The "Brown v. Board of Education" decision ruled racial school segregation unconstitutional over 60 years ago. Although widespread desegregation followed initially, the past several decades have seen increasing resegregation, as evidenced by a decreasing proportion of black students in the average white students' schools and an…

What is the relationship between school spending and student achievement in Michigan? That is the question this paper attempts to answer. The bulk of the research on this question has typically shown that there is little correlation between spending and achievement, but it is possible that Michigan's public schools are an exception to this…

This dissertation comprises a sequential explanatory mixed methods study seeking to understand persistence in engineering based on a student's initial mathematics course and the experience of a student who began in the lowest level mathematics course and completed an engineering degree despite struggling in mathematics courses. The first phase of…

Recognizing that post-secondary student attainment and achievement is of increasing import for economic success, this study compares the post-secondary performance of students who attended public and private high schools. The results generally indicate that students who attended Catholic high schools had higher college grade-point averages (GPAs),…

Based on the input-process-output-development (IPOD) framework, a survey of current doctoral students and doctoral graduates from six agricultural universities in China found that doctoral students in agriculture have higher graduation delay rates, relatively consistent academic backgrounds, a longer learning input time, and fewer foreign research…

Research shows that the more courses students take and complete, especially early in their postsecondary programs, the more likely they are to graduate. In particular, students who take 15 credits per semester or 30 credits a year have a higher likelihood to complete associate and baccalaureate degrees than students enrolling in fewer hours, even…

Jobs for the Future (JFF) set out a little over a year ago to create such models for bridging the secondary-postsecondary divide, developing strategies for high schools and colleges to build paths from the 12th grade through critical milestones of success in the first year of college. These partnerships of school districts and community colleges…

This report is third in a series of informational briefings developed as part of "The Guardians Initiative: Reclaiming the Public Trust," an effort to educate and engage trustees as advocates on key issues in higher education. The compact between American higher education and the broader society has always been multifaceted. Colleges and…

Community colleges are a valuable and important commodity in the education system in the United States. As of 2015, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) reports that there are 1,123 active community colleges, with 28 community colleges in the state of Michigan. The AACC further reports a headcount of 12.4 million students based on…

This report presents an annual update on retention, graduation, and transfer activity for students entering Maryland community college as first-time, full-time students, including trend data beginning in 1995. Data presented include student outcomes two, three, and four years after initial enrollment. The first section of this report includes an…

The unprecedented increase in the foreign-born population in the United States since the 1970s, low post secondary graduation rates, combined with the requirement of a higher education degree in the U.S. labor market precipitated this study. Since foreign-born students are an integral part of the U.S. population, understanding the challenges faced…

Congress funds District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) through an annual appropriation, which was $40 million in fiscal year 2018. DCTAG provides D.C. residents up to $10,000 per year to attend college. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, included a provision for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review DCTAG.…

On July 31, 2018, President Trump signed into law a bipartisan bill that supports the work of states to prepare students of all ages for career success through career and technical education (CTE) programs. The new law, known as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, is the long-awaited update of the Carl D.…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires the state to calculate a four-year cohort rate. Utah implemented a federally defined cohort graduation rate in 2008. The graduation rate for the 2018 cohort includes all students who started ninth grade in the 2014-15 school year, plus students who transferred into the Utah public education system…

How many international students are reported for academic integrity violations (AIV), what are their demographics, and how do AIV sanctions affect their retention and/or graduation? Descriptive statistical analyses showed that the number of internationals reported for AIVs at an American West Coast public university increased almost six-fold…