This paper estimates a dynamic model of college enrollment, progression, and graduation. A central feature of the model is student effort, which has a direct effect on class completion and an indirect effect mitigating risks on class completion and college persistence. The estimated model matches rich administrative data for a representative…

To address under-preparation of students for college-level course-work, Texas House Bill 5 (HB5) introduced a number of substantive changes to the state high school curriculum and graduation requirements. Among its provisions, HB5 created a requirement that school districts offer a college preparatory mathematics course for students not meeting…

Graduation efficiency is of top concern for institutions of higher education throughout the world. Increasingly, accountability metrics have come under scrutiny as policymakers seek to ensure public resources are efficiently used. Traditionally, higher education policymakers in the USA and Europe have used graduation rate as an accountability…

This mixed methods study examined the effects of experiential learning on student completion and academic success in a business course at Greenville Technical College in Greenville, South Carolina. Completion rates and end-of-course grades were compared between non-experiential learning participants and experiential learning participants in…

In the autumn of 2014, the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) launched the "Admissions, Retention, and Completion Survey" (ARC) in an attempt to collect for the first time honors program benchmarking data on important admissions, persistence, and completion metrics, data that are already widely used throughout higher education…

Purpose: The study aims to provide insight on the potential effectiveness of demand-side financing for catalyzing improved educational outcomes in Malawi; and, given the extent of cost-related constraints to school contexts in other low-income countries, the results have relevance for education policy decisions more broadly.…

The costs of attending four-year colleges and universities in the United States have steadily increased over four decades leading to high levels of student debt and many obstacles for low-income students. The analysis presented appraises the extent of the cost and affordability problems, debunking the sensationalistic claims that are common in…

Despite an increase in special education enrollment, a stark gap in high school completion between students with and without disabilities persists. This study examined the impact of Unified Champion Schools (UCS), a Special Olympics program designed to foster social inclusion through three components--Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership,…

Contribution: This work evaluates the role of the complementary training programs (CTPs) offered by the Center for Research and Development in Electronic and Information Technology (CETELI), from the Federal University of Amazonas, Brazil. This analysis highlights the relevant role of the CTP, carried out by CETELI, in supporting students in the…

High impact educational practices are active learning strategies that benefit learning outcomes, increase student engagement, and support student retention. This study examines the retention and persistence impact of student philanthropy, an active learning approach that engages students with the community by incorporating a philanthropy component…

"January Undergraduate Move Ahead Program" (JUMP) uses winter break as an opportunity to prepare small groups of scholarship students with high financial need for the second semester of their first-year biology curriculum and a career in life science. A winter intersession program has challenges, but more importantly, benefits that…

The "on-time" degree completion crisis within the community college system is alarming. Only 5% of students graduate in two years (Complete College America [CCA], n.d.-a). Many community college students are low-income and racially and ethnically minoritized, and their graduation rates are low (CCA, n.d.-a). Community colleges around the…

Background and Purpose: Each school year, in the state of Texas, students unexpectedly change schools almost 450,000 times. In the Houston region alone, students change schools more than 60,000 times. These school changes are not random, tend to be geographically contained though not within school districts, and carry significant ramifications in…

"Educating the Top 100 Percent" assesses the decline of higher education funding and offers ambitious policy recommendations to restore the possibility of accessible, affordable education for all. Stephen G. Katsinas, Nathaniel J. Bray, and Martha J. Kanter probe the complex interplay of federal, state, and local policies and illustrate…

Earning a high school diploma is a milestone that has been linked to many later life outcomes, from employment to incarceration to physical health, and impacts society as a whole through tax revenues and government spending. Yet, youth leaving school prior to obtaining a diploma remains a challenge nationwide, particularly in large cities. Given…