Representing approximately two in five community college students, noncredit education is an important but understudied segment of the higher education population. In an effort to help open the "black box" of noncredit education in community colleges, the present study uses an established noncredit course typology (occupational training,…

This quantitative study explored the statistical relationship between American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) leadership competencies and data-driven decision making (DDDM) literacy among rural community college leaders in the Midwest. Specifically, the authors examined how AACC community college leadership competencies may predict the…

Youth who were in foster care as adolescents make up a small but highly vulnerable subpopulation of the college student body. This article analyzes secondary data collected from one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies of foster youth. The analytic sample includes 329 foster youth from three Midwestern states who attended college in the…

This paper draws on data collected from two of the most extensive longitudinal studies of care leavers in the US. The Midwest Study (2003-2011) included 732 youths in foster care in three Midwestern states, and the CalYOUTH Study (2012-present) includes 727 youths in California foster care. The paper has three objectives: (1) describe trends in…

This study examined rural-nonrural differences in postsecondary educational expectations and the attainment of expectations for grade 10 students attending rural and nonrural high schools in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest region and how these differences compare with rural-nonrural differences in the rest of the nation. For…

This research looks closely at claims that ratemyprofessors.com creates a valid measure of teaching effectiveness because student responses are consistent with a learning model. While some evidence for this contention was found in three datasets taken from the site, the majority of the evidence indicates that the instrument is biassed by a halo…

Due to an ever changing world where technology seemingly provides endless answers, today's higher education students must master a new skill set reflecting an emphasis on critical thinking, problem solving, and communications. The purpose of this study was to establish a departmental benchmark for critical thinking abilities of students majoring…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether training affected the job satisfaction reported by online faculty members. A convenience sample of 492 Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC) faculty members were invited to participate in a quantitative survey, and 148 responded. Overall Job Satisfaction was operationalized through the…

Using a data set that augments a student survey with administrative data from the Iowa State University Office of Financial Aid, the authors posed two questions: Do students know whether they have student loans? Do students know how much they owe on outstanding student loans? We used logistic and ordered logit regressions to answer these…

This study examined the influence of community college students' engagement on their intention to transfer and major in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field. The STEM Student Success Literacy Survey was used to collect data among all 15 community colleges in Iowa. The authors developed a measurement model for community college…

Student loan default, defined as federal loan borrowers' failure to make any payments for at least 270 days, is an issue of increasing importance to community colleges and their students. This report takes a unique look at student loan default at nine community colleges across the nation, and how those colleges are working to help students avoid…

In the United States, the number of students entering into and completing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas has declined significantly over the past decade. Although modest increases have been shown in enrollments in computer-related majors in the past 4 years, the prediction is that even in 3 to 4 years…

This study utilized the existing database from the Iowa State University 2009-2010 COACHE Tenure-Track Job Satisfaction Survey Report to explore faculty work life balance and job satisfaction among academic disciplines at Iowa State University. The articulation of work and life, cast as work life balance, has become a key feature of much current…

Due to the decrease in public funding, community colleges are in a position where they need to generate private gifts. Alumni represent the largest untapped pool of prospective donors, and the success of alumni giving at 4-year institutions illustrates the potential that exists for community colleges. To develop effective fundraising strategies,…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of "Career Cruising"© on self-efficacy of deciding majors in a university setting. The use of the self-assessment instrument, "Career Cruising"©, was used with measuring the career-decision making self-efficacy in a pre and post-test with deciding majors. The independent…