For 15 years, Complete College America (CCA) has been building movements for scaled systemic change and transforming institutions. While CCA has expanded their efforts over the past 15 years, they have studied the best ideas and co-designed the most promising practices to move the needle on college completion. They have learned a lot about how to…

Low African American male student graduation rates in the United States have been a concern for higher education administrators, and more strategies to address their challenges are needed. This basic qualitative study addressed the experiences of African American male students who persisted to graduation at a predominantly Black institution in the…

In 2019, the Legislature passed House Bill 1599, which established graduation pathways as a requirement for graduation. These pathways must be aligned with a student's postsecondary goals as described in their High School and Beyond Plan. This report includes the unique pathway options, a data summary, and disaggregated pathway completion data for…

The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative study was to analyze relationships between three learning mindset dimensions (growth mindset; purpose and value; and sense of belonging) to retention and persistence to graduation among first-time, full-time Tennessee community college student graduates and nongraduates who attended one of 13…

This study explored the relationship between high school sophomores' purpose orientations and their postsecondary completion a decade later by examining the data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Among four types of purpose (career, interpersonal, altruistic, and self-oriented), career and interpersonal purpose orientations were…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine if, or to what extent, there is variability in a student's probability of graduating based on an intervention of making a first-year seminar (FYS) course mandatory in 2006 compared to before 2006 when FYS courses were optional when controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, and…

A clear set of student performance goals can serve as the central driver of not only a state's accountability system, but also the entire education system. Well-articulated goals serve numerous critical purposes, including clarifying the state's aspirations and priorities for its students, schools, and the future of the state more broadly;…

The United States prioritized increasing the number of underrepresented undergraduate students who completed degrees in STEM fields. The ongoing challenge was to create a diverse workforce to maintain the country's global competitiveness. Higher education rolled out intervention programs to help underrepresented students stay on track and graduate…

STEM education and workforce preparation in STEM fields have been leading topics of conversation by academics and politicians for several years. Many believe that STEM workforce preparation is essential to the future of our nation in the 21st century and to American competitiveness in a global economy. Although there are numerous efforts to…

In this study, we investigated how environmental, cognitive, and demographic variables influenced students' ability to graduate from a 4-year university in 4 years. Specifically, we examined how behaviors related to social cognitive career theory (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic goals) were influenced by contextual…

Studies have documented widespread academic disengagement in middle and high school students. This disengagement has been tied to a myriad of negative outcomes, including failure to graduate from high school and transition into college and meaningful vocations. Supporting adolescents in cultivating a sense of beyond-the-self purpose is one factor…

This study provides an overview and a snapshot of new student orientation (NSO) and new student e-orientation (NSEO) programs, with a focus on the content and feature analysis of the NSEOs. It offers an overview of currently available NSO programs of 100 randomly selected community colleges from a master list of nearly 900 community colleges in…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the legislature and the governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1) student goal…

Outdoor orientation programs have a growing literature demonstrating positive impacts with students transitioning to college (Bell, Gass, Nafizer, & Starbuck, 2014). One of the most valued outcomes for colleges and universities is retention of students until successful graduation. This is an outcome few outdoor orientation researchers have…

The Seal of Biliteracy is an official state award that recognizes high school seniors who graduate with demonstrated proficiency in English and one or more other world languages. The policies and practices that support the Seal of Biliteracy promote twenty-first century skills and intercultural communication competencies that are critical in…