The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of female leadership representation in four states identified from four regions of the United States. A descriptive approach to content analysis was used to examine postsecondary institutional website profiles with public access for females in executive leadership positions. Findings…

This chapter discusses the importance of conducting critical social network analysis (CSNA) in higher education. To illustrate the benefits of CSNA, the authors use existing institutional data to examine peer effects in community colleges. The chapter ends with a discussion of the implications of using a CSNA approach to measure inequities in…

Developing countries have significantly expanded efforts to import more flexible short-cycle institutions based on the United States community college model. The U.S. community college model addresses human capital needs of the labor market in developing countries by increasing access to an affordable education. However, there is limited research…

Nearly 40% of all public community college enrollment is in noncredit courses. While there have been several recent reports on the noncredit function at community colleges, little has been done in terms of large-scale studies and/or statewide analyses on this population. The purpose of this study was to explore one state's community college…

This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is…

Lack of financial resources to pay for postsecondary education--perceived and actual--has been cited as a barrier to student access and persistence, particularly for Latino students. This study investigates the following question: "To what extent does financial aid affect the educational attainment of Latinos enrolled in Associate's degree…

With projections of the decline of the Texas economic base, graduation rates and percentages of Hispanic students at Texas community colleges were examined to determine whether statistically significant increases were present from the years 2000 to 2008. In 2010, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board modified the major initiative Closing…

The extent to which Hispanic faculty members employed at all Texas community colleges had changed from 2000 to 2008 is examined. Both the number and percentage of Hispanic faculty members employed full-time at Texas community colleges had increased from 2000 to the 2008 school year. Though a statistically significant increase was present, the…

In this study specific factors were examined to determine their ability to influence fifth-year earnings of community college students in the Manufacturing/Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) career cluster and the Arts/Audiovisual/Technology/ Communication career cluster. State and national data sets from Iowa's Management…

Success and Interactive Learning's (SAIL) front-loaded retention activities and unique financial incentives have combined to improve retention, persistence, and success of first-time college students. Its effectiveness has been validated through a comparison of retention rates and aggregate quality-point averages of SAIL cohorts with those rates…

New data on noncredit course offerings at colleges and universities help to generate a statistical portrait of these increasingly important programs.

Describes the goal of this publication as addressing previous research that will be important in future research by publishing revolutionary articles done during the 1990s decade. Gives examples of topics that will be discussed in the articles: meta-study approach, meta method, and meta findings. (Contains 19 references.) (MZ)

The study describes an initiative to increase retention at a 2-year college in the Northeast United States. The process involved a collaborative, intrusive advising approach to intervene with students at-risk for academic failure or experiencing difficulty with the transition to the college. Components of the mixed-method design included…

Contrasts Bureau of Labor Statistics' employment forecasts with National Center of Educational Statistics' data on college graduation trends. Offers insights regarding the core of science and math skills needed for using new technologies, changing work force distribution and delivery systems, and funding and faculty shortages. (DMM)

A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS 4.0 to validate the 21-item Career Factors Inventory on a community college student sample. The multidimensional inventory assesses types and levels of career indecision antecedents. The sample consisted of 512 ethnically diverse freshmen students; 46% were men and 54% were women.…