Refugees in first-year college: Academic writing challenges and resources

•Refugee students below admissions level can succeed in college.•Experience with academic writing in first-year college is analyzed.•Difficulties with writing can be overcome with resources.•Writing challenges as consequence of developing English proficiency.•College provided ample resources to support participants.

This article reports on a qualitative year-long multiple-case study that investigated the challenges refugee students face with academic writing in their first year of college and the resources they draw upon to overcome these difficulties. Participants were seven refugee students from four different countries who were admitted to a liberal arts college despite not being considered “college-ready” by traditional admissions measures. Data collection involved interviews with the focal participants and faculty, class observations, and written documents. All seven participants were successful in completing their first year in college, passing all the classes they registered for. At the same time, writing in college presented these students with challenges resulting from their still-developing English language proficiency. Findings reveal that these challenges were successfully addressed because of these students’ ability to draw upon the resources made available to them. The case is made that, within a highly supportive environment, refugees who graduate from high school not having reached the standard college admissions literacy level may still be able to cope with tertiary academic writing.