The Carl Perkins Act provides federal support for rigorous career and technical education (CTE) programs that provide students with knowledge and skills to keep the United States competitive. States are provided with funds which are in turn distributed to eligible recipients such as local educational agencies (LEAs) and postsecondary institutions.…

This biennial report contains information about the efforts and initiatives of education-based agencies, departments, and individuals in Minnesota who served students who were deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years. The report also summarizes the results for students who took the Minnesota Comprehensive…

In the five years since the first National Education Policy Center (NEPC) "Annual Report on Virtual Education" was released in 2013, virtual education has continued to be a focal point for policymakers. Proponents argue that virtual education can expand student choices and improve the efficiency of public education. In particular,…

Although student retention, persistence, and graduation is a high priority for institutions and policymakers, graduation rates are not improving. Nowadays, more students from first-generation and low-income backgrounds have access to traditional higher education. In this essay, the author argues that an educational system that fails to prepare…

This case study addresses the exigence of low retention and graduation rates of college students. The authors sought to incorporate the perspectives of all three stakeholders implicated in retention efforts--administrators, faculty, and students--by implementing a personalized system of instruction (PSI) in eight of their college courses. This…

In 2009, President Barack Obama set forth a goal that America would have the highest percentage of college graduates (associate's and bachelor's degree recipients) in the world by 2020. The U.S. Department of Education estimated that to reach this goal, the number of college graduates would need to increase by 50 percent nationwide by 2020,…

The past five years have seen unprecedented changes in freshman admissions at the University of California, reflecting steep cuts in state funding that UC sustained during that period as well as changes in UC's definition of who is eligible to enter the university. The number of California applicants who were "not" admitted to the UC…

The success of the financial aid initiative is founded on the premise that the truest impact occurs when the greater community owns and develops solutions to issues that impede student progress. Co-authored by two community leaders, Noé Ortiz and Eyra Pérez, the San Antonio experience demonstrates how a community can partner across different…

Student loan default, defined as federal loan borrowers' failure to make any payments for at least 270 days, is an issue of increasing importance to community colleges and their students. This report takes a unique look at student loan default at nine community colleges across the nation, and how those colleges are working to help students avoid…

Throughout much of the nation, parents have a clear-cut choice of where to educate their children--in a public school, at taxpayer expense, or in a private school, at the family's expense. In Milwaukee and some other cities, however, that line is not so clear; students can attend public schools operated by private organizations and private schools…

Over the next few years, educators and policymakers have committed to implementing an array of challenging, but potentially transformative, reforms--reforms that could go beyond rearranging furniture to fundamentally restructuring and improving teaching and learning. Facing this much simultaneous change would be difficult even without the…

This brief summarizes Internet-based research into other industries that may offer useful analogies for thinking about student attrition in higher education, in particular for setting realistic benchmarks for reductions in attrition. Reducing attrition to zero or close to zero is not a realistic possibility in higher education. Students are…

This snapshot report presents information on student mobility for 2012. It offers data on the following: (1) Percentage of Students Completing Degrees at Four-Year Institutions Who Previously Enrolled at Two-Year Institutions; (2) Number of Years Between Degree Completion at Four-Year Institutions and Most Recent Enrollment at Two-Year…

The purpose of this dissertation is to present a number of academic perspectives for analysis and understanding in the attempt to progress educational situations. Specifically, the study takes a look at student and learning community transition into the high school environment and, ultimately, by doing so help meet graduation goals. Its intent is…

In Rhode Island, unless costs for education are controlled, taxpayers could face increased property taxes, increased sales tax on goods and services, and tax increases to existing fees to raise revenue (NEEP, 2010). Reducing the number of school districts was cited as the number two solution by the New England Economic Partnership in 2010 to…