Running head: HIGH-ACHIEVING COLLEGE SCHOLARS

Experiences of Low-Income High-Achieving College Scholars Studying on Private Universities

Pia Roelen C. Pahati
Bulacan State University

HIGH-ACHIEVING COLLEGE SCHOLARS

Experiences of Low-Income, High-Achieving College Scholars Studying on Private Universities

Our great hero, Jose Protacio Rizal once said that the youth is the hope of our society.
Whether the youth will end up as good bunch of people or not, they are still the ones who will be
the future handlers of our society. The great extent of the future is on their hands. The lifechanging decisions they make today will change what will happen in the future (Puyat, 2005).
However, the so-called hope of our society faces many challenges and adversities, especially
today which needs further understanding and help from our government and from each of us
(Cabigon, 2009).
There are several challenges that Filipino youth confront nowadays, specifically
education and poverty. Poverty is defined by the Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines
as a certain observable fact with a lot of complexities, resulting to problems with nutrition,
health, education, housing and leisure (p. 15, 2005). The only ironic thing with poverty is that it
is most likely featured in the news that the economic growth of the country is now on its robust
performance, yet, why can it not be felt by the people? In fact, NSCBTS, stated that the situation
has not been changed, considering the poverty incidence within Filipino families of about 22.3%
last 2012.
Although that seems to be the predicament that the country is now confronting, Filipino
students who value education will not let poverty be a hindrance to their goals and aspirations in
life. Filipinos give a certain high importance on education. As what parents usually tell their
children, Education is the most important thing which I can bequeath to you. With these words,
one can clearly see how college diploma symbolizes personal attainment, good future and
stability in financial terms for many Filipinos (Reyes & Galang, 2009).

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However, here in the Philippines, elementary or what they call as basic education and
secondary education are the only education that is provided by the government, and that tertiary
education is only supervised by the government. Luckily, two government agenciesthe
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as well as the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) enables and help Filipino students to finish a degree or in the
case of TESDA, a vocational course. As was mentioned earlier, Filipino college students are very
persistent when it comes to completing a degree, fortunately, those students who are coming
from low-income families but high-achieving students were granted by scholarships by private
universities and colleges, as well as some financial assistance by the government.
To date, there are numbers of high-achieving, low-income students who are attending
private colleges and universities as full-grant scholars. However, the question is, how are they in
that specific private universities? Does their socioeconomic status affect their over-all college
experience? And do they find these private universities and colleges conducive for their over-all
academic achievement?
Furthermore, there are very few literature that tackles about the experiences of lowincome high-achieving Filipino students studying on private universities. So, I will just give the
overview of the values that Filipino students have amidst their challenges in studying and some
of the studies that tackles about the experiences of low-income high-achieving students.
Values of Filipino College Students amidst Challenges
In any places, institutions or universities that we go, self-definition and self-identification
is always deemed as an important part of every individual, especially in the case of low-income
high-achieving students as their feeling of belonging to the institution in which they are part of

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boosts their self-concept and self-esteem as individuals as well as increases their likelihood to
stay and finish their started degrees (Revilla, 1997). However, we must not undermined lowincome high-achieving Filipino students as they can withstand frustration and make sense of the
experiences that they are going through (Puyat, 2005).
In all account to literature, Filipinos put education at its highest, even though there would
be times that they are confronted with adversities; the resiliency of Filipinos students can not be
questioned (Castillo, 2002). Beyond the fact that students value education as it is the way that
they see which would lead them to better jobs, they also see it as a means of fulfilling their
responsibilities toward their family according to the study of Reyes and Galang (2009). Ogena,
(2009), supported this as she found in her study how Filipino students value families, and that
despite of the financial difficulties that they are experiencing, it doesnt overshadow and hinder
the aspirations of Filipino students, especially with the case of first-generation youth as noted by
Pineda (2010) in his study. First-generation youth that was pertained in that study (Pineda, 2010)
is the students whose parents did not finished their college degrees, as it was seen that the usual
low-income high-achieving students came with that background, yet it must not be confused with
the participants of this study, as this study only pertains to those low-income high-achieving
Filipino college scholars.
Castillo (2002) in her study described college as a world full of diversities, filled with
different types of peopledifferences in race, in socio-economic status and many more. With
that, she found that Filipino Americans students also experience such diversity and may
experience many seemingly insurmountable odds, yet positive support from family, friends, and
mentors; and some sense of belongingness in the community enables our fellow citizens abroad
to overcome such diversities that they faced in the course of their study. Like any other students,

