As demand for college graduates grows (Times Higher Education, 2023) persistence rates for first-generation students continue to lag (Toutkoushain et al., 2018, 2021). Complicating our understanding of this opportunity gap is the diversity of how first-generation student status is defined (Jo Peralta & Klonowski, 2017). We argue that while…

Success Boston, a city-wide initiative to boost college persistence and ultimately improve college completion rates for Boston's high school graduates, has one-on-one transition coaching as a core strategy. Transition coaching offers students sustained, proactive, and responsive support in their first two years of college. Specifically, coaches…

A college degree typically helps graduates earn more when they enter the labor force and is a key driver of economic mobility. However, many students who enroll in college do not finish, reflecting numerous academic, financial, and social emotional barriers students may face to succeeding in college and completing a degree, from being…

In community colleges in the United States, graduation rates remain frustratingly low. Students face many challenges, including the financial costs of attending college; the demands of school, work, and family; complex institutional systems; underfunded student support services; and insufficient preparation for college-level work. To address these…

The withdrawal of students from Principles of Chemistry courses is a major problem for STEM retention and graduation rates, which are topics of national interest. In order to implement effective intervention methods to reduce withdrawal rates, we must understand the underlying reasons why students withdraw. This paper presents a multimethod study…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an academic support program that aims to improve persistence and graduation for lower-division students who are low income, first generation, and/or underrepresented. Students were organized in 10 academies that serve as a "school within a school" and have three main elements: a pathway of two…

Institutional graduation rates occupy a prominent place in institutional research and public policy. Graduation rates are used in the College Scorecard, state performance funding initiatives, and potentially affect a significant proportion of public institutions revenues. Despite their widespread use, research suggests that institutional…

Do increased expenditures lead to improvements in international students' outcomes? As state subsidies for public higher education institutions remain low, the reliance on out-of-state tuition from international students underscores their importance. Because international students often pay such higher tuition fees, it is worth studying how such…

This descriptive study surveyed the perceptions of teachers, counselors, and administrators on issues pertaining to school services and academic and instructional challenges of English Learners (ELs) in NYC public high schools. This study attempted to identify factors that increase the dropout rate of high school English learners. In addition,…

Community colleges and broad-access universities (those with minimally selective admissions policies) provide an opportunity for students across the United States to attain postsecondary degrees and economic mobility. However, graduation rates from such colleges are often low and there are many obstacles that can be difficult to overcome,…

Completion rates for Latinx students are unacceptably lower than White and Asian students (NCES, 2019). Shapiro et al. (2017) reported that the completion rate for Latinx students attending community colleges was 33%, while the completion rate was 45% for White students and 44% for Asian students. This literature review aimed to discover the root…

The nation's community colleges play a central role in producing a more educated workforce and promoting social mobility. They serve about 40 percent of all college students and, not surprisingly, they serve a disproportionate number of low-income and underrepresented students. But most students who enter these colleges do not graduate--only about…

As the cost of higher education continues to rise faster than inflation and as the pressure from community colleges offering four-year degrees increases (See: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/04/26/more-community-colleges-are-offering-bachelors-degrees), it is imperative that colleges and universities examine…

Background: In fall 2020, community colleges (CCs) served nearly five million students, representing 29% of U.S. undergraduates. Despite providing unprecedented access to postsecondary education, rates of degree attainment are low. Among first-time, full-time, degree/certificate-seeking students whose first postsecondary school is a CC, only 31%…

Students with disabilities experience more than the usual number of challenges in their postsecondary education experiences. Students with disabilities typically receive support services from an administrative unit assigned to assist them. But these assigned administrators and their staff often have difficulty identifying the factors that are most…