Nationally, and within Montana, Native American college student retention and graduation rates are significantly lower than those of their majority counterparts. Native American high school students have the highest dropout rates, lowest college enrollment rates, and lowest percentage distribution of degrees conferred of any minority population in…

Rates of student success--four-year transfer, degree, and certificate completion--are frequently discussed. Less frequent, however, are opportunities to reflect on how these outcomes are measured. In this paper, I reflect on how rates of success--specifically for men of color--are calculated based on two California institutional accountability…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine factors related to enrollment in higher education during the 2008-2009 economic downturn. The study focused on small private colleges and universities without historic prestige, schools that are non-selective and dependent on enrollment tuition. When viewing student enrollment through a…

Subtle policy adjustments can induce relatively large "ripple effects." We evaluate a College Board initiative that increased the number of free SAT score reports available to low-income students and changed the time horizon for using these score reports. Using a difference-in-differences analytic strategy, we estimate that targeted…

Although several studies have documented the effects of statewide private school choice programs on student test scores, this report is the first to examine the effects of one of these programs on college enrollment and graduation. Using data from the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship program, we find that low-income Florida students who…

Research has revealed a gender gap where male students have higher rates of academic difficulties and lower college enrollment and graduation rates compared with females. This study measured the relationship of male student (including first-generation and minority students) participation in a first-year seminar and their first-term grade point…

Wesley College secured a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM (scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) grant (1355554) to provide affordability and access to its robust STEM programs. With these funds, the college initiated a freshman to senior level, mixed-cohort, Cannon Scholar (CS) learning community…

This study presents a quantitative, exploratory analysis of 535 students attending Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada who were eligible or ineligible for federal student aid and were non-U.S. citizens. Within a snapshot of the Fall 2015 through Fall 2016 semesters, we examined the variables of gender, grade point average (GPA),…

Purpose: The purpose of the first study within this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which ethnicity/race-based differences were present in Texas community college completion rates specifically within workforce certificate programs. Regarding the second study, the purpose was to determine the extent to which gender…

We use a difference-in-differences analytic approach to estimate postsecondary consequences from Maine's mandate that all public school juniors take the SAT®. We find that, overall, the policy increased 4-year college-going rates by 2- to 3-percentage points and that 4-year college-going rates among induced students increased by 10-percentage…

Numerous studies over the past two decades have examined the prevalence, causes, predictors, and prevention of high school dropout, but comparatively little is known about students who drop out and later re-enroll. This study contributes to an emerging body of research on re-enrollees that challenges the perception that when students drop out,…

The nation's most selective colleges are often the centerpiece of the discussion surrounding college choice, and trends in college selectivity are relayed through stories of plunging admission rates at a few high-profile postsecondary institutions and anecdotes of model high school students unable to secure seats at these colleges. Such stories…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions. This report describes the universe, methods, and editing procedures used in the 2014-15 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System…

"The Expanded Success Initiative: Challenges and Progress in the Pursuit of College and Career Readiness for Black and Latino Young Men" synthesizes findings from the Research Alliance's four-year evaluation of Expanded Success Initiative (ESI). This report, draws on hundreds of interviews and focus groups with ESI school leaders,…

Using a unique dataset of 44 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), this paper examines critical patterns of enrollment, engagement, persistence, and completion among students in online higher education. By leveraging fixed-effects specifications based on over 2.1 million student observations across more than 2,900 lectures, we analyze engagement,…