College degree attainment benefits both private citizens and society. Historically, degree attainment rates have differed based on students' race, income, and parental education. Along with differences in degree attainment rates, time to degree has been increasing for all students nationally. Increased time to degree has adverse effects for…

I study how postsecondary admission policies affect the composition and subsequent academic outcomes of new cohorts. I leverage the staggered replacement of lotteries and waitlists at California's community college nursing programs with admissions that rely on grades, work experience, and other measures. The change in admissions increased the…

The community college is an institution where constant change is needed to keep up with technology, student needs, and industry standards. The evolution of developmental subjects, especially developmental math, is a needed change within the community college system. This research examined the impact of the new Reinforced Instruction for Student…

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study is to identify factors that help and hinder first-generation Navajo college students' retention and completion in a community college in rural New Mexico. The theoretical framework will be Tribal Critical Race Theory with data collection being done with a narrative interview approach. An overview of…

This mixed methods study at Delaware Technical Community College documented a turbulent time in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student pass rates in the spring 2019 and spring 2020 semesters were analyzed using a paired t-test. The null hypothesis, P1 = P2, was rejected, at [alpha] = 0.05 level of significance. Pass rates were…

This study investigated the effect of personal identity and social comparison on college graduation. First-year college students completed an online survey measuring exploration and commitment to personal identity and perceptions of the prototypical student. Those who perceived the typical student as favorable but dissimilar to themselves had the…

African American college enrollment rates continue to increase, while graduation rates do not. This state of affairs lends itself to a wealth disparity between African Americans and other racial groups. As such, this research investigated if university demographics and classification of institutional type can predict African American student…

The issue of college completion has become a hot-button topic for higher education and the public in recent years. While completion is not a new issue, several national and state-level efforts, including President Obama's 2020 college-completion goal to increase the number of college graduates to 50 percent of the population, have brought…

The Rhode Island Education Policy Primer provides an overview of how public education operates in Rhode Island. The Introduction offers context on the inequitable origins of Rhode Island's public school system, as well as the role that activism has played in expanding educational opportunities. The At a Glance section provides a quick look at…

Through Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1599 (E2SHB 1599) the Legislature tasked the State Board of Education (SBE) with providing an analysis of the equity and adequacy of the new graduation pathway options through stakeholder outreach and engagement. SBE has solicited and received feedback on the graduation pathway options. In the…

Background: Pipeline and pathways models influence persistence metrics used to study how students navigate engineering education. Purpose: This study presents pipeline, pathways, and ecosystem models and their associated metrics, compares and contrasts these models using an intersectional approach to explore persistence, and advocates for use of…

Building on previous research showing how well ninth-grade student behaviors predict on-time high school graduation, this experimental study investigates the impact of a ninth-grade intervention on student attendance and course passing. The study, conducted in 41 geographically and demographically diverse high schools within a single state,…

Student attrition is a significant problem and a huge challenge from an institutional point of view. Although completion rates in Poland are lower than in most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the problem has not been studied thoroughly. In order to shed light on that problem the aim of this paper is to present the…

Currently, the state of California has dedicated much focus to reducing absenteeism in schools through the In School + On Track initiative, which revitalizes efforts made to keep accurate and informative attendance data. Additionally, absenteeism has been integrated into California's Local Control and Accountability Plan to monitor district…

Online students are often short-changed when they reach their most important milestone--graduation. For many institutions, virtual graduation has proven to be a holy grail of sorts--critically important to student experience, but illusive in form and difficult to achieve. This article explores several existing models of virtual graduations, and…