Many students who enter college do not finish, reflecting numerous academic, financial, and social barriers to postsecondary completion. Success Boston Coaching (SBC) provides students in the Greater Boston area with coaching during their first 2 years of college to help them overcome barriers to postsecondary completion and connect them to…

For the purposes of this study, criteria for non-traditional students were: adults ages 25 and older, race/ethnicity, gender, entry date or transfer to a community college in Middle Tennessee during fall 2015 through summer 2021, and Pell/Grant eligibility. The problem is that non-traditional students have lower completions than traditional…

A collection of data points can show an abundance of information about a college student, telling a data-driven story about a student's past, current, and sometimes predicting future challenges at the university but some challenges may not be able to be indicated by data points alone. Challenges such as mental health, financial challenges,…

Completing a program of study and earning a credential is a mark of student perseverance and success. Student completion rates can tell us how well colleges and universities support students in completing an educational program. A research study by the US Department of Education reported students who completed non-degree certificate programs had…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative survey method is to gather State GEAR UP leaders' perceptions about the actual program activities and their sense of importance of those same program activities. The objectives of the GEAR UP Program are: (a) to increase the academic performance; (b) preparation for postsecondary education of…

Students with various Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) diagnoses have increasingly enrolled in colleges and universities. Although graduation rates are lower for this group, some students succeed, and mentoring programs are increasingly part of this success. The purpose of this article is to describe a…

The number of students choosing to study abroad has steadily increased over the past 25 years. Immediately prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, 10.9% of all undergraduates in the US studied abroad at some point while pursuing their degree. This rapid expansion has largely been welcomed on college campuses due to globalization and the sense that…

Students with disabilities in U.S. community colleges continue to disproportionately experience lower degree attainment compared to students without disabilities. Furthermore, students with disabilities are twice as likely to choose community colleges for postsecondary education compared to four-year colleges. Students with disabilities in…

Students leaving institutions of higher education prior to graduation leads to millions of dollars in lost revenue (Sutter & Paulsen, 2016; Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates, 2018). Retention theorists Tinto (1975) and Kuh (2008) recommend practices such as academic interaction, social interaction, faculty engagement with students,…

School assignment policies are a key lever to increase access to high performing schools and to promote racial and socioeconomic integration. For over 50 years, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has bussed students of color from Boston, Massachusetts to relatively wealthier and predominantly White suburbs. Using a…

With a decade-long stagnant 34% Black male college graduation rate, there was little understanding of how and why Black male initiatives, designed to improve Black male persistence and graduation in 4-year colleges, affected retention and graduation-related behaviors, as understood by the Black male participants in such initiatives. This…

Certain introductory engineering courses have been termed gateway courses, due to high failure rates resulting in many students leaving engineering altogether. In one such course, thermodynamics, instructors intentionally formed peer-led study groups (PLSGs) with an undergraduate teaching aide (UGTA) playing a supportive facilitator role instead…

The Maine Community College System provides this letter in accordance with 20-A MRSA §10013. This law requires the Maine Community College System (MCCS), University of Maine System (UMS), and Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) to provide the following information about first-generation college students by January 15th of each year: (1) Data regarding…

Increasing college attainment offers tremendous promise for increasing social mobility, tackling poverty, and reducing racial and income inequality, aspirations that are more vital than ever as the devastating impact of the pandemic has fallen disproportionately on people of color. Yet for too many policymakers and practitioners, the path to…

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Summer Bridge Programs (SBP)across the California State University (CSU) system vary in design and delivery. This mixed-methods study investigated six CSU SBP designs, delivery, and 4-year graduation rates of SBP participants during the 2015 through 2019 years. The qualitative portion of this study consisted…