Abstract
The research project examined the contributing factors to the rapid rate of college attainment of the Hmong by exploring factors that influenced college attainment. Purposive sampling, convenience sampling, non-proportional sampling, and snowballing was used to recruit 97 research participants. The exploratory design was used to identify specific factors and comprised of quantitative questions to gather the participant’s demographics and college attainment influences. Study findings proposed six factors that contributed to the rapid rate of college attainment in the Hmong community: self-determination, influences from parents and siblings, wanting a better quality of life for children, wanting to be equally competitive in the wage and labor market, past poor living conditions, and cost of living. This study will empower researchers to better understand the reasons Hmong students strive for higher education.