In 2011, working groups from across the eight campuses of Miami Dade College (MDC) conducted a wide-ranging examination of why many students were not completing their programs. These groups identified a number of reasons for student attrition. Students were unclear about how to progress through programs--they had too many course and program…

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is committed to providing a clearer and more comprehensive picture of college completion in order to inform and advance Indiana's collective efforts to boost education attainment. In partnership with Indiana public colleges and the National Student Clearinghouse, the Commission has collected completion…

This Accountability Report shows the status and progression of the Florida International University (FIU) from one year to the next. The Executive Summary is divided into the following sections: (1) Dashboard; (2) Performance Funding Metrics; (3) Key Achievements; and (4) Narrative. Data tables on FIU's financial resources, personnel, enrollment,…

Low completion rates for apprentices and trainees have received considerable attention recently and it has been argued that NCVER seriously understates completion rates. In this paper Tom Karmel uses NCVER data on recommencements to estimate individual-based completion rates. It is estimated that around one-quarter of trade apprentices swap…

The Innovative University illustrates how higher education can respond to the forces of disruptive innovation , and offers a nuanced and hopeful analysis of where the traditional university and its traditions have come from and how it needs to change for the future. Through an examination of Harvard and BYU-Idaho as well as other stories of…

An examination of the history of media coverage reveals a pattern of unfair news accounts and shows that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have experienced intense scrutiny from the beginning. The mainstream media's often-negative portrayals of HBCUs mislead the public and can even exacerbate problems some HBCUs already face.…

Blaming teachers for all that is wrong with the American school system is very "en vogue." Teachers are blamed when test scores are down, when the latest silver-bullet solution fails, and when graduation rates fall to an all-time low. All of this blame, says the author, creates an environment where the work of teachers is not respected, making it…

School districts are similar to nonprofit organizations in that they both deal in social outcomes and can be perceived as being ineffectively managed because social outcomes are exceptionally difficult to measure. Therefore, final organizational outcomes for nonprofits and school districts are difficult to report upon because current statistical…

People have a habit of taking international comparisons of various aspects of higher education that are produced in--to put it gently--dubious ways, and delighting in their terrible and/or falling position. It's time to cease and desist this self-flaggelatory habit. Even rhetorically, as a goad to improve, the statements have been uttered so often…

The American K-12 grade education system is experiencing a truancy crisis. Nationally, 15%, or 7.5 million students, miss an entire month of school annually [1], with that rate frequently doubling or even tripling among students from underserved communities [2]. Research has identified attendance as one of three primary indicators of high school…

The purpose of this study is to explore how campus climate, ethnic group cohesion and cross cultural interaction influence Filipino American college students' sense of belonging in college. Specifically, we examine the impact of three environmental and behavioral factors on students' sense of belonging: 1) campus racial climate, 2) ethnic group…

In his first inaugural speech, President Obama declared that "our schools fail too many" and an essential component of laying "a new foundation for growth" will be "to transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age." Concerns about our nation's position in the global education race have led to a focus on…

This paper examines the relationship between excellence scholarships and research productivity, scientific impact, and degree completion. Drawing on the entire population of doctoral students in the province of Quebec, this pa- per analyzes three distinct sources of data: students, excellence scholarships, and scientific publications. It shows…

Have efforts to improve schools neglected high achievers? A growing chorus of critics is voicing concern for the achievement gap, but not the gap between well-to-do and poor students, or white and non-white students. The gap that most worries them is the one between U.S. students and students in other industrialized nations. Among the 34 nations…

This policy brief presents results from a random assignment evaluation of the City University of New York's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP). An ambitious and promising endeavor, ASAP provides a comprehensive array of services and supports to help community college students graduate and to help them graduate sooner. The evaluation…