English language learners (ELs) often attend schools where there are (1) inequitable access to appropriately trained teachers and limited professional development opportunities, (2) inadequate instructional time, and (3) inequitable access to instructional materials and curriculum. These conditions place ELs at a considerable disadvantage.…

Higher education has been touted as critical to social mobility, even greater longevity; however, these benefits accrue with degree completion, and many students who begin college never earn a degree. Using the most recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we sought to understand variation in college completion rates and test…

North Central State College provides a case study of how a small college can increase revenue by strategically realigning its existing staff resources for improving student retention and success, even in a period of stagnant enrollment. The college implemented a series of major reforms with the aim of improving student retention and completion on…

Qualitative research is often overlooked in regards to policy development and practices. This is due to the critique that it lacks the capability to determine cause and effect in educational settings. The advent of qualitative metasynthesis has provided one route to such studies becoming more generalizable. This study implements such a study in…

This research explores the suitability of system-based simulation analysis for higher education (HE) policy-planning. A dynamic system model of the Finnish university funding system covering bachelor-level students is presented. The results show that the model captures the nature of the current funding system, which can be considered a zero-sum…

Completing a college degree is a major accomplishment under the best of circumstances. The economic and societal value of a college degree has the potential to produce critical benefits for vulnerable populations. For youth who "age out" of foster care, existing data reveal an obvious discrepancy in actual outcomes in comparison to their…

Local public institutions, such as public libraries, offer access to low-cost educational resources, potentially mitigating human capital investment disparities. However, from 2008 to 2019, 766 public library outlets closed across the US, reducing access to these critical resources. This study examines the effect of public library outlet closures…

Seventy-seven California community colleges offer nursing programs with a total enrollment of 12,960 full-time equivalent students in 2017-18, a decrease of 7.4% from the previous fiscal year. Seventy-two colleges received grants to expand or maintain enrollment by 1,439 students. The colleges are using these funds to provide support for nursing…

The efficiency of educational institutions is critical in the justification of resource allocation and use. However, some developing countries like Kenya face efficiency challenges regarding resource utilisation and the flow of students through the school system at various levels of education and programs. Past research in Kenya has focused more…

The Open Distance Learning (ODL) commenced in Nigeria in the year 2003 by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and many universities in the country have also adopted it. The study focused purposely on four ODL centers in Kwara state. Five research questions and three research hypotheses were formulated. The student samples were selected…

The Pell Grant is targeted to students with the greatest financial need, and many policymakers find Pell to be a useful policy lever for promoting access and success for students from lower-income backgrounds. There are several examples where policymakers use Pell eligibility to allocate resources and hold colleges accountable for their outcomes;…

Background/Context: The underrepresentation of students from lower socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds among college graduates with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees, and consequently in STEM occupations, is a concern with respect to reducing, perpetuating, or increasing social inequality. The loss of their…

Objective: The current paper presents a comparison of university policies and health and academic accommodations offered to undergraduate students following sexual assault (SA) and sports-related concussions (SRC). Procedures and protocols for universities to consider adapting from their SRC policies to their SA policies are detailed.…

Higher education in the United States is regulated by a triad of the federal government, state governments, and private accreditors. Rather than relying on bureaucrats to ensure quality, federal policy defers such assurance to accrediting agencies. This empowers accreditors to determine which colleges can access financial aid and establishes their…

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…