This study explored nontraditional community college transfer students and their bachelor's degree attainment. The study findings suggest that there was no significant difference in the odds of earning bachelor's degrees between nontraditional transfer students and their counterparts. Thus, the pathway to bachelor's degree attainment through…

Drawing on data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS), this study examined the risks associated with losing credits in the process of transferring between colleges. The effects of credit loss are considered on the timing of degree completion and student loan…

Using the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/17), this research study explores the persistence to bachelor's degree attainment of adult students. Specifically, this study looks at adult students who expected to earn a bachelor's degree or higher, and analyzes whether…

Academic undermatching--students enrolling in colleges that are less academically selective than those for which they qualify--is a barrier hindering college degree attainment. Given the many reasons students undermatch, this phenomenon is likely to continue; yet, we know little about the characteristics that may be related to degree attainment…

Objectives: We explore the influence of initial enrollment at a community college on the attainment of a bachelor's degree. Methods: Using the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 12/17) and propensity score analysis, we compare baccalaureate degree outcomes of recent high school graduates who reported their intention to earn…

Research on college completion for students who work during their undergraduate education often approaches the topic from a financial perspective focused on aid and income status. This study takes a different approach by exploring the intersectionality of student employment and race, in relation to six-year bachelor's degree attainment. Based on a…

This First Look report presents selected findings from transcript data collected through the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS) for the 2011-12 cohort of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12). The students in the 2011-12 cohort were selected during the 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study…

The resources needed to conduct high-quality and large-scale survey research are often beyond the reach of institutional researchers and higher education analysts. However, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provides many national student surveys that researchers can utilize. We outline four NCES studies--the High School…

Objectives: In this study, we explore the influence of enrolling initially at a community college before transferring to a 4-year institution on the selectivity of the destination 4-year institution. Method: We leverage nationally representative data and a propensity score matching approach to compare the institutional selectivity between students…

Objectives/Research Question: This study aims to explore who transfers between 2-year colleges (lateral transfer students) and how these students fare in terms of degree attainment. More specifically, this research explores two research questions: (1) What are the predictors of lateral transfer? (2) Is lateral transfer associated with degree…

This study centers the experiences of nontraditional aged women who are 24 or older and the usefulness of Pell Grant funding to increase outcomes for attainment at the certificate, bachelor's, and associate's degree level in higher education. Critical feminist policy analysis guided the research structure, centering of women, and recommendations…

Deregulation of for-profit colleges led to a precipitous rise in enrollments from 1990 to 2010. Since 2010, regulation, investigations, and sanctions have led to enrollment declines in for-profit postsecondary institutions. Initially barred from receiving Title IV federal funds, in the form of Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, for-profit colleges…

The discrepancy in the empirical literature surrounding distance education (DE) coursetaking among community college students has led to the online paradox, where short-term or more proximal academic outcomes associated with DE coursetaking are negative, but the long-term or distal academic outcomes are positive. Importantly, no previous study has…

This set of Web Tables is the fourth in a series of four that together provide key information about 2011-12 first-time postsecondary students' characteristics and their 6-year retention, persistence, attainment, withdrawal, stopout, and transfer rates. The series draws on data collected for the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students…

Objective: This study examines the role of community colleges in closing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by studying whether beginning at a community college improves the likelihood of female students earning their bachelor's degree in STEM. Method: Using nationally representative data, we apply a…