How much of a difference does it make whether a student of a given academic ability enters a more or a less selective four-year college? Some studies claim that attending a more academically selective college markedly improves one's graduation prospects. Others report the reverse: an advantage from attending an institution where one's own skills…

Community colleges are a large part of the nation's higher education system and provide an important access point to post-secondary education for many students. Transfer to a four-year institution is one of the many functions served by community colleges. Despite the importance of the transfer function, the process of transferring between higher…

Estimating the persistence of first-time students from the first year to the second year of college is a growing social and financial concern. Studying how socioeconomic status affects year-to-year persistence may help to identify and assist those students who have socioeconomic profiles most likely to indicate challenges to year-to-year…

The NEAIR (North East Association for Institutional Research) 2011 Conference Proceedings is a compilation of papers presented at the Boston, Massachusetts conference. Papers in this document include: (1) Are Students Dropping Out or Dragging Out the College Experience? The Roles of Socioeconomic Status and Academic Background (Leslie S. Stratton…

Analysis of data from two national longitudinal studies focused on college application behaviors of different racial ethnic groups. Results show significant group differences in preparation behaviors, in number of colleges applied to, and in attendance at first-choice institution. Institutions are urged to evaluate the potential effects of policy…