The 2014 Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) report, "Strengthening the STEM Pipeline: The Contributions of Small and Mid-Sized Independent Colleges," demonstrated the critical role this sector of higher education institutions plays in preparing its students for success in obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees in science,…

California state education officials have become increasingly concerned about the growing achievement gaps and low graduation rates for the state's public colleges and universities. In an attempt to lessen these gaps and improve graduation rates, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act (Star Act) was implemented in 2011. The purpose of this…

The "Yearly Success and Progress Rates" report goes beyond traditional student outcome measures by showing year-by-year rates of retention, persistence, transfer, completion and stop-out. This report is designed to help institutions and states better identify and inform effective intervention points to increase student success. It…