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it was also noted that financial obstacles, time management and some family obligations were
seen by these students as borders towards their academic aspirations, yet their deep sense value
of education took precedence over those borders. Lastly, Aure (2005) reported that peer group
interactions and support were important to Filipino American undergraduate students, but parents
were much more influential in all the areas which they have focused on. Additionally, students
involved in an ethnic specific student organization had high levels of ethnic identity, strong
campus connectedness, and belonged to peer groups with similar ethnic backgrounds.
All in all, from the findings of the studies that have been reviewed, support from family
or value of family and education pushes Filipino students to carry on amidst all the challenges
they encounter throughout college, specifically, financial problems, time management, and
diversity.
Common Struggles of Low-Income Students
Low-income high-achieving students were found to confront many challenges, like
financial concerns, personal struggles, finding a community to belong, emotional and
psychological challenges (i.e. feelings of being alone, and self-doubts) (Salas, 2011; Uesugi,
2009; & Carrasquillo, 2013). Based on the study of Hoxby and Avery (2012), some low-income
high-achieving students do not choose selective colleges despite the fact that they would be
given full scholarships as it was found in this study that high-achieving low-income students are
not well-informed compared to their high-achieving high-income counterparts, and that because
of the less information that they knew, they are intimidated by the high rate tuition fee of the said
university. However, since scholarship grants given by selective colleges nowadays are known

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by many, as it can be seen in the Internet or said by teachers, many high-achieving low-income
students are now entering tertiary education in private universities and colleges (Ying, 2007).
In the study of Carrasquillo (2013), high-achieving, low-income individuals did not only
pointed out economic obstacles but also some organizational problems to their success,
especially in the realm of practices within the community colleges teaching and learning
environments.
In addition to that, Salas (2013) which focused on the usual struggles that first-generation
low-income students commonly faced found that financial concerns, personal struggles and
finding a community are the major obstacles that they encounter in the college that they are
attending to. The participants reported that there came a point that they just want to leave school
in order to help their families. Other participants even stated that there is no connection between
him and the campus. Although they felt this way, the participants of that study felt validated for
their hardwork, which pushes them to finish their started degrees.
Moreover, Uesuigi (2009) which focused on former foster youth found that there were
three factors that serve as an obstacle in their efforts to finish college, such as emotional and
psychological challenges like having self-doubts and times of feeling alone, the absence of
structure in their college environment, and concerns about their physiological needs like lack of
basic needs such as housing, food, and clothing.
Characteristics of Low-Income High-Achieving Students
Nowadays, scholarships from private universities are granted to those low-income highachieving students (Ying, 2007). The common denominator from all the findings of the literature

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about low-income high-achieving students is that all of them have that great persistence to finish
their degrees and to attain high academic achievement.
The common factors that contribute to the persistence of high-achieving low-income
students were found by Deafenbaugh (2007) as parental support and encouragement of degree
aspiration from peers. The students surround themselves with other high ability peers who serve
as their supports and resources, both personally and academically. Their academic preparation
and ability function as passports to other resources, including extracurricular activities, engaging
coursework, and a high achieving peer group, which may have compensated for the lack of
support they received at home.
Speaking of extracurricular activities, one study pointed that extra-curricular activities,
competition with friends for grades, and challenging coursework are taken both as a protective
and a risk factor of high-achieving, low-income and moderate-income African college students,
depending on the situation that they are into. As these three can either boosts their self-esteem
and enjoyment in school or give them more pressure due to more time constraints.
Socioeconomic Status and Private Colleges
Based from studies, schools are places where one can either feel or not feel some sense of
belongingness (Kingston & Lewis as cited in Ostrove and Long (2007). In the following studies,
literature suggests that socioeconomic status also affects students in many ways.
On the study of Ostrove and Long (2007), they noted that social class background of
students is related to their sense of belonging and adjustment in tertiary education, which in turn
predicts social and academic adjustment and quality of experience in college as well as their
academic performance. They noted that this relationship between the variables can be found

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when social class was measured objectively or subjectively by asking the participants to selfidentify themselves within the socioeconomic range. In relation to this, women from working
and middle-class families felt that they are socially segregated and academically unprepared
during their stay on elite college campuses (Ostrove, 2003), compared to those ladies coming
from the upper-class families who exudes higher self-confidence.
In an experimental study done by Spencer and Castano (2007), they found that those
students who have low SES performed worse during tests, especially when socioeconomic
identity is pointed out, as well as to feel much lower self-confidence compared to their highincome counterparts.
The following studies only gave us an overview of how socioeconomic status can affect
the sense of belonging of an individual in elite colleges abroad, although it was not clear if the
socioeconomic status that they are pertaining are just lower compared to the upper or low, such
as in the case of poverty.
These results help us better understand the role stereotyping plays in the academic
performance of low-SES students, and may partly explain the disparity on standardized test
scores between low- and high-SES students. Aside from that, it was not indicated with those
studies if their participants are high-achieving or not.
The Present Study
The literature with regard to low-income, high-achieving students are scarce, yet studies
on low-income, high-achieving students studying in private colleges or universities are even
scarcer, as I just only see some pieces that might be related to this study. Based from all the
researches that have been reviewed, they only focused on the characteristics and struggles of

