The book is based on the premise that education for Native American and Indigenous students begins with a positive self-concept. For these students, positive self-concept includes pride in their cultural background.Chapters contain a section titled "Stories from the Elders" or "Interviews with the Elders," which help students to connect universal themes in Native cultures to college success. Stories from Canada, the United States, and Mexico bridge commonalities across cultures.

Talking circle topics help students to understand traditional culture and how they can build on this knowledge to improve their success in college, careers, and life.

Chapter 1, The Spirit Essence of All We Do: Cultural Identity and Success, contains an overview of Native American and Canadian Indigenous history of higher education from colonization to the present day. It helps students to understand that taking pride in their culture and appreciating diversity is the foundation for learning. It also helps students in transitioning to college and overcoming common obstacles to their success.

New Topics Include: 



Health and Wellbeing
Suggestions for Successful Learning from the Native Perspective
The Native Concept of Time
Native Ways of Knowing
Begin Your Journey with Smudging
A new section, Additional Cultural Material, contains added stories and talking circle questions for discussion
Tools for Student Engagement
Interactive activities within the text help students to practice the material learned.
Frequent quizzes and answer keys within the chapters help students with reading comprehension and check understanding of key concepts.
Journal entries help students think critically and apply what they have learned to their personal lives.
Individual and group exercises are included at the end of each chapter.

Resources for Faculty and Students at College Success 1:

The College Success 1 website at www.collegesuccess1.com has additional materials to accompany this textbook. Student resources include key ideas, Internet links related to each chapter, and Word documents for the journal entries. Resources for faculty include the Instructor Manual and Faculty Resources for teaching college success courses including over 500 pages of classroom exercises, handouts, video suggestions, Internet links to related material, and much more.