This report presents the findings of a study designed by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education to identify the institutional characteristics, practices, and policies that might account for differences in retention and graduation rates among colleges and universities that serve high concentrations of low-income…

As the majority of the graduation class, transfer students are neither being counted into the college graduation rate nor giving entrant institutions positive effect on retention. The study examines 906 students of 2002 transfer cohort in a public four-year institution. The study found the majority of the transfer students were female and white,…

This biweekly newsletter contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. It is designed expressly for parents and families. This issue highlights an announcement, by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige, of a contract to the National Institute of Statistical Sciences to convene a group of experts to review…

This series tracks the performance of Chicago, Illinois, public high school students from 1993 to 2000 using data from the last 2 years of Phase 1 reform as a baseline for looking at the first 5 years of Phase 2. This report tracks changes in high school enrollment and explores possible causes. Analyses of data from various sources show that the…

This school report follows Vivaldi students in two ways. First, it tracks for five year members of the eighth-grade class of 1997 who enrolled in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high schools or Academic Preparatory Centers (APCs). Second, it follows members of the eighth grade classes of 1997 to 2001 for one year to show their achievement during…

This report provides a broad overview of postsecondary opportunity and achievement in the state of Washington, posing three questions: (1) who is ready for postsecondary education? (2) who begins postsecondary education? and (3) who completes postsecondary education? Data are from the administrative records of Washington's public high schools,…

National studies of students, and studies that compare institutions, have identified many predictors of students' graduation rates, including socioeconomic status and admission selectivity. When there predictive variables are applied to data from an individual school, it may be found that they have less predictive power. This paper presents a…

A recent report shows that the National Collegiate Athletic Association is making progress on improving the academic performance of athletes, but it is doing so at a cost to black players who get athletic scholarships. More athletes graduate; fewer of them are black. (SLD)

Enhancing student persistence and effectively managing financial resources present important challenges to higher education. Surprisingly, existing student persistence and attrition models offer little insight into the potential links between institutional expenditures and student persistence. This study examines the impact of institutional…

This study incorporated institutional characteristics (e.g., Carnegie type, selectivity) and resource allocations (e.g., instructional expenditures, student affairs expenditures) into a statistical model to predict undergraduate graduation rates. Instructional expenditures, library expenditures, and a number of institutional classification…

This report describes the initial employment and educational paths pursued by physics and astronomy degree recipients at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels for the classes of 2002-03 and 2003-04. The report includes starting salaries, primary work activities, ratings of professional challenge and other aspects of initial employment. The…

This report describes essential characteristics and key program outcome measures for the Student Support Services (SSS) program grantees and participants in reporting years 2002-03 and 2003-04. The SSS program is designed to increase college persistence and graduation rates for eligible students, increase the transfer rates of eligible students…

In October 2006, 65.8 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2006 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since 2001, the college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates has been trending upward. Information on school enrollment and…

This issue brief outlines the immediate need for more accurate dropout and graduation data, while providing a snapshot of work currently underway. By drawing on two prominent methods for calculating graduation rates: the National Governors Association's endorsed longitudinal approach and the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), this brief…

The United States is falling behind other developed nations in terms of the share of its population with a college degree, and the gap will widen substantially unless the nation makes postsecondary education much more accessible, according to a report released last week by Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based research organization. If current…