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high-achieving, low-income students, yet no one like this study, to my knowledge, has ever done
exploring the experiences of those low-income, high-achieving college scholars studying in
private universities in Metro Manila.
The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research study is to explore the
academic, social, and personal experiences of low-income high-achieving students who are
studying in private universities in Metro Manila. This study will be important because knowing
their experiences in the private universities where they are studying, will provide more
information about what happens to the students after the scholarship grant has been given. Aside
from that, this study will also give its contribution to the existing body of knowledge in
Educational Psychology, specifically about the lives of low-income, high-achieving college
scholars studying on private universities and colleges in Metro Manial through their personal
thoughts and subjective views about the phenomenon.
Research Questions
Six major research questions will guide this study. Specifically, the following questions will be:
1. What are the challenges that low-income high-achieving students face on studying in
private universities in Metro Manila?
2. What personal characteristics, beliefs, and experiences that low-income high-achieving
students perceived they have that helps them to aspire and continue their college degree
in the private universities they are attending to?
3. What are the factors that drive low-income high-achieving students finish their college
degree in private universities?
4. What are the factors that they consider a hindrance while studying in private universities?
5. What is their over-all experience in studying in private universities and colleges?
6. What is the impact of studying in the top universities and colleges in the Philippines give
to low-income high-achieving students?

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Methods

Research Design
In this study, I will use the qualitative method of phenomenology as there is no theory of
choice. According to Flowerday and Schraw (2000), phenomenological design is appropriate
when ones goal is to explore a phenomenon about which little has been written, (p.35) which is
likely the same with my goals in this study. I will also be going to collect information from the
participants who are able to describe the phenomenon through their experiences, which will
allow me to organize themes, based on their responses.
According to Wahyuni (2012), the research paradigm for this study will be
constructivism. I will have the ontological position of being subjective and socially constructed
in this research. In epistemological terms, I will focus upon the details of the situation, or the
lived experiences of the participants.
Participants
The sample of participants will be consisted of ten low-income, high-achieving college
scholars studying in private universities in Metro Manila, specifically students from De La Salle
University, Ateneo De Manila University, and University of Sto. Tomas.
The sample will be generated using snowballing technique. This sampling technique
is an approach for locating information-rich key informants (p. 176, Patton, 1990). The process
of snowball sampling begins by asking a number of people who to talk to when it comes to that
specific phenomenon. Eventually, the chain of recommended informants will typically diverge
initially as many possible sources are recommended, then converge as a few key names get
mentioned over and over (p. 176, Patton, 1990).

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The participants will be 18 up to 25 age-old low-income high-achieving college scholars

studying in private universities in Metro Manila. Each participant will be required to meet the
basic requirements of being a high-achieving student, with GPA of no less than 2.0 from the last
semester and with grade no less than 2.0; came from a low-income family who earns no less than
6000 pesos per month; and is a full-grant scholar of the private universities. All participants that
will be involved in this study are all students that are currently enrolled and is a full-grant scholar
of De La Salle University, Ateneo De Manila University and University of Sto. Tomas.
Instrument (Appendix A)
The instrument that will be going to use in this study will be guided by the interview
questions that I will design, which will guide the flow of the interview with the participants,
specifically on the proceeding in-depth interviews.
Procedure
I will first give each participant an informed consent which they have to sign. This
informed consent contain all the things that they need to know about the researchits purpose
and its reason for being conducted. It is also indicated in the informed consent that the
information that they will provide will be held with great care and confidentiality. Aside from
that, I will also clarify that they are free to leave from participating in the research once they feel
uneasy about it. I will also be going to explain the specific details on which they will be
contributing within this research.
The data gathering procedure will be coming from a series of in-depth interviews with the
participants. In-depth interviews will focus on their experiences studying in private universities
in Metro Manila. These verbal responses will be recorded using an audio recorder, and will be

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transcribed verbatim by the interviewer. Body language, positions or any initial observations to
the interviewee will be noted. The initial in-depth interview will about to last for 30 to 40
minutes. Follow-up interviews will be done either through phone or personal visit to the
participants in order to clarify some parts that the I, as the researcher deemed a bit vague.
In-depth interviews will be used because it is the type of qualitative method that will
enable people to talk about their personal feelings, their opinions, as well as their experiences.
Aside from that, it also gives the interviewer the chance to gain insight into how the participants
interpret their experiences (Mack, Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, & Namey, 2005).
Data Analysis
The data that will be gathered from the series of in-depth interview with the participants,
from the audio records and the transcribed notes of the past interviews. After collecting it, the
notes from the handwritten transcription as well as the audio recordings will be encoded in the
computer. Upon encoding the data to the computer, participants will be coded with numbers for
confidentiality.
Transcripts will be read repeatedly to identify the key themes and categories, which were
then developed into a framework for coding the body of interview data. I will analyze the data
collected using qualitative content analysis, by identifying themes based on the responses that the
participants have given. After identifying themes based from the contexts, I will be going to ask a
professional or a researcher to help me check the data to perform test code reliability.
References:
Aure, A. P. (2005). Impact of peer group support and ethnic identity development on the
academic success of filipino american college students. (Order No. 1429263, California

