With approximately 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Of those incarcerated, 95% will be released. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that over two thirds of prisoners released from state and federal prisons will be arrested again within three years. Prison-based educational…

This paper presents Stan Jones' testimony before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. In his testimony, he talks about a new American majority of students that is emerging on campuses, especially at community colleges. These students must delicately balance long hours at jobs they must…

Even as the number of students attending college has more than doubled in the past forty years, it is still the case that nearly half of all college students in the United States will not complete their degree within six years. It is clear that much remains to be done toward improving student success. For more than twenty years, Vincent Tinto's…

The purpose of this report on Arkansas STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program activity is to inform education and policy makers about the need to prepare and graduate more students with degrees in STEM related fields as defined by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Arkansas is witnessing a significant…

This research deals with factors that explain fundraising success and what types of institutional arrangements or practices exist at four year US public universities which make them successful or unsuccessful. Investment in higher education from state government continues to decline; alumni giving participation rates are falling, and many…

The Hamilton Project's mission is advancing opportunity, prosperity, and growth. On both the individual and society-wide levels, a strong public education system enables Americans to achieve those objectives. Indeed, education has historically been the great equalizer and offered students of all backgrounds not the promise of equal outcomes but…

"Making the Grade: How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality"--popularly referred to as "The Little Yellow Book" by boards, faculty, provosts, and assessment specialists--provides clear guidance for the board's role in the most important "business" of academe: educating students. As public calls for greater accountability skyrocket, this new edition…

The rise in student loan debt has directed critical attention to the growing pace of college costs as well as the reliance on loans to finance those costs. For graduates entering the workforce in recent years, many are finding that they are unable to find the type of job they thought they were securing when they received their degree, if they are…

High school dropouts fare substantially worse than their peers on a wide variety of long-term economic outcomes. On average, a dropout earns less money, is more likely to be in jail, is less healthy, is less likely to be married, and is unhappier than a high school graduate. But despite this growing education gap, dropout rates have remained…

Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Federal Update: U.S. Department of Education Receives Requests for NCLB Waivers from Seven More States; Receives…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) House Committee Passes Education Reform Legislation: On Party-Line Votes, Committee Passes Accountability and Teacher…

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) administers programs that assist in educating children and youth with disabilities, provides funding for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for youth and adults with disabilities and supports research to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. OSERS established…

This "Second Annual Report Card" looks at improvements in the cradle-to-career educational pipeline, the areas where Boston has made modest progress but still has a great deal of work to do, and the places where observers have failed to see the gains that are needed to ensure that Boston is a city of opportunity for all. This report card…

This report provides information on the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of first-time, full-time students at Maryland community colleges from 1999-2009. The report examines retention and graduation data for students two, three, and four years after matriculation into a community college. Retention, graduation, and transfer rates are…