Using validation theory as the guiding framework, this qualitative study explored the advising experiences of 16 Hmong college students. Most participants described instances of advising that were academically and interpersonally validating. Several participants also described instances of invalidating advising experiences. This study highlights…

Students of traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds generally need to receive extra support as they enter college. Many resources have been developed to address this issue, such as peer-counseling programs, faculty-mentoring programs, and federally funded TRIO Programs. There is an increase in retention problems in higher education communities and…

The United States faces challenges in retaining students of color (SoC), women, and nonbinary individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). This study explores the impact of a residential bridge program on STEM persistence for these groups. Participants, who were all women or nonbinary individuals and were 56% SoC and 30%…

Latino students are enrolling in college at higher rates than any other demographic, but these developments have not been reflected in increased retention or degree completion rates. A disparity in the rate of degree achievement between Latino males and their counterparts has been referred to as the "vanishing Latino male" phenomenon.…

For students pursuing a postsecondary education, where they go is as important as whether they go. National College Attainment Network ("NCAN") member programs and college access programs more broadly often inform students about their likelihood of completing a degree at their prospective postsecondary destinations as part of the…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to evaluate the relationships between completion of high school dual enrollment courses and subsequent success of first-time, full-time community college students as measured by completion of an associate degree and time to completion of the degree. In addition to comparing dual and…

Education leaders need valid metrics to predict students' long-term success. We use a unique data set with cognitive skills, self-regulation, behavior, course performance, and test scores for eighth-grade students from a Northeast school district. We link these data to students' high school outcomes, college enrollment, persistence, and on-time…

Many students who enroll in a public U.S. 4-y college will not graduate. The odds of completing a college degree are even lower for students who have been marginalized in higher education, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Can undergraduate research increase a student's likelihood of graduating college and…

This fact sheet explores the association between parental income and the pathways of young adults in postsecondary education for students who began their studies in the 2012/2013 academic year. Students from low-income families have previously been shown to have lower rates of educational access and attainment. This fact sheet focuses on…

This essay identifies six common institutional barriers to student completion and offers recommendations to remove them. The barriers are: (a) confusing degree requirements, (b) courses not available when needed, (c) unnecessary registration holds, (d) course credits of transfer students not counted toward degree, (e) financial aid policies that…

In 2015, the City University of New York (CUNY) launched a new program--Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE)--aimed at improving college graduation rates. A randomized-control evaluation of the program found a nearly 12 percentage point increase in graduation five years after college entry. Using this impact estimate and national data on…

Increasing graduation rates continues to be a high priority for administrators at many institutions of higher education. With longitudinal data from a large research university in the Western United States, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential relationship between matriculating with or without a major declared and degree…

Higher education institutions have prioritized supporting undecided students with their major and career decisions for decades. This study used a U.S. public research-focused university's large-scale institutional data set and undecided student's retention and graduation rate predictors to demonstrate how to couple student and institutional data…

Background: In this paper, we investigate the predictors for enrollment and success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs in higher education. We develop a sequential logit model in which students enroll in STEM education, may drop out from STEM higher education, or continue studying until they graduate in an STEM…

The "2023 Nebraska Higher Education Progress Report" is the latest edition of the annual progress report designed to provide the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving three key priorities for Nebraska's postsecondary education system. They are: (1) Increase the number of…