Exploring the Psychological Impact of Access to Higher Education through the Extended Curriculum Programme: A Case Study of a Historically Disadvantaged University in South Africa

This paper explored the psychological impact of access to higher education through the Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) at a Historically Disadvantaged University (HDI) in South Africa. The researchers used the qualitative approach and adopted a case-study research design. Focus group interviews were used as a data collection tool /instrument with 40 students enrolled for ECP from level one to level four. Four focus groups were developed, and each focus group comprised ten members. On the other hand, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted individually among eight tutors teaching students enrolled on ECP and two HoDs from the two selected faculties. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, focusing on students enrolled on ECP from level one to level four. The results reveal a stigma associated with ECP. As a result, students assigned to ECP were being labelled as less capable by those who joined the university through mainstream.As a result, mainstream students did not include ECP students in their class groups after their integration into the mainstream. The results further showed that some lecturers viewed ECP students as less intelligent. The study recommends awareness campaigns both to support students in the ECP program and to educate others studnts about the ECP programme to eliminate stigmatization or discrimination against them. There is n