Guided by the notion of academic momentum, this study drew data from longitudinal transcript records at a large public 4-year research university and examined factors that specifically contribute to community college transfer students' academic momentum. It also explored how early academic momentum along with students' sociodemographic…

Aligned with the American Association of Community College's 21st Century Initiative for community college completion, coaching has emerged in higher education as a promising practice for student support. Although hundreds of community colleges have implemented coaching programs, few studies have explored the practice of coaching and its…

Colleges and universities employ conditional admission policies to identify students with subpar academic qualifications, who may need additional support to succeed. Using institutional data of more than 2,000 students, the study applies labeling theory to a quasi-experimental design (difference-in-differences testing), measuring the effects of a…

Higher education institutions have prioritized supporting undecided students with their major and career decisions for decades. This study used a U.S. public research-focused university's large-scale institutional data set and undecided student's retention and graduation rate predictors to demonstrate how to couple student and institutional data…

Due to the low success of traditional, postsecondary remediation mathematics, The Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative First in the World Grant (MMRI-FITW) sought to develop and implement a statistics pathway in 2- and 4-year institutions as an alternative to traditional algebra-based math, to accelerate developmental mathematics students'…

We use confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the validity and reliability of three non-cognitive factors--resilience, grit, and growth mindset--as well as to examine whether those factors predict academic success for a sample of students primarily represented by first-year African American students at three Historically Black Colleges and…

This study presents a systematic review of the literature on the predicting student retention in higher education through machine learning algorithms based on measures such as dropout risk, attrition risk, and completion risk. A systematic review methodology was employed comprised of review protocol, requirements for study selection, and analysis…

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in academic indicators among intramural sports participants and nonparticipants following their first year of college. Matched samples (N = 1,796; 898 pairs) were generated based on demographic variables. Data were obtained from university databases. Paired sample t tests and logistic…

Research has shown that academic momentum is a key factor in degree completion for students attending 4-year institutions. The characteristics of 2-year students (also called community college students) often lead them to engage in behaviors contrary to the theory of academic momentum, and these behaviors theoretically reduce their likelihood of…

In this study, we investigated how environmental, cognitive, and demographic variables influenced students' ability to graduate from a 4-year university in 4 years. Specifically, we examined how behaviors related to social cognitive career theory (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic goals) were influenced by contextual…

Expanding and enhancing transfer pathways may help broaden participation in engineering. However, colleges of engineering have primarily focused their recruitment and retention efforts on students who matriculate directly from high school. Our research increases understanding of the transition experiences for engineering transfer students at…

Hispanic students are the most likely out of all racial or ethnic groups to be first-generation college students (FGCS). Hispanic FGCS have been shown to be the least likely to persist out of all racial or ethnic backgrounds. However, there is little literature on this population. To address this, the present study investigated the association of…

The purpose of this study was to develop a retention model specific to the 2-year college environment using factors not typically combined with the study of student retention. The study operationalized factors representing the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness combined with elements of Bean and Metzner's…

The present study examines the outcomes of a 5-week summer bridge writing program at a Midwestern, urban, public university designed to provide remedial instruction for incoming first-year college students, approximately 500 students annually for 7 years. Regression results showed that program participation was a positive, significant predictor on…

This research examines factors that contribute to persistence of sophomore students. It builds a model to predict the likelihood of leaving the institution by third year and explores whether the concept of transfer receptivity can be used to explain differences in persistence between continuing and transfer sophomore students. Results indicate…