Data from Berea College, which has a full-tuition subsidy and large room/board subsidies, were used to examine low college graduation rate of low-income students. The high attrition rate despite subsidies suggests that the cause is unrelated to costs and may be due to poor precollege educational opportunities or noncost-related difficulties in…

Purpose - This paper aims to compare the performance of building trades apprenticeship programs in the USA, sponsored jointly by employers and unions, with those sponsored unilaterally by employers. It reviews enrolment and graduation rates, including participation of women and minorities. The article also looks behind the numbers to examine the…

Student progression and retention is an area of increasing social importance and concern around student non-completion rates is expressed in many arenas. Research suggests many reasons for student non-completion, including the balancing of social and academic integration into university life. The increasing diversity of the student body…

Students who are at risk of dropping out of school can be identified retrospectively as early as third grade on the basis of attendance patterns, academic performance, and behavior. Check & Connect is a model designed to promote student engagement, support regular attendance, and improve the likelihood of school completion. The program has been…

Since the mid 1970s the national rate at which incoming 9th graders have completed high school has fallen slowly but steadily; this is also true in 41 states. In 2002, about three in every four students who might have completed high school actually did so; in some states this figure is substantially lower. In this paper I review state-level…

The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between the desired outcomes of the National Plan for Higher Education and the funding formula. It further wants to explore the current situation regarding specific challenges in higher education, namely increased participation, broadened social base of students and equity, as well as a…

The importance that is placed on graduation rates as a measure of the success of institutions of higher education warrant the ongoing research into understanding the determinants of these educational outcomes. This study examines the role of institutional factors in determining graduation rates at doctoral universities. While controlling for…

Three decades of mounting academic and testing requirements are snagging growing numbers of students in the 9th grade. "The bulge" is the name education researchers give to the percentage increase in students in the 9th grade over the same period. This article reports on factors that might explain the growing 9th grade bottleneck and…

This report provides evidence that the first semester in community college is a pivotal point in students' academic careers. Students whose first academic experience in college is positive and successful are more likely to remain in school, and to sustain their aspiration to transfer to a four-year college. Those whose first experiences are less…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) FY 2007 Funding Bill Signed Into Law: U.S. Department of Education to Receive Increase; (2) "The High Cost of…

This report chronicles the experiences of high-achieving lower-income students during elementary school, high school, college, and graduate school. Millions of high-achieving lower-income students are found in urban, suburban, and rural communities all across America, reflecting the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of the nation's schools,…

In order to meet the educational and economic demands of the United States in the future, institutions of higher education must increase the number of students who persist to the completion of a certificate or degree program, especially low-income students and students of color (Carnivale and Desrochers, 2004). To increase the persistence and…

This study explores working students' college experiences using the grounded theory approach. Focus groups were conducted to allow working students to elaborate on their college experiences, clarifying issues not easily addressed through surveys. Two theoretical propositions are offered to describe how working students are constantly searching for…

This article uses four data sets to assess changes in the relative weights of test- and performance-based merit criteria on college enrollment during the 1980s and 1990s and considers their significance for affirmative action. Our results support the "shifting meritocracy" hypothesis, revealed by selective postsecondary institutions'…

For 21 years the Annual Condition of Education Report has helped the Iowa Department of Education meet its goal, providing valuable information on everything from enrollment to student performance, from the teachers to finances to the demographics. The data for this annual report are presented according to: (1) Background Demographics; (2)…