From the Parents’ Perspective: The Think College Experience in Rural Vermont

Through qualitative interviews, perspectives of parents of students who were in the first 2 years of the Think College Program at University of Vermont and Johnson State College were explored, thereby identifying expectations, academic and social aspects, and experiences of their children as college members. Previous experience of these students in inclusive educational environments influenced parent perceptions. Parents described efforts to support the students during college, from financing and transportation to academic coaching and accommodating lessons. They discussed hopes for employment, and evolving perceptions of their own roles in relation to the future lives of their adult sons or daughters