Examining High Impact Practices of Undergraduate Students Through the Pacific Crest Trail Research Study

This study explores outcomes of undergraduate students’ involvement in research-based HIP (High Impact Practices). A four-phase research initiative served as the foundation and was conducted between the years of 2019 and 2025. It included qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, and mixed-method field studies of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which involved 17 undergraduate research assistants. All students were contacted and 10 students participated in the interviews for this study. Findings of this study suggest that undergraduate research as a HIP enhances students’ experiences and promotes scholarly success through communication skills, faculty relations, technical and analytic writing, and career development. This emphasizes the long-term value of undergraduate research in higher education. Recommendations include encouraging undergraduate students to join research teams to expand their skills and encouraging faculty to develop projects that include undergraduate research teams.