Oakland University (OU) in Rochester, Michigan, was experiencing growing pains. The good news was that OU had experienced 23 years of continuous enrollment growth, with student enrollment exceeding 20,000 in 2015 for the first time ever. The downside was that various administrative processes throughout the university were straining to keep up. One…

American universities use a procedure based on a rolling six-year graduation rate to calculate statistics regarding their students' final educational outcomes (graduating or not graduating). As an alternative to the six-year graduation rate method, many studies have applied absorbing Markov chains for estimating graduation rates. In both cases, a…

Many people view commencement from the outside: a wonderful celebration of academic achievement and a time to celebrate graduates' accomplishments. By contrast, the commencement coordinator analyzes and implements each of the smaller parts that culminate in graduates crossing the stage and throwing their caps. The perfect commencement is…

The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) plays a critical role supporting the NCAA's Collegiate Model of amateur college athletics. The NCAA created the GSR to correct a statistical bias in the legally mandated Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) that causes it to underestimate rates. But the GSR's attempted correction causes it to overestimate rates. This…

The Doctorate is a terminal degree, in that, a student has accomplished the ultimate academic achievement within an educational field of domain. Although industries worldwide continually demand ever-advancing scholarly workforces and the innovation developments of higher thinkers, this degree has been impeded by a staggering 50% attrition rate…

This report presents enrollment data for West Virginia Higher Education. The following topics of data are presented: (1) National Enrollment Trends, Undergraduate Enrollment; (2) West Virginia High School Graduate Projections; (3) College-Going Rate; (4) Student Persistence and Completion; (5) Credit Headcount Enrollment; (6) Fall 2023 Headcount…

This study offers critical insights into the experiences of First-Generation College Students (FGCS) in Ghana. This phenomenological study included 18 undergraduate FGCS at a large public university in Ghana. By examining the challenges and coping mechanisms of FGCS, the research provides a holistic view of FGCS experiences in West Africa using…

Roughly every five years, the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) publishes a report on the demographic characteristics of transfer students and their post-transfer academic performance. Using data collected at the BC public universities, this report examines pathways and performance of transfer students from the BC…

Research examining the impact of gender on educational outcomes in autistic students has been sparse. To address this gap, this study investigated the educational journeys of students with autism spectrum disorder in British Columbia, Canada. We examined (1) the time it takes for students to receive an initial autism spectrum disorder designation;…

The following case studies explore how emerging and established Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems have used the Education-to-Workforce Indicator Framework (E-W Framework) to support their data system efforts. Developed by Mathematica in partnership with the Gates Foundation, the framework offers guidance on how states can use data to…

Bachelor's degrees are increasingly needed to get a job that pays a livable wage. Washington's transfer degrees and policies can help students earn a bachelor's degree. Transfer degrees support the state's goal to have 70% of 25- to 44-year-olds with a credential beyond high school. Every two years, the Washington State Legislature asks the…

State higher education governing agencies in the United States are uniquely positioned between the state government and public postsecondary sector. However, few studies have considered how this organizational characteristic influences these agencies' role in the policy process. The current study seeks to contribute to this gap in the literature…

As institutions look to improve student retention through first-year experience (FYE) courses, some have implemented courses targeted specifically to the international population. A quantitative comparison of international students who took an FYE course with international students who did not take an FYE course was completed to analyze the…

A Monte Carlo algorithm is designed to predict the average time to graduate by enrolling virtual students in a degree plan. The algorithm can be used to improve graduation rates by identifying bottlenecks in a degree plan (e.g., low pass rate courses and prerequisites). Random numbers are used to determine whether students pass or fail classes by…

Public universities are intent on increasing degree completion for many reasons. A stronger policy focus on completion and interest in removing students' financial hurdles has led to a rapid proliferation of completion grant programs. This paper reports on a mixed-method implementation study of completion grant programs at seven broad- and…