This snapshot goes beyond traditional measures of postsecondary attainment by tracking the fall 2012 entering cohort over time, and showing persistence, stop-out, and completion rates at the end of each subsequent academic year. The model tracks outcomes for both full-time and part-time starters, and takes spring and summer terms into account.…

This ninth annual High School Benchmarks Report provides the updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. This report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary education practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report update last years' findings on…

Racial and ethnic demographics continue to shift in the United States, and more students of color, first-generation students, and students from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds pursue higher education. Student debt has risen to the top of the national agenda as one of America's most pressing equity issues in higher education. Usually when student…

Increasing numbers of student veterans in the United States are transitioning into a higher education culture that reflects major differences from the military culture. Higher education leaders need to understand what these students require and what will help them transition smoothly into higher education. The purpose of this quantitative case…

This qualitative study explored the external and internal reasons involved in students' decisions to return to college after an extended absence. Specifically, it sought to explore the role of students' concepts of who they might be (or want to avoid becoming) in the college and career domains of their lives, their possible selves. Analysis of…

This report for Success Boston, The Boston Foundation and the Boston Opportunity Agenda explores the many reasons why students at two institutions, Bunker Hill Community College and UMass-Boston, "stopped out" of their learning without a degree, and the reasons they did (or did not) return. The report also discusses ways in which other…

This paper examines the effect of a short-lived increase in tuition rates on undocumented college students' schooling decisions. In the spring of 2002, the City University of New York (CUNY) reversed its policy of charging in-state tuition rates to undocumented college students who could demonstrate that they migrated to New York at a relatively…

Existing gap-year research indicates a number of benefits of a gap-year at the end of school and before university enrollment. Life span theory of control, however, suggests that direct goal investment, rather than delay, at developmental transitions is associated with more adaptive outcomes. Comparing these perspectives, the authors undertook 2…

This set of Web Tables is the first in a series of four that together provide key information about 2011-12 first-time postsecondary students' characteristics and their 6-year retention, persistence, attainment, withdrawal, stopout, and transfer rates. The series draws on data collected for the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal…

Student debt is a major barrier to adult student reengagement and degree completion. Institutional debt forgiveness is one approach to addressing the affordability barrier for returning students. This guidebook features an interview with leaders at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, who share details about the innovative debt-forgiveness…

One in six American adults--approximately 30-35 million individuals--were at one time enrolled in college but did not complete a degree or certificate. Higher education in the 21st century faces a series of changes with respect to college completion that require a shift in institutional culture and processes. Many colleges are responding to this…

The Irish education system is unique in an international context as it sets aside a full school year for a transition and youth development programme in the middle of secondary education. The Transition Year (TY) programme is an optional, full time programme offered in the majority of secondary schools. Each school designs its own programme,…

This report examines time to degree completion for a cohort of students who earned an associate degree as their first and only postsecondary degree or a bachelor's degree as their first four-year degree between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015. Overall, the average time enrolled for associate and bachelor's degree earners was 3.3 years and 5.1…

With rising pupil numbers, shortfalls in the number of trainee teachers and an increasing proportion of teachers leaving the profession, retaining teachers who are already in the profession is vital for managing the current and future supply of teachers. This report draws out a number of key factors impacting on teacher retention and makes…

Each year millions of Americans make the decision to pursue a college education to improve their skill sets, boost their earning potential and transform their life circumstances. Yet almost 1 in 5 students leaves empty-handed after investing precious time and valuable resources. And many who amass student loan debt are crippled by the burden of…