Mississippi appropriates millions of dollars each year to the Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students (HELP) Grant to help college-ready, low-income students pay for college, but little is known about the effectiveness of the program. This dissertation in practice examines the impact of the HELP Grant by comparing the college-going…

As in other nations, higher education has many benefits for individual participants and for communities in the United States. But, the opportunity to attain higher education is unequal. To understand the forces that contribute to higher education attainment in the United States, this essay first provides a brief overview of the characteristics of…

This study examines manufacturing employer perceptions of postsecondary credentials, the ways in which they find them valuable, and explores the barriers employers identify which prevent employees from enrolling in employer sponsored continuing education programs. In total, 14 staff members were interviewed representing five manufacturing…

The national commitment to increasing postsecondary educational attainment, combined with growing economic anxiety, has made community colleges the focus of many federal and state policy initiatives. There is good reason for this: by virtue of their nature and reach, community colleges--public institutions of higher education that predominantly…