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13

State University, Long Beach). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 104-104 p. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305367396?accountid=28547. (305367396).
Cabigon, J. V. (2009). Understanding Filipino adolescents: Research gaps and challenges.
Philippine Social Sciences Review, 56(1).
Carrasquillo, C. A. (2013). In their own words: High-achieving, low-income community college
students talk about supports and obstacles to their success. (Order No. 3567694, University
of California, San Diego). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 206. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1420365116?accountid=28547. (1420365116).
Castillo, E. J. (2002). Bridges over borders: Critical reflections of filipino american college
students on academic aspirations and resilience. (Order No. 3049612, University of San
Francisco). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 162-162 p. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/305483267?accountid=28547. (305483267).
Deafenbaugh, J. W. (2007). Low-income, high ability scholars: An in-depth examination of their
college transition and persistence experiences. (Order No. 3262103, The Ohio State
University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 234. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/304833281?accountid=28547. (304833281).
Elite schools tap community colleges to diversify ; universities are trying to enroll more poor
students. (2006, Mar 06). Beaumont Enterprise Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/373362104?accountid=28547
Hoxby, C. M., & Avery, C. (2012). The missing" one-offs": The hidden supply of high-achieving,
low income students (No. w18586). National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Johnson, C. (2012). Characteristics of high achieving, low- and moderate-income african

descent
Barbara). ProQuest

college students. (Order No. 3553751, University of California, Santa

Dissertations and Theses, , 148. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1315241247?accountid=28547. (1315241247).
Mitchell, S. K. (2011). Factors that contribute to persistence and retention of underrepresented
minority undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM). (Order No. 3477173, The University of Southern Mississippi). ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses, , 196. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/896579986?accountid=28547. (896579986).
Ogena, N. B. (2009). How are the Filipino Youth Changing? The Shifting Lifestyles of Our
Nation's Young, 1970s-1990s. Philippine Social Sciences Review, 56(1)
PANG-ESTADISTIKA, P. L. S. U. (2005). Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines.
Pineda, S. J. (2010). "Doing it for the family" educational experiences of first-generation female
filipino teens in public schools in montreal. (Order No. MR68380, McGill University
(Canada)). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 134. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/818497382?accountid=28547. (818497382).
Puyat, J. H. (2005). The Filipino youth today: Their strengths and the challenges they face.
YOUTH IN TRANSITION.
Revilla, L. A. (1997). Filipino American Ibentitq. Filipino Americans: Transformation and
Identity, 12, 95-111.

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Salas, A. F. (2011). Supporting student scholars: College success of first-generation and lowincome students. (Order No. 3497551, California State University, Long Beach). ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses, , 163. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/922412395?accountid=28547. (922412395).
Scholarships for poor students. (2005, Jan 18). Birmingham Post Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/323984593?accountid=28547
Uesugi, K. M. (2009). Still they rise: An examination of the internal characteristics and external
factors that enable former foster youth to succeed in college. (Order No. 3351758,
University of California, Los Angeles). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 367-n/a.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304852160?accountid=28547.
(304852160).
Virola, R. A., Encarnacion, J. O., Balamban, B. B., Addawe, M. B., & Viernes, M. M. (2013).
WILL THE RECENT ROBUST ECONOMIC GROWTH CREATE A BURGEONING
MIDDLE CLASS IN THE PHILIPPINES?. Presented on the 12th National Convention
on Statistics (NCS).
Ying, W. (2007, Jul 03). Extra help for students from poor families. China Daily. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/258022079?accountid=28547
Appendix A
Interview #1
1. Demographic Questions: Please tell me how old you are? Where are you from originally?
Where do you live now?

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2. What is the occupation of your parents? How many are you in the family?
3. When did you begin your college degree? Where are you studying now? Are you a
working student?; where?; doing what?
4. What prompted you to decide to go to college?
5. How do you get the full scholar grant provided by the university?

Interview #2
1. Tell me about your experiences in studying in a private university.
2. As a low-income, high-achieving student studying in a private university, what do you
3.
4.
5.
6.

feel?
What is education for you?
What are the things that you most like about college life in a private university?
a. Is there something that you dont like?
What pushes you to finish your studies here, and why?
What are the things you see that sometimes affects your over-all enthusiasm toward
school?

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