In this article, Tara Yosso, William Smith, Miguel Ceja, and Daniel Solórzano expand on their previous work by employing critical race theory to explore and understand incidents of racial microaggressions as experienced by Latina/o students at three selective universities. The authors explore three types of racial microaggressions—interpersonal microaggressions, racial jokes, and institutional microaggressions—and consider the effects of these racist affronts on Latina/o students. Challenging the applicability of Vincent Tinto's three stages of passage for college students, the authors explore the processes by which Latinas/os respond to racial microaggressions and confront hostile campus racial climates. The authors find that, through building community and developing critical navigation skills, Latina/o students claim empowerment from the margins.

Using a theory of resiliency, this study provides a Chicana student’s perspective of the role of parents in the development of college aspirations. Qualitative interviews with Chicana high school seniors shed light on the different ways these students perceive and come to understand the manner by which their parents influence and shape their educational goals and aspirations. The findings of this study point to the pertinent role of parents in the development of educational aspirations.

Guided by a social capital framework, this qualitative study examined the role of protective agents, namely parents and siblings, during the college choice process of 20 Chicana seniors attending a large urban high school in California. Despite previous research showing that Mexican parents hold a high value toward the importance of an education, this study shows that the role that parents were able to fulfill during the college choice process was greatly limited. The findings of this study also suggest that in many cases, siblings replaced parents as information sources when parents were not able to assist Chicanas with the college application process. These findings raise questions about the college information sources available to Chicanas outside the home, such as schools or community agencies.

This study examines differential college-choice behavior and outcomes among Asian Pacific American (APA) student subpopulations with the goal of examining the extent to which the Asian American population is, in fact, a homogeneous "model minority" in college destinations and decision-making processes. The results suggest that their postsecondary decisions, opportunities, and destinations vary across and within ethnic and socioeconomic class subpopulations, challenging common assumptions about these students and their participation in U.S. higher education.

Although most Latina/o transfer students declare intentions to transfer from a community college, few move on to 4-year colleges and universities. The authors provide an overview of the existing information related to transfer objectives and rates. Using the theoretical models of Latina/o critical race theory and validation theory the authors also highlight key practices that promote transfer. Finally, based on previous scholarship the authors outline a Latina/o transfer culture and provide recommendations for future research and policy. ResumenAunque la mayoría de los estudiantes latinos/as manifiestan intensiones de transferirse de un colegio preparatorio muy pocos se cambian a una universidad de cuatro años. Proveemos un resumen de la información existente con relación a objetivos y porcentaje de transferencia. Además señalamos las prácticas claves que promueven la transferencia mediante el uso de modelos teóricos de la Teoría de Validación y la Teoría Crítica Racial Latina/o. Finalmente, basados en investigaciones previas delineamos una cultura latina/o de transferencia y proporcionamos recomendaciones para investigación y estrategias futuras.