This year's study is the 35th in a series of annual reports on trends in dropout and attrition rates in Texas public schools. The 2019-20 study builds on a series of studies by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) that track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public school enrollment prior to…

Postsecondary education is widely seen as a necessity in the modern economy. Yet students at community colleges often face steep odds when it comes to completing a degree. Community colleges serve many low-income and first-generation students as well as students of color, all of whom must contend with many obstacles to success. At the same time,…

Previous studies have shown that state performance funding policies do not increase baccalaureate degree production, but higher education scholarship lacks a rigorous, quantitative analysis of the unintended consequences of performance funding. In this article, we use difference-in-differences estimation with fixed effects to evaluate performance…

Dropout is a serious problem within education. This article reports on an intervention project, titled "New Roles for the Teacher--Increased Completion Rates Through Social Responsibility," which sought to reduce nonattendance and drop-out rates in the Danish adult educational system by improving teachers' competences. This goal was…

The number of students taking college courses while they are in high school has grown dramatically over the past two decades--particularly at community colleges--but many colleges and states do not track participants' outcomes. Using student enrollment and degree records from the National Student Clearinghouse, this report is the first to look…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS) was created via ACT 1375 during the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. ACT 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative Session…

Nebraska is committed to measuring its progress toward achieving the major statewide goals through national comparisons and institutional peer comparisons. It is the aim of the "Comprehensive Plan" that, when rank order is appropriate, Nebraska will rank among the ten best states in national comparisons, and individual public…

For-profit institutions grew exponentially in population and demand in higher education in the 21st Century, yet have met tough times recently. With expedited, job-specific programs; flexible classes; no extracurricular activities; and the options of students earning certificates, diplomas or even associate's degrees; these schools are attractive…

School grades provide an easily understandable metric to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its associated components to understand how well each school is serving its students. The school grades calculation was revised substantially for the 2014-15 school year to implement statutory…

Over the years, the nation's large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. In 2002, the board of directors of the Council of the Great City Schools (Council) authorized what became known as the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to develop and implement key…

Despite improvements in college access, college completion rates remain low among students from low-income and otherwise vulnerable families. Over the past three decades, college prices rose dramatically, the real income of most families stagnated, and the purchasing power of need-based financial aid declined. To make up for substantial unmet…

As one of the country's biggest and most diverse institutions of higher education, Miami Dade College (MDC) has also grown into a leader among urban community colleges operating in very similar conditions. Here, MDC President Eduardo J. Padrón summarizes the extra measures behind a graduation rate that is among the highest for this sector of the…

The completion agenda is in full force at the nation's community colleges. To maximize the impact colleges can have on improving completion, colleges must organize around using student progress and outcome data to monitor and track their efforts. Unfortunately, colleges are struggling to identify relevant data and to mobilize staff to review…

The past two decades have seen considerable growth in new apprenticeship registrations in Canada. However, this has not been matched by a corresponding increase in completions. Across provinces, trades and time, there is considerable variation in apprenticeship completion rates. In Canada, apprenticeship programmes are provincially regulated and…

This study extends Trow's theory of higher education development to examine changes in national-level tertiary education graduation rates. Applying Trow's framework we arrive at three stages: (1) elite systems with gross tertiary graduation rates less than 15%, (2) massified systems with gross tertiary graduation rates between 15% and 50%, and (3)…