In 2013, the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) proposed as the state goal that 70 percent of the state's 25- to 44-year-olds (i.e., early and mid-career residents) should have a credential beyond high school. WSAC's Strategic Action Plan (SAP) provides a framework to organize the policy and practice innovation needed to achieve this…

A recent collaboration between the professional organization of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), with support from research partner Hobsons, resulted in a November 2016 report which seeks to examine college perceptions of dual enrollment as an enrollment management initiative. According to AACRAO,…

The authors examined factors that affected the size of the freshman class at small liberal arts colleges after a decline of ten percent or more. Although top ranked national schools needed to do little, lesser ranked ones enjoyed a greater degree of recovery by offering larger amounts of financial aid and regional schools by awarding aid to more…

International students are critical to the competitiveness of American higher education in terms of financial, intercultural, and educational contributions. However, recent data indicates that the U.S institutions enrolled 31,520 fewer international students in Fall 2017 as compared to Fall 2016. At average tuition and fees of US$ 25,000, higher…

Enrollment managers, like most managers, have goals that must be focused on with precision, excitement, and vigor. Enrollment managers must excel at enrollment planning. Typically, enrollment planning unites undergraduate and graduate recruitment plans, out-of-state recruitment plans, marketing plans, retention plans, international enrollment…

The National Center for Educational Statistics (US Department of Education, 2016) reports enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has increased 36 percent since 1990, with the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPED) reporting 355,058 students enrolled in HBCUs compared to 260,381 in 1990. The growth of…

Developmental systems theory and life span development describe the role of individual--context interactions in individual development but have not directly addressed how individuals pursue achievement goals in institutional contexts. We developed a theory informed by these perspectives that explains how institutional contexts affect emerging…

Although computing occupations have some of the greatest projected growth rates, there remains a deficit of graduates in these fields. The struggle to engage enough students to meet demands is particularly pronounced for groups already underrepresented in computing, specifically, individuals that self-identify as a woman, or as Black,…

Many governments attempt to improve national higher education through the competitive support of universities. These policy approaches raise questions about the impact on the entire system--both in research and educational--of targeted support for a small number of universities. Addressing challenges in the measurement of university excellence…

Scholarship on college choice largely focuses on how students search for colleges but less is known about how colleges recruit students. This article analyzes off-campus recruiting visits for 15 public research universities. We Web-scrape university admissions websites and issue public records requests to collect data on recruiting visits.…

In 2016, one university began discussions of how to use the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to their advantage to address an adversarial position parents were taking with university personnel. These parents were termed "helicopter parents"--parents who take an "overprotective or excessive interest in the life of…

Background/Context: Although dual enrollment (DE) programs have indicated positive impact on various high school and postsecondary outcomes, access to DE programs remains unequal; historically marginalized students are less likely than other students to attempt college credits in high school. Despite DE being a widely adopted program at the state…

Scholars have shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) students are less likely to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and to attend prestigious universities. However, they have overlooked the intersection between subject choice (STEM or non-STEM) and institutional prestige. Analyzing data from the Longitudinal…

Providing opportunities for students to engage in undergraduate research is well supported as a high-impact educational practice. Shifting research experience earlier in the undergraduate career provides opportunities for more students to yield gains (both personal and professional) earlier in their career. At the Ocean Research College Academy…

The efficiency of educational institutions is critical in the justification of resource allocation and use. However, some developing countries like Kenya face efficiency challenges regarding resource utilisation and the flow of students through the school system at various levels of education and programs. Past research in Kenya has focused more…