This study employed quantitative descriptive statistics, including time series analysis, to explore how special education enrollment rates in Pennsylvania changed in the school years during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous trends. Data were gathered from publicly available annual reports of special education enrollment between 2010 and…

Impacts to postsecondary institutions' enrollment and financial positions that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic were examined in this study. Taking a quantitative observational approach, enrollment trends as they relate to changes in tuition and fee revenue, unrestricted cash on hand, and unrestricted investments held are analyzed to determine…

Even with the increase in virtual learning, there remains a stigma that virtual schools are not successfully supporting students based on traditionally lower graduate rates and state assessment data. The problem is statewide educational decision-makers lacked an understanding of the prior academic performance, specifically credit attainment, among…

All of our choices and all that sets us apart are governed by what we can do, what we want to do, and what we know. This dissertation aims to quantify two of these channels to better understand why we differ. The first two chapters focus on what we know and how it shapes societal gaps. The first chapter attacks the question of how much of the gap…

This study utilized performance improvement theories, models, tools, and techniques to investigate why a new Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) Bachelor of Science program at a comprehensive university was experiencing low enrollment. The program was recently launched based on thorough research in the job market that indicated a high demand…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine to what extent a difference exists in first year experience (FYE) pass rate and persistence of summer to fall enrollment based on utility value intervention (UVI) participation among college students enrolled in FYE classes at a community college in the Midwest United States.…

Small private colleges and universities have seen a decline in their enrollment for the past thirty years. Many have closed their doors, and others are merging or taking financial risks that could prove detrimental to their survival. However, there are a few who have been able to increase their enrollment despite the demographic and economic…

Critical race theory has challenged whose truth is told in schools (Lynn & Parker, 2006). Private schools belonging to the National Association of Independent Schools have questioned what truth is taught in their schools ("NAIS -- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging," n.d.). Concurrently, these schools face declining…

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted enrollment, a continuation of the decline ongoing since 2010. Two-year colleges are highly dependent on tuition revenue. Consequently, the pandemic exacerbated the postsecondary economic crisis, as 2-year institutions faced financial hardship amidst enrollment uncertainties. In response to the pandemic,…

Homeschools have grown in prevalence in recent decades in the United States, including an unprecedented increase in homeschooling rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present quantitative study sought to add to the growing homeschool research by examining an existing depersonalized data set from the Classic Learning Test [CLT] suite of…

Currently, little to no research is available that translates the decrease in college enrollment and retention into dollar amounts, nor discussions about the numbers and funding needed to revive colleges to pre-COVID numbers. COVID-19 was said to have hit areas, populations, and groups of people who were already underrepresented, but this remains…

For years, the impending enrollment cliff has been a regular topic amongst higher education officials. With this event slated to hit undergraduate programs by 2025, it is anticipated that graduate schools will begin feeling the impact by 2029. By examining factors influencing graduate student college choice, enrollment managers can identify ways…

The leadership experiences of district intern program leaders in California play an important role in addressing the teacher shortage and diversifying the teaching workforce. However, limited information about their experiences exists in the empirical literature. Additionally, due to the recency of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is limited…

Despite many differences across Pennsylvania's rural school districts, band programs face similar recruitment, retention, and matriculation challenges. Rural school districts in Pennsylvania account for 235 of the 499 school districts in Pennsylvania while educating less than 20 percent of the student population in the state. In addition, rural…

Over the past 30 years, state funding for public higher education has decreased dramatically in the United States ("The Chronicle of Higher Education," 2014; National Education Association (NEA), 2022). As a result, many public universities have purposefully increased international student enrollment to help replace these vanishing state…