This research investigates the effects of online learning barriers on students' perceived learning and academic achievement. In this study, the barriers identified by Muilenburg and Berge in 2005 were used as online learning barriers. These are (1) administrative issues, (2) social interaction, (3) academic skills, (4) technical skills, (5)…

Undocumented Latinx college students in rural areas confront a myriad of stressors that challenge their resilience and which merit empirical emphasis. This study will examine the risk and protective factors, and their impact on academic outcomes, of undocumented first generation Latinx college students in Public Institutions in Rural Areas. The…

Community colleges are an important, yet understudied, tier of the higher education system in the United States. Community colleges serve students from all socio-economic backgrounds. As such, community college students face challenges to their educations not seen in those attending more traditional schools. This dissertation recognizes these…

Nathanael Okpych and Mark Courtney review barriers to completing a college degree for young adults with foster care histories seeking post-secondary education. Their longitudinal approach evaluates students with foster care histories attending 2- and 4-year colleges and compares outcomes with low-income first-generation college students over a…

This three-study dissertation investigated how socioeconomic factors and policies are associated with educational outcomes for undocumented youth and, in one of the papers, to what extent education and employment outcomes intersect. Guided by the specific questions of each study, the three papers take different theoretical and methodological…

Youth who were in foster care as adolescents make up a small but highly vulnerable subpopulation of the college student body. This article analyzes secondary data collected from one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies of foster youth. The analytic sample includes 329 foster youth from three Midwestern states who attended college in the…

This report for Success Boston, The Boston Foundation and the Boston Opportunity Agenda explores the many reasons why students at two institutions, Bunker Hill Community College and UMass-Boston, "stopped out" of their learning without a degree, and the reasons they did (or did not) return. The report also discusses ways in which other…

In 1979, less than 30% of full-time university students in Canada worked for pay during the academic year. By the mid-2000s, this had risen to 45%. This trend to increasing work among full-time students is also evident in other countries, and may be a concern if it reduces students' investment in human capital during their studies. I find that,…

Young adults with disabilities face multiple challenges in obtaining successful post-school outcomes. In a National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 report, Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Garza, and Levine (2005) found that for former students with disabilities, 70% had engaged in paid employment since leaving high school, though only 40% were employed at…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions Latino eighth grade students have of school and schooling factors as they transition to high school and the factors that may influence their self-perceived likelihood of graduating from high school. Middle schools are poised to help Latino students prepare themselves for a smoother…