More than 427,000 undocumented students are enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. That's an impressive number, considering the many hurdles they must overcome on the road to college and a degree, including restrictions on their ability to enroll in higher education institutions; limits on access to in-state tuition, state financial aid,…

Community colleges are attempting to bridge America's widening blue-collar skills gap through workforce development programs promising living-wage jobs that don't require four years of college. While trade, construction and manufacturing companies are starving for talented workers, these fields also suffer from an image problem, one fueled by…

Given the dearth of high-quality curriculum materials aligned with the new standards (NGSS and CCSS) and low student persistence in STEM fields, we sought to develop and test a STEM curriculum that would improve student knowledge, interest, and emotions. A cluster randomized control trial was conducted to assess the impact of Speedometry, a…

One way to progress toward greenhouse gas reductions is for people to drive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Households in this study participated in a 4- to 6-week PHEV driving trial. A narrative of each household's encounter with the PHEV was constructed by the researchers from multiple in-home interviews, questionnaires completed by…

Distance learning is associated with a variety of benefits such as reduced use of campus facilities, increased accessibility, and control of disease transmission. In this study, we explore an additional benefit: mitigation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions contributing to global climate change. A survey was presented to 500 students…

The United States Air Force (USAF) provides career and technical education (CTE) to a wide variety of specialty career fields. Training airmen to carry out the mission while honoring the USAF core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do is the top priority of military leaders and trainers. Vehicle maintenance is…

This study examined the usefulness of a survey on underage drinking in a rural American Indian community health clinic. One hundred ninety-seven youth (90 male, 107 female; age range 8-20 years) were recruited from clinic waiting rooms and through community outreach. The study revealed that the usefulness of the survey was twofold: Survey results…

To meet the expectations of today's tech-savvy students, colleges and universities are looking for ways to speed up their processes and provide better services for their No. 1 customer. They have turned to technology to simplify processes, reduce costs, and meet the high expectations of a technically literate student body. In this article, the…

Three respondents provide cogent commentary on the author's first article, "Does the Adolescent Brain Make Risk Taking Inevitable? A Skeptical Appraisal." Two respondent papers argue that the author mischaracterized valid and useful developmental and biological arguments affirming adolescents' singular risk propensities; the third…

A consulting contract with the California Air Resources Board led to a project examining how California drivers' and fleet managers' perceptions, attitudes, and consumer behavior regarding Clean Vehicle Technologies influenced their own energy choices when it came to purchasing vehicles. The consultants examined archival research, conducted focus…

Auto insurance rates can vary dramatically, with much higher premiums in poor and minority areas than elsewhere, even after accounting for individual characteristics, driving history, and coverage. This paper uses a unique data set to examine the relative influence of place-based socioeconomic characteristics (or redlining) and place-based risk…

The realization of dwindling fossil fuel supplies and their adverse environmental impacts has accelerated research and development activities in the domain of renewable energy sources and technologies. Global energy demand is expected to rise during the next few decades, and the majority of today's energy is based on fossil fuels. Alternative…

A thorough study of changing student transportation patterns is justified on the grounds that (1) campuses are major traffic generators; (2) there is increased concern over the need to develop transportation systems that pose less ecological threat to the urban environment; (3) transportation patterns of students, faculty, and staff are changing…

This study examines the role of car ownership in facilitating employment among recipients under the current welfare-to-work law. Because of a potential problem with simultaneity, the analysis uses predicted car ownership constructed from two instrumental variables, insurance premiums and population density for car ownership. The data come from a…