Intermediary organizations play an increasingly important role in public policy related to higher education, particularly related to the completion agenda. This study addresses strategies employed by intermediary organizations to communicate to policymakers regarding college completion. Using rhetorical analysis, we examine 72 documents to…

As one of the 30 community college presidents taking part in the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Pathways Project, El Paso Community College (EPCC) President William Serrata is learning from coaches and national experts at each of six Pathways Institutes run by AACC. He also has a key state-level resource that allows him to…

Several federal grants prioritized the role of community colleges in education and training in recent years, and one of the most substantial investments was the Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program of the United States Department of Labor (DOL). Beginning October 2011, these $2 billion capacity-building…

Career pathways, comprised of stackable credentials and a coherently aligned sequence of programmes of study, are being hailed as an effective means for promoting postsecondary attainment and upward mobility, particularly for low-income and low-skilled adult workers. However, concerns have been raised regarding whether this strategy accomplishes…

Postsecondary institutions are under increasing scrutiny to provide evidence of student learning. Despite efforts to increase the number and frequency of assessments of student learning, many colleges and universities need help to make good use of assessment results for the improvement of teaching and learning. To address this need, in February…

In Texas, educators working to coordinate the efforts of fifty community colleges, thirty-eight universities, and six university systems are bringing the resources of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative to bear in order to ensure that the state's nearly 1.5…

This "Issues in Prevention" focuses on statewide coalitions and state systems. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Statewide Coalitions for Prevention; (2) Louisiana Higher Education Coalition; (3) Statewide Initiative Grantees; (4) The Ohio College Initiative; and (5) Higher Education Center Resources.

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Data Exchange is a cooperative effort of the SREB and the statewide higher education governing and coordinating boards in the South. Founded in 1969-1970, it is one of the nation's oldest, most comprehensive sources of comparative data on public higher education. The Data Exchange annually…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Data Exchange is a one-of-a-kind regional program with 23 statewide higher education governing and coordinating board partners. The Data Exchange annually collects, compiles, and publishes: (1) the most current and detailed comparative statistics on postsecondary education in the 16 SREB states;…

Engineering education directly supports the nation's capacity for economic growth, infrastructure renewal, and security, as well as environmental and human health. Numerous reports have recommended federal support to advance our understanding of how students learn, how faculty teach, and how teaching and learning are assessed. The U.S. National…

The purpose of this study was to understand the consortial approach to distance education at the state level, with a focus on examining the way three state-level virtual universities engaged colleges and universities in participating in distance education initiatives. Specifically, three research questions guided this study: (1) What structure was…

Longitudinal Data Systems (LDS) house student data spanning multiple years and schools. First and foremost among LDS information resources is the Data Quality Campaign (DQC). The DQC is a nationwide consortium assembled to support states, districts, and schools as they design and implement data systems to improve student outcomes. The research and…

In enacting the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the Congress changed Section 435(a)(5) of the act to lift the exemption for cohort default rates that were established for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Navajo Colleges in 1990. The new provisions became…