Although some students choose to work while enrolled in college, others may have no choice but to work, even if work may be detrimental to their chances of succeeding in college. Leveraging 17 years of statewide student-level records from Tennessee, the authors examine the relationship between working while enrolled and degree completion, time to…

Increasingly, undergraduates take more than 4 years to complete a baccalaureate, a situation widely perceived as a waste of time and money, for students, their families, and taxpayers. We first identify several phenomena that result in a longer time to degree and document the frequency of such delays. Then, using nationally representative data…

In this study, we examine how student employment impacts higher educational trajectories in France. Focussing on undergraduates' educational outcomes, we show the consequences of different intensities and levels of recurrence of student employment on perseverance in higher education. We use data from a nationally representative four-year…

Undermatching, or students attending less selective colleges than they are academically qualified to attend, is seen as a contributing factor to the lagging college completion rate of low-income and first-generation college students. Addressing the mismatch has been mainly limited to the individual level. Through analysis of interview and…

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study is to identify potential predictors of academic success or failure in Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in the field of biomedicine. Based on these, the policies and structure of academic programmes granting PhD degrees in biomedicine might be improved. Literature review (State of the art): At…

In this paper we analyze the effect of outside university work on time to first degree at German universities. The database is the "Absolventenpanel" 2001, a panel study conducted by the "Hochschul-Informations-System". Aiming to estimate the causal effect correctly, we apply a matching strategy based on the approach put…

Millions of high school students take Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which can provide college credit. Using nationally representative data, I identify a diverse set of higher education outcomes that are related to receipt of AP college credit. Institution fixed effects regression reduces bias associated with varying AP credit policies and…

This paper analyzes time to first degree at German universities. The database is the "Absolventenpanel" 2001, a panel study conducted by the "Hochschul-Informations-System." The German university system is characterized by a long duration of study; the regular time is often exceeded. One potential reason might be the high…

Higher education has experienced many changes since the 1970s, including an increase in the price of college, an increase in student employment during college, a decrease in college completion rates, and an increase in time to degree. This paper ties these trends together by causally linking changes in financial aid with time to degree and student…

The aim of the study was to investigate the reasons why adult learners took longer than required to complete their Master's and Doctoral degrees. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Twenty adult learners who registered for the Master's and Doctoral degrees at one township campus of a university were targeted, and…

Time to completion of the baccalaureate degree has increased markedly in the United States over the past three decades. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 and the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, we show that the increase in time to degree is localized among those who begin their…

While a substantial proportion of students delay entry into higher education, sociologists are only beginning to understand the consequences of this phenomenon for educational attainment. Previous studies have reported a negative relationship between delayed entry and degree completion, but they have not been able to explain it with a range of…

The number of full-time students engaging in part-time employment during their studies at university continues to rise, both in the UK and in other countries. The majority of previous studies in this area have adopted a quantitative research design, using a survey. Findings from such studies have tended to focus on demonstrating what students are…

The study examines whether the reduction in the timeframe for the completion of university studies in Greece will affect students of different socio-economic background disproportionally. To this intent, it assesses the influence of the status of students, defined as working and non-working, on the duration of studies but the relevance of other…

Interviews with faculty, administrators, staff, and students at four engineering programs reveal the role of undergraduate student employment on retention and timely degree completion among engineering students. Dueling narratives reveal how student approaches to earning an engineering degree differ greatly from faculty, administrator, and staff…