As with many higher education institutions, Fresno State struggles with graduation rates. The overall six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time freshmen hovers around 50 percent. The graduation gap between the two largest ethnic groups, White (55.6) and Hispanic (43.5), was 12.1 percentage points in 2012. This article reports on the…

The Student Transitions Project (STP) conducted a study of 12,508 students who entered bachelor's degree programs in B.C.'s public post-secondary institutions in Fall 2005. The education activities and outcomes of these students were followed over a period of 19 terms, or just over six years, ending in Fall 2011. This longitudinal research study…

For millions of Americans, community colleges provide an essential pathway to well-paying jobs and continuing higher education. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence honors those institutions that strive for and achieve exceptional levels of success for all students, while they are in college and after they graduate. Community colleges…

Surveys play a prominent role in assessment and institutional research, and the NSSE College Student Report is one of the most popular surveys of enrolled undergraduates. Recent studies have raised questions about the validity of the NSSE survey. Although these studies have themselves been criticized, documenting the validity of an instrument…

A profile-oriented retention strategy embraces the admission process as a powerful lever in improving retention and completion rates and recognizes that the student profile can be shaped by changes in admission policies or priorities--even within the current market position of the institution. In addition, the student body can be oriented toward…

Increasingly, student success in college is gauged by retention and graduation rates. Understanding the factors that influence student success can assist practitioners in terms of programming and institutional investments. This study evaluated factors such as residential living, attendance programs, demographic attributes, average class size, and…

Student veterans face many challenges when transitioning to college. This two-phase study first examined their retention and persistence through the use of archival data at one Midwestern public university. Results indicated a 50% graduation rate, comparable to the national average and above that for nonveterans at the same university. The second,…

Projections by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2012) point to a need for approximately one million more Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals than the U.S. will be able to produce considering the current rate of STEM postsecondary degree completions (Executive Office of the President of…

The Roadmap of Need is a whole child needs assessment for North Carolina youth, produced annually by the Public School Forum of North Carolina's Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP). The Roadmap includes 20 indicators of wellness across four domains: health, youth behavior and safety, education, and economic development. These four domains…

It is argued that free-tuition higher education increases opportunity for underrepresented students with positive equity implications. Moreover, access to higher education for free expands existing visions of equal opportunity, as it changes aspirations and behavior. In 2015, Tennessee became the first state in the nation to implement a universal…

To help inform education stakeholders in Utah, this study examined the differences in characteristics between rural and non-rural districts in the state from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2017 using administrative data from the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah Education Association. All the findings are descriptive and do not…

The Migrant Education Program (MEP) is authorized under Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. In an effort to comply with Title I, the HISD MEP works to assist migrant students to overcome the challenges of mobility, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, and other difficulties associated with a migratory lifestyle.…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the legislature and the governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1) student goal…

This article focuses on the quantitative phase of a multiphase mixed methods study investigating adults' and families' access to government food assistance. The research evaluates participants' comprehension of, and ability to, adequately complete authentic complex texts--national food assistance application documents. Summative usability testing…

Academic performance is a primary predictor of college graduation, yet few studies have examined one of the earliest indicators of academic performance--first-semester grade point average (GPA). Given the considerable public and private investment in ensuring access for underrepresented students, a focus on the role of first-semester GPA for these…