Nationwide female students are participating significantly less in technology/engineering programs and career pathways although there is a tremendous positive outlook for career opportunities in technology and engineering. There exists a sizable gap between male and female participants in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)…

Dual enrollment is an increasingly popular avenue for high school students to earn college credit. However, low-income students are underrepresented among dual enrollment participants. In this study, we use a difference-in-differences design to evaluate a unique federal pilot program that allowed high school students to access Pell Grants to fund…

Mathematics is a collection of mental practices, attitudes and tools that humans have developed in our quest to understand the world (Singh & Brownwell, 2019). Educators have identified math and reading as the two core subjects that are essential for academic success. Achievement in math is considered to be the one of the most important…

This intrinsic case study investigated the experiences of select low-income and first-generation students who participated in the Upward Bound program throughout high school to understand how participation influenced enrollment at a postsecondary institution. Two theoretical frameworks guided this research study: Astin's (1984) I-E-O model and…

This dissertation consists of three chapters on the industrial organization of higher education. Chapter 1 studies the impacts of mergers and acquisitions on students' outcomes. We explore a series of acquisitions of private higher education institutions in Brazil to conduct an ex-post analysis of the effects of mergers. Using detailed…

The 1960s launched the school movement of choice. Today, school choice is nationally threaded through many states serving a diversity of students. Indiana developed and implemented the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP) policy in 2011 to align with these national initiatives to benefit students. The goal for Indiana was to ease the burden…

Students of color lag in dual-enrollment program (DEP) participation compared to their White peers. I applied critical race theory in this qualitative study to examine the perceptions of lived experiences of college students of color who participated in a DEP in high school and were en-rolled in college. Six students of color who were currently or…

Research shows that Early College high schools have a significant impact on high school and college outcomes for students from low income and racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, but how similar opportunities extend to English learners (ELs) remains unknown. We examine a program that offers Early College opportunities in high schools serving large…

Community colleges report opening Spring term enrollment figures to the Illinois Community College Board using a brief web based survey. Overall, compared to the same term one year ago, statewide Spring 2015 headcount enrollments and full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollments both decreased. The Spring 2015 semester headcount was 330,223 compared to…

Statewide policies can impact enrollment patterns of students. At one Texas University, 11th-grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores were predictive of success in students' first college-level mathematics course, but many students--those most at risk of failure--seem to have avoided taking a mathematics course in their first year at…

Changes in the academy have coincided with social shifts, community growth, student needs, and global conversions. During the 1990s, online learning began to receive national attention, and since 2010, online course enrollment has consistently increased. In 2014, 28 percent of all students attending postsecondary, degree-granting institutions were…

Much of the research on economic stratification at selective colleges relies on data with limitations that tend to restrict how comprehensively or accurately studies can assess the incomes of students enrolled at selective universities, particularly over time. Studies that use quality data tend to find that the share of students at selective…

The Accountability Plan is an annual report that is closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This report enhances the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by fostering greater coordination between institutional administrators, University Boards of Trustees and the Board of Governors regarding…

The Accountability Plan is an annual report that is closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This report enhances the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by fostering greater coordination between institutional administrators, University Boards of Trustees and the Board of Governors regarding…

Research shows that earning college credit while in high school increases students' chances of going to college directly after high school and of earning a college credential. Research also makes clear, however, that access to early postsecondary opportunities is uneven, with lower rates of participation among students of color, those from…