For many higher education institutions, certifying degree completion is both challenging and time consuming. Depending on the size of the institution, graduation processing can take multiple staff days to complete. In an age of limited staffing, registrars must leverage technology to handle these increasing workloads. Such was the case with a…

Adult learners seeking to earn a high school equivalency (HSE), like the general education development (GED), must often overcome major difficulties to persist (Comings, 2007) and succeed academically (Hansman & Mott, 2010). Adult learners might require hundreds of hours of training in GED programs to make up for early departure in high school…

This study leverages national data and a quasi-experimental design to examine the influence of enrolling in an exclusively online degree program on students' likelihood of completing their degree. We find that enrolling in an exclusively online degree program had a negative influence on students' likelihood of completing their bachelor's degree or…

The lived experiences of Black/African American male students at a suburban community college in North Carolina were explored in this qualitative narrative study. Institutional data from the North Carolina Community College System revealed these students had the lowest percentages of persistence toward degree completion and of graduation. In an…

This research project was designed to attend to inequity for Indigenous students, communities, and knowledges in a northern British Columbian district. The aims of the article are to share the systemic and individual transformation for Indigenous learners and their families based on the strengths and barriers they perceive in the system. Presented…

Indigenous peoples are more likely than non-Indigenous people to live in rural and remote communities. Previous research has found that improved access to services within one's community is linked to improved education outcomes. Using census data, this report demonstrates that between 2016 and 2021, the accessibility of one's community remained an…

In common with many other higher tariff universities in the United Kingdom, Durham University uses contextual data about the socio-economic circumstances of applicants to inform decisions about whom to admit to its undergraduate degree programmes. This paper draws on data for undergraduates who entered Durham University in the period 2018-2020 (N…

Conflicts over the politics of speech have been a persistent challenge in U.S. higher education. Public narratives portray universities as antagonistic toward conservative speakers, yet empirical evidence remains limited. To address this gap, we analyze the political orientations of 1,875 commencement speakers at 52 universities between 1989 and…

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, college and career readiness became the central focus of education policy in the United States. Career academies (CAs) are a popular way to support students in their postsecondary transitions, but little causal evidence exists about whether this model of schooling is effective in promoting learning and…

In response to Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 5243, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) developed recommendations on expanding flexibility and student choice in meeting high school graduation requirements through the High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP). The HSBP is a requirement to earn a high school diploma and serves as a personalized…

The Washington State Board of Education (SBE) is tasked with rulemaking and assurance of compliance under the Program of Basic Education (RCW 28A.150.220). In carrying out this responsibility, the Board establishes policies and procedures for the approval of school district and local education agency (LEA) programs for entitlement to state basic…

Just over half of the students who start a bachelor's degree in the United States, fail to complete it within four years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024). As a result, millions of people with some college no credential (SCNC) struggle with student loan debt, lower income, and the threat of default. In response, many colleges and…

In May and June 2021, the author conducted a survey of the computing and mathematical graduation requirements of 500 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) programs in the U.S. to determine alignment among these requirements and those recommended by ACM/IEEE-CS's Computer Science Curricula 2013 guidelines and ABET's Criteria for…

The recent complexity of the university system, with diverse academic trajectories and varying socio-demographic characteristics of students, has led to increased access for historically underrepresented students. This has resulted in a rising number of adult learners, students with external responsibilities and individuals returning to education.…

M-DCPS had 21,354 graduates in the 2022-2023 academic year. Ninety two percent of students achieved a standard diploma (24 credits). Some students opted for an international curriculum pathway, with 846 (4%) attaining an Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) diploma, and 436 (2%) obtaining an International Baccalaureate (IB)…