President Obama recently asked community colleges across the nation to take on a central role in his economic policy by awarding 5 million new associate degrees over the next decade. Those familiar with community college data know this is a daunting task for the nation's public two-year college system. In order to meet the challenge, the nation's…

First-generation female college students (FGFCS) make up a large portion of the diversity in higher education. Unfortunately "access" to education does not translate to success. Persistence and degree completion for these students is often undermined by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The purposes of this study were to identify the financial…

Ordinarily, one might expect that an alternative education program that encourages thousands of secondary students to stay in school and remain on track to earn a high school diploma would have broad support. However, New Jersey's "special review assessment" or SRA, has been the subject of longstanding and, at times, contentious public…

This article considers the practical, conceptual, and empirical foundations of an early identification and intervention system for middle-grades schools to combat student disengagement and increase graduation rates in our nation's cities. Many students in urban schools become disengaged at the start of the middle grades, which greatly reduces the…

If today's schools were perfect in everything that they do, they would only be 70% effective in educating American students. That is because 30 out of every 100 students drop out of school before graduation. Research has suggested a number of factors as causes and offered recommendations for intervention. The causes are categorized into two…

In the knowledge economy, the journey of education to develop a flexible, knowledgeable, and skilled workforce should begin in pre-school and continue until at least an associate degree--the equivalent of a high school diploma a generation ago--is achieved. A high school diploma is not sufficient to compete in a global economy. The number of…

The overarching goal of the "Supporting Best Practices in Student Success Project" is to create, enhance, or expand successful programs that are replicable and can be scaled to greatly improve the percentage of underserved students who complete postsecondary education. In doing so, National College Access Network (NCAN) aimed to build…

Although not a new concept, early graduation from high school is attracting growing interest. Evidence regarding the dissatisfaction of many high school students with the traditional four-year sequence is cited frequently in the literature. This and other factors have stirred speculation about whether more high school students are opting for early…

State accountability goals for high schools must give equal emphasis to raising standards and increasing the percentages of students entering grade nine and earning high school diplomas four years later. High school completion rates between 1988 and 2000 declined in all but eight states. Many high schools in states with declining graduation rates…

This report presents the averaged freshman graduation rate for public high school students for school years 2002-03 and 2003-04 based on data reported by state education agencies to the National Center for Education Statistics. Rates are included for most of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and three other jurisdictions for both…

This paper estimates the effects of various college qualities on several early adult outcomes, using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study. I compare the results using ordinary least squares with three alternative methods of estimation, including instrumental variables, and the methods used by Dale and Krueger [(2002).…

While research outside economics has found that drinking has a negative effect on cognitive skills, some economists have failed to find any negative relationship between drinking and academic performance. This paper argues that the reason for this discrepancy is due to the way education is measured in the economic literature. Herein, binge…

Research by the American Council on Education (Wilds, 2000) has shown that while graduation rates for African Americans have increased, they are still below that of Whites. This difference may be explained by race. It is probable that African American students are facing more experiences with racial discrimination or other factors that make their…

This study sought to provide empirical evidence regarding the use of spatial analysis in enrollment management to predict persistence and graduation. The research utilized data from the 2000 U.S. Census and applicant records from The University of Arizona to study the spatial distributions of enrollments. Based on the initial results, stepwise…

I analyze the longer-run effects of a program that pays both 11th and 12th grade students and teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that affected students attend college in greater numbers, have improved college GPAs, and are more likely to remain in college beyond their…