The researchers examined part-time enrollment within public two-year, degree-granting community colleges by the degree of urbanization classifications of city, suburban, town, and rural for fall 2003 and 2005. Findings indicate no statistical differences in part-time enrollment between city and suburban institutions. No statistical differences…

This study uses a unique, longitudinal statewide database to track students through the new teacher supply pipeline from high school through college and initial teacher certification. The report examines how each stage influences the characteristics of those who enter the teaching profession, with particular attention to academic skills and…

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) with the primary goal of increasing the opportunity for underserved students to earn a postsecondary credential. To achieve this goal, Early Colleges provide underserved students with exposure to, and support in, college while they are in…

The Hispanic population in the United States is the fastest growing ethnic group. It is also one of the least-educated and poorest groups and one of the least researched nationally. The purpose of the study was to identify the variables that affect the persistence of Hispanic college students who begin their postsecondary educations at community…

The transition to adulthood in the United States has changed in recent decades as many of the traditional milestones that mark adulthood, such as household establishment and marriage, have changed or been delayed (McLanahan et al. 2010; Arnett 2000). Among these changes are increased participation and attainment in education; extenuation of…

TRIO programs exist for students who need guidance through the academic systems that exist. TRIO programs began in 1964, when Lyndon Johnson signed the Educational Opportunity Act into law (McElroy and Armesto, 1998). This started the TRIO programs to help disadvantaged students enroll and complete college. TRIO programs, including Talent Search…

The price of college, particularly relative to the amount of available financial aid, has been increasing and has been cited as a major barrier to college attendance and completion. And given the recent economic downturn, these issues have taken on even greater significance to students, their families, educators, employers, policymakers and…

This paper reviews state cross-institutional policies designed to better integrate state community colleges with traditional four-year colleges and university system schools, commonly referred to as "transfer and articulation policies," and examines how patterns of college attendance, transfer, and degree earning vary across states with different…

Much research and many policy initiatives to date have focused on access to postsecondary education. However, despite the fact that college attendance has increased considerably over the last three decades, the proportion of students who complete college has decreased. This lack of persistence and degree completion in college, especially among…

Tennessee needs to continuously increase its degree productivity by four percent every year from now until 2025. In the midst of this need for increased degree production, the state's current economic realities indicate public institutions will receive little to no new state appropriated revenues for the foreseeable future. The Master Plan Annual…

Native American students in Washington attend more than 40 postsecondary institutions and participate in college at a rate greater than their proportional presence in the population. They are just as likely to apply for and receive financial aid as other groups, a little less likely to borrow to attend college, and experience a greater gap than…

This paper uses national data from the American Council on Education (ACE) to study the progress of different ethnic groups through the academic pipeline--stages studied include the Bachelor's, Master's, doctoral, levels, and then progress to the Assistant, Associate, and (full) Professor stages, to full-time administrators and finally to the CEO…

In January 2009, in the last week of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), upon orders from the departing political appointee staff, published the final report in a long running National Evaluation of Upward Bound (UB). The study was conducted by the contractor, Mathematica Policy Research. After more than a year in…

The struggles and achievements of today's college students are thrown into stark relief in this fascinating account of how such students make meaning of their lives. Author Mary Grigsby uses the voices of students themselves to discuss how they view, adjust to, and participate in the college student culture of a large midwestern university and to…

This study develops a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding the evolution of the class divide in postsecondary education. I conceptualize three prototypes of class inequality--effectively maintained, declining, and expanding--and associate their emergence with the level of competition in college admissions. I also unearth the twin…