Predicting the necessary skills and competencies required by the students of today, for them to be ready for the future, has always been high on the priority list for students, educators, policy makers and business leaders. We know that change is the only constant, and in order for graduates to be ready for this uncertainty, it is essential for…

Community colleges in the United States, which serve a disproportionate number of students from low-income backgrounds, can provide a valuable pathway toward well-paying careers. However, graduation rates at community colleges are very low--among first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who enter public two-year schools, only 29 percent…

In Chicago, despite an increase in high school graduates and college enrollment, only one in four community college students graduate within three years. COVID-19 exacerbated longstanding barriers to college success faced by students from low-income backgrounds, as well as for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. Without proactive interventions…

Purpose: This study explores the challenges facing FGCSs and seeks to provide strategies, opportunities, and novel and actionable insights for increasing retention and graduation rates among FGCSs in community colleges during and post the COVID-19 pandemic period. The study further identifies whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic magnified these…

Undergraduate first-generation Black male students enrolled in colleges nationwide are not graduating at rates comparable to their peers. Despite others' increased graduation rates, many undergraduate first-generation Black male students struggle to graduate. In the past decade, increasing research has focused on why first-generation Black male…

Educators and policymakers have continued to search for the ideal medium for gauging learning and teacher accountability. After nearly 50 years since the inception of assessments to prove minimum competency, many attempts have been made to reform the process and the assessment tool. With the current focus in education being on career and college…

Camden City School District is committed to identifying and serving students experiencing homelessness to ensure they receive a free, appropriate public education. This report provides new statistics for the 2020-21 school year, which includes the shift to remote learning. We also consider differences in educational indicators (e.g., attendance,…

African American university students experience lower levels of retention on college campuses (Tinto, 2012). Academic support is important during the first year of college to increase the likelihood of future success. Therefore, it is crucial that African American university students, who sometimes find themselves isolated in a predominantly White…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is an international college-preparatory program that offers two levels of participation: IB diploma candidate and IB course candidate. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in college-related outcome achievement between these groups so that students and…

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative correlational study was to investigate whether any significant relationships existed between one-way student commute distance and retention for first-time, community college freshmen. Additional student success metrics such as three-year graduation rates, enrollment status, credit hours attempted…

Friendships are widely considered to be an essential part of life in college and beyond. The existing literature on college friendships, academic achievement, and student attrition is mixed, which may occur as a result of varying ways of defining friendship. This study adds to an understanding of these dynamics by examining both the number of…

Close to two million first-year undergraduates enroll in developmental education each year. According to recent national estimates, less than half of students who start in developmental education go on to complete gateway courses and less than one-third eventually earn a degree. However, more research is needed to better assess potential…

Between 2001 and 2005, higher education in Italy went through a considerable process of reform according to the "Bologna Process." This paper evaluates the effects of this process on the academic performance of students. We estimate the difference in graduation probability between students who switched from pre-reform university courses…

The study investigated the relationship between timely graduation and academic and institutional factors for a cohort of Engineering students at a South African university. The sample was restricted to 1595 incoming students beginning during 2009-2011 who were tracked to 2016, allowing for an eight-year graduation period for the initial cohort.…

There is a national push for college completion. For some students, graduation may be stymied by financial status, in addition to other factors. The current study was conducted through secondary analysis of matching archival datasets from select East Texas institutions on full-time, first-time-in-college students with no previous college…