Hmong students at UW-Stout: factors influencing attendance and retention in a post secondary institution

Abstract

The Hmong are among a plethora of immigrating people who have left a land of solitary oppression to come to the United States for freedom and further opportunity. Although steeped in tradition, they left a land that persecuted them after the Vietnam War. It has been a difficult struggle for this people to settle into a culture so different and demanding in comparison to the traditions of their homeland. Now in America, they must adjust to a culture with a fluctuating economy and a society which values individual attainment. As do many immigrants that settle in the United States, the Hmong in general, value education, and understand that this is the key to their survival and success in the United States. The purpose of this study was to look at Hmong college students, currently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin, to help determine factors that aided them in attending this post-secondary institution. Through the choice of an e-mailed or postal mail out survey, it specifically examined their experiences, secondary trends, programs which encouraged them to continue with college, support of family members and clans, effects of Wisconsin Works, a welfare reform program which began in 1997 and other factors that may have helped students choose UW-Stout as their college of choice. Furthermore, it will examine supportive factors that have aided Hmong students in succeeding and completing a post-secondary degree at UW-Stout.