The retention of high-achieving students in a university honors program is a significant challenge for academic institutions. This dissertation evaluates how well an honors college at a large, urban, public university retains students in the Honors College. The evaluation is a mixed-methods utilization-focused evaluation conducted by an internal…

The purpose of this empirical investigation is to examine the predictability of selected demographic factors on the job satisfaction among faculty and staff employed at an urban university. Specifically, this study examined the predictability of the demographic factors (gender, ethnicity, age, and years of experience) on the general, extrinsic,…

This research study, which was conducted at a large, urban research institution in the Midwestern region of the United States, explored the influence of faculty support on first-time master's student satisfaction in graduate school. Alexander Astin's (1993) Inputs, Environment, Outputs (I-E-O) Model was used to guide the study. Data were collected…

This quantitative study explored social media usage among college students attending urban public universities in the Southeastern U.S., focusing on their engagement with race-related issues online and examining whether this engagement was related to moral identity. Multiple regression analyses indicated that frequent social media use and race…

This article presents research on persistence among at-risk students using network analysis following multiple linear regression (MLR). Data on a population of enrolled undergraduate students at an urban-serving university over several years (P = 35,239) is tested using multiple linear regression. Variables interacting at different dimensions of…

Internalizing symptoms are prevalent in students as they enter and complete college. Considering research suggesting mental health benefits of pet ownership, this study explores the relationship between pet ownership, social support (SS), and internalizing symptoms (IS) in a cohort of students across their 4-year college experience. With no…

Research examining noncognitive predictors of academic success among ethnic minority, nontraditional college students is scant. The present study examined the degree to which noncognitive variables (conscientiousness, grit, college self-efficacy, time management, and test anxiety) predict achievement (college GPA) among ethnically diverse college…

We tested a model that integrates academic delay of gratification with Expectancy Value Theory to predict achievement in an undergraduate psychology and nursing statistics class at a metropolitan university in the southeastern United States. We analyzed measurements (n = 163: 80.4% female) of past performance, academic delay of gratification,…

Demand is high for engineering students and educators must identify factors affecting persistence and graduation of engineers. Retention and graduation rates remain problematic for many institutions. Higher education research focuses on these two issues as many students head to engineering programs with a wide range of attributes, characteristics,…

The number of studies exploring the perceptions of college students towards the police has been small, with only two that include diverse urban college students as part of the samples. At two colleges in a large northeastern US city 1,103 students completed surveys that included items inquiring about personal information and their interactions…

The current study sought to investigate possible negative and positive predictors of hypothetically and actually engaging in mental health services for Latinx college students. Online surveys were collected from 145 Latinx students. These surveys assessed rankings of perceived barriers to engaging in mental health services. These barriers, along…

Although the speaking section of the "TOEFL iBT"® test is used by many universities to determine if international teaching assistants (ITAs) have the oral proficiency necessary to be classroom instructors, relatively few studies have investigated the validity of using TOEFL iBT scores for ITA screening. The primary purpose of this study…

Transfer students often come from lower-income backgrounds, fail engage post-transfer, and graduate at lower rates than their native peers. Engagement is recognized as a factor connected to college student success. This study examines a business college cohort to determine the connections between pre-transfer student and school characteristics,…

Higher education in America is resilient; in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, higher education manages to weather the storm of change, pressure, doubt, and criticism. Consider the following challenges: shifting demographics, escalating tuition, decreased state funding, retention and graduation rates, flat tuition revenue,…

Teacher motivation is an impact aspect of the teacher performance and thus student achievement. Given the varying degrees of responsibility, tasks, and obstacles over the course of a teacher's training and career, their motivation is likely to change over time. This study examined the motivational differences of pre-service teachers (PSTs), early,…