shown that this stereotype places undue pressure on students who cannot meet such high expectations and engenders resentment and hostility from other groups while masking difficulties faced by educationally at-risk APA students (Hune, 1998; Hune & Chan, 1997; Kodama et al., 2002; Yeh, 2002).

Identity Development

The community college experience may force APA students, as well as other students of color, to confront issues of their own racial and ethnic identity and become exposed to a wider diversity of peoples and perspectives than they may have previously encountered. Alvarez (2002) asserts that APA students' racial identity is shaped by a growing intellectual awareness of historical and societal racism as well as by personal experiences of racial dynamics on college campuses. APA students may also begin to question the model minority stereotype and other ways in which non-APAs perceive them (Kawaguchi, 2003; Kodama, McEwan, Liang, & Lee, 2001, 2002). There are many options available to APA students to conceptualize and express their identities. Some may identify primarily with a specific ethnicity (e.g., Chinese or Thai) while others will choose the racial category of Asian or Asian Pacific American. Still others may see themselves as simply "American" with little to no racial or ethnic identification. Due to the multiple choices open to APA students, grappling with the problem of identity can be a confusing and complex process.

In order to understand the stages that APA students may undergo as they deal with these issues, some scholars have turned to existing identity models--such as Helms's (1995) people of color racial identity model and Phinney's (1989) theory of ethnic identity development--to show how they do and do not fit the experiences of APA students (Alvarez, 2002; Kawaguchi, 2003). Torres, Howard-Hamilton, and Cooper (2003) reviewed various identity theories, including some that apply to APAs or specific APA ethnic groups. One theory developed by Kodama et al. (2001, 2002) addresses inadequacies in Chickering and Reisser's (1993) seminal work on psychosocial student development and applies it to APA students. The proposed model argued that external influences of society, culture, and family are key factors in APA student development. APA students have to negotiate the tension between the dominant norms of American society and familial and cultural values that affect their developmental tasks. Their sense of purpose may be more closely tied to academic achievement and shaped by the family. Kodama et al. (2001, 2002) also found that APAs are more likely to define competence in intellectual terms and--because they come from cultures of emotional restraint--to be interested in exploring and understanding their emotions. Faculty and staff who work with APA students should understand identity development theory so that they are able to recognize students at different points in their personal journeys and assist them in making sense of the changes occurring in themselves and in their peers during the college experience.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Though few scholars have specifically studied APA community college students, the developing body of literature on APA undergraduate students can inform our understanding of and ability to serve APA students at the community college. As this review has made clear, APA students are incredibly diverse and cannot be reduced to a homogeneous whole. To understand and serve the needs of their local APA student populations better, community colleges need to collect more nuanced data for their student records and institutional research, including information that disaggregates APAs into specific ethnic groupings, and native-born, immigrant, or international student categories.

Community colleges can enhance a number of existing structures and services in order to assist APA students. Having a culturally-sensitive staff is very important, particularly in counseling and student services offices. Counselors should ask students about their experiences, be alert to nonverbal communications, communicate acceptance of students' cultural values, and explain differences in American cultural expectations (Brilliant, 2000; Do, 1996). This process is especially important for immigrant APA students. Orientation programs and freshmen transition courses can incorporate diversity training, lessons in academic and social skills, and information on college resources (Stovall, 2000). Courses in Asian American and ethnic studies can provide supportive learning environments for APA students who desire to grow in their awareness of their identities, histories, and issues facing their communities (Alvarez & Liu, 2002; Kiang, 1992). Given the importance of family to many APAs, community colleges should host open houses, workshops, and other forms of outreach to parents and extended family members.

Since a large portion of APA students are immigrants, it is imperative that community colleges become more conscious of and devote more resources toward meeting immigrant students' distinct needs. Language is clearly one of the more important issues for these students; community colleges must continue to assess and improve the effectiveness of their ESL programs and consider providing services and information in the languages of nearby immigrant communities. This endeavor would not only attract students from those communities but would also benefit students' family members by helping them to understand better the nature of what their sons and daughters are experiencing. Targeted programs similar to those that reach out to Hispanic or Latino immigrant communities (see, for example, Padron, 1992; Rhoads & Solorzano, 1995) could be established. Educating immigrant students and their family members about the U.S. higher education system will increase the likelihood that these students will receive support and informed guidance from their families.

Given their multiple missions of open access, preparation for transfer, and vocational education, community colleges are well positioned to provide educational opportunities for immigrant, disadvantaged, and at-risk APA students. Community colleges can help them to improve English fluency, develop new job skills, save money, build academic self-confidence, and gradually transition to a four-year institution (Yeh, 2002). In order to support these students, community colleges should provide opportunities for faculty and staff to learn more about APA students' backgrounds and needs, recruit and hire members (multilingual if necessary) who are representative of local APA ethnic communities, and ensure that educational opportunity programs and support services are accessible to APA students. Best practices, such as creating conditions for optimal learning, building a sense of community, diversifying faculty and staff, strengthening student assessment, and making transfer a priority, will not only benefit APA students, but all students on campus (Rendon & Garza, 1996).

As the title of this review suggests, APA community college students are an overlooked minority on multiple levels. In the larger realm of higher education, APA students attending community colleges do not fit the rubric of the model minority because they are not enrolled at the most prestigious and selective four-year institutions. Some community colleges also overlook APA students by not targeting them in programs and services and by operating on the belief that APAs are not disadvantaged and under-represented like other minority groups (Hagedorn, 2004). Finally, APA community college students have been largely overlooked in educational research, for many of the same reasons. When they are included, APAs are often grouped together as a homogeneous unit without regard to within-group distinctions. Educational researchers can help to clarify the status of APA students by disaggregating data and by demonstrating that segments of the APA population are very much in need of additional attention and services. In addition, a greater number of institutional and regional studies of APA students will elucidate distinctive characteristics of local populations, and national studies can provide a macro level perspective for comparative purposes. As well, differences between the characteristics and experiences of APA students at two-year and four-year institutions need to be explored further. Research along these lines will continue to fill out the picture of the entire college student experience, so that no segment of the population will be an overlooked minority.

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* This review is published in cooperation with the Community College Studies program in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

Jonathan W. Lew is assistant to the CEO and secretary to the board for the Claremont University Consortium and a doctoral student in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. jonathan, [e-mail]

June C. Chang is a research analyst for the Higher Education Research Institute and a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. [e-mail]

Winnie W. Wang is associate director of Research and Institutes at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. [e-mail]