For centuries, women have faced significant challenges in advancing to leadership positions in higher education and the corporate world. They have suffered from gender inequality, resulting in limited opportunities, unequal pay, and unequal status. Consequently, many organizations are taking active steps to encourage the development of female…

Online teaching and learning has become a primary focal point for higher education administrators. Institutions have focused their strategic plans to maximize opportunities to grow their campuses, through distance education. A consistent issue that has surfaced with distance education initiatives is teacher preparation for online education. The…

This dissertation explores the daily lives of student services personnel at for-profit and community colleges by inquiring into how they frame the students they work with and whose interests they articulate themselves as serving. Student services personnel are tasked with serving students but must do so within the context and structure in which…

A student success curriculum adds a necessary layer of support for students to overcome their challenges to complete school, and a standard student success curriculum contains strategies to develop non-academic skills, sometimes called soft skills. These skills encompass affirmations, career readiness training, emotional intelligence, motivation,…

The share of female college and university executives is on the rise nationwide, changing the face of higher education leadership. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine and gain an understanding of the experiences of women in executive positions at proprietary colleges using their own voices. The study was intended to: (1) access the…

For-profit institutions are thought to fill the educational gap when traditional nonprofit colleges fail to serve the needs of an evolving student population. Over the past several decades, the enrollment share of undergraduate students attending for-profit institutions in lieu of traditional nonprofit institutions has expanded substantially.…

While scholarship on faculty orientation and development is prevalent in traditional four-year universities and community colleges, the same cannot be said for for-profit (proprietary) career colleges. Given the proprietary nature of most private, career colleges and the lack of required faculty research, little research exists on the practices…

The research question of this study was: How do the lack of cultural capital and the demand for academic credentials dictate educational opportunities and the enrollment of vulnerable student populations at for-profit schools? This study examined the enrollment of students, especially those of lower-socioeconomic status in for-profit schools. The…

"Research that positions students as primary stakeholders occupies space at the margins of higher education scholarship" (Iloh, 2016, pp. 428-429). This fact is especially true in the realm of for-profit, post-secondary education where much of the research has been focused on institutional operations and quantitative outcomes. As…

During the years of the Obama administration some for-profit colleges chose to close due to financial difficulties, while many others opted for another alternative; the teach-out. Teach-outs involve a college ceasing operations over time and most often allowing currently attending students to complete their degree within a certain time-frame. The…

College retention is a primary focus within many institutions of higher education; however, retention efforts have largely been unsuccessful in impacting first-year completion rates and eventual degree attainment. Drawing on research that demonstrates the value of a strong faculty-student relationship and an engaging classroom environment, this…

The purpose of this basic qualitative research was to investigate the perceptions of nurse educators who work in proprietary institutions regarding their roles in retaining nursing students enrolled in an associate degree in nursing program. Information about nursing faculty's perceptions of their role in nursing students' retention was missing…

This qualitative study is a critical examination of Latinas' experiences in a Private For-Profit Vocational Education (PFVE) institution. PFVE institutions are for-profit schools that offer less-than-two-year certificate programs designed to prepare adult students for jobs and careers in an array of vocational trades such as dental and medical…

A growing phenomenon in higher education is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). MOOCs have garnered increasing attention over the past several years, spurring curiosity, controversy, and debate. While some aspects of MOOCs, such as participant experience and improvement of the online learning environment, have been covered extensively, other…

With the increase in enrollment in online courses, comes the need for institutions to continue to encourage success and persistence, and ultimately provide appropriate support services. Additionally, postsecondary institutions have seen an increase in the number of nontraditional students enrolling in online courses as a means to further their…