High school graduation is an important milestone for students and their families, and plans for family gatherings and celebrations are often made early in the senior year. Despite the anticipation, some seniors will not graduate because of insufficient credits, disciplinary action, or failure to pass a state exam. Breaking the news to students and…

Several recent reports have highlighted the earnings gap between high school graduates and dropouts; however, earnings tell only part of the story. Families rely on income from salary for regular expenses, but real economic security requires accumulated wealth. Education can be the key to higher earnings, but it is even more importantly linked to…

Minnesota's Intervention for College Attendance Program (ICAP) is a program of competitive grants awarded to postsecondary institutions, professional organizations and community-based organizations. Funded programs focus on increasing the access and success of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education by strengthening their…

This paper discusses demographic and study-related factors that contribute to completion of degrees in one university in New Zealand. Although much can be learned from nationwide and cross-institutional studies, it is important that each institution comes to an understanding of its own particular student population and the factors that impact on…

It's 2008, but the prospect of a new administration--and a new U.S. Department of Education--has the author thinking about 2001. What haunts the author most about No Child Left Behind's (NCLB's) sound and fury is that this legislation--far from signifying nothing--has helped lock in place the very structures of schooling that most need change. For…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to spend several hundred million dollars over the next five years to double the number of low-income young people who complete a college degree or certificate program by age 26. Foundation officials described the ambitious plan to an exclusive group of education leaders, citing 2025 as a target goal. If…

This article explores institutional attributes that matter for two-year college students and how they vary by different subpopulations of students, with an eye toward understanding what institutional attributes better support the success of underprepared students. In particular, the authors address the following questions: (1) Which institutional…

Strong partnerships and external funding allowed San Jacinto College North to engage a declining community to transform into one valuing education. A community center, training classes, and student support programs contributed to this effort. The results included doubling Hispanic college enrollment, skyrocketing high school graduation rates, and…

As a result of globalization and the growth and complexity of both domestic and international bodies requiring accountants, the need for highly sophisticated training and specific certification is mandatory. Students seeking career positions in the field of accounting are amazingly left without the easy access to certification that one might think…

This study was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between school size and high school dropout rate in South Carolina. This study utilized data obtained from the Common Core of Data and the South Carolina State Department of Education for 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years. The student achievement as measured in terms of students'…

This study represents a review of the literature along with an analysis of secondary data. The study analyzes and highlights the disparities in the quality of education provided to African American males. High school graduation rates among African American males as compared to other races suggest that there are factors that have created such…

While the benefits of obtaining an Associate's degree are evident, students often drop out before obtaining degrees. Because individuals with more education are more likely to be employed than those with less education, student success is a concern for community college administrators, policy makers, community leaders, and other stakeholders.…

Throughout the United States, administrators and teachers in American high schools face mounting pressure to increase the academic rigor of their curriculum in an effort to prepare students for postsecondary education and workforce success. Career and technical education (CTE) courses have often been overlooked in the public debate about making…

NCHEMS (National Center for Higher Education Management Systems) has worked with the National Association of Systems heads (NASH)--with support from the Lumina Foundation for Education--to develop (1) empirically-based access regions for postsecondary institutions based on student enrollment patterns and (2) access, transition, and completion…

Jobs for the Future commissioned this report to provide an international perspective on the productivity agenda of "Making Opportunity Affordable," a multi-year initiative focused on increasing productivity within U.S. higher education, particularly at two-year and four-year public colleges and universities. The report also has implications for…