The general perception of a traditional college career goes as follows: upon high school graduation, a student immediately enrolls the following year in a college or university, attends full-time, and soon thereafter graduates from the same college or university two to four years later. However, recent analysis by the Office of the Commissioner of…

According to Statistics Canada, during this decade (2019-2028) about 75% of new jobs will require a post-secondary education (Government of Canada, 2017). This study explores a unique dataset that follows students (n = 11,417) from a large urban school district to a local university in Southern Ontario. Using both descriptive statistics and a…

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are increasingly completing university at rates higher than their male counterparts. However, the reasons for this trend, including factors that support Indigenous women's determination to persist with university study, remain undocumented in the literature. We applied a strengths-based approach to…

An analysis of institutional data to understand the outcome of obstacles faced by students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds is important in order to work toward promoting equity and inclusion. We use 10 years of institutional data at a large public research university to investigate the grades earned by students categorized on four…

Exclusionary discipline has been a topic of focus for Texas lawmakers in recent legislative sessions. While studies show the negative impact of exclusionary discipline on students, few explore how children who enter Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs fare later in their educational careers. The following paper outlines data collected from…

College completion rates are low--nearly 40 percent of students do not earn a degree within six years of enrolling in college. Community college students face the highest hurdles--about 60 percent are without a degree six years after matriculating. Research has identified strategies that institutions can use to improve student success and degree…

A public education system's effectiveness should be based primarily on whether graduates have been equipped to be productive workers following program completion. Otherwise, neither the system nor the completion certificate (diploma) is worth the tax dollars spent. As Kentucky's education commissioner, the author found it woefully apparent that…

Objective: We estimated the correlations between the "pathways" chosen by community college students--in terms of desired credentials and fields of study, as well as other choices and outcomes along the paths--and the attainment of credentials with labor market value. We focused on the extent to which there were recorded changes in…

The purpose of this study is to identify determinants of student persistence and degree completion in Louisiana. Currently, the state ranks second to lowest in the nation with individuals who experience higher education and obtain a college degree. Recognition of influential factors on student persistence and degree completion allows legislators…

Structured mentoring programs provide established goals and objectives and clarify expectations and access for the mentee. Institutions often tailor these programs to meet their cultural and leadership needs, guiding the mentee in their current position and future growth opportunities. Such internal programs assist with succession planning and…

This chapter uses Rio Salado College and the Online Education Initiative in the California Community Colleges to illustrate how community colleges can enhance system efficiency and student success in online learning and program completion.

Not completing the equivalent of a high school education has significant economic and social implications in the U.S. and globally. When opportunity and information gaps between students are allowed to continue, the impact on dropout rates is considerable. School building leaders and school counselors can collaborate to encourage students'…

The growing popularity of Master of Accounting programs can be attributed to multiple factors, but the states' adoption of the 150-credit hour educational prerequisite for Certified Public Accountant licensure was clearly influential in stimulating enrollment growth. Despite the growth and importance of Master of Accounting programs, comparative…

The authors describe an undergraduate research program at the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) organized around high-altitude ballooning and carried out primarily in an open, maker-space environment. Two cohorts of students were recruited. They undertook projects in biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental science, and physics. Via the…

Sunnyside High School in Washington State, a school of more than 1,600 students, had a graduation rate below 50 percent in 2010. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) had repeatedly identified Sunnyside as a low-performing school--that is, in the bottom 5 percent of the state's high schools and therefore qualifying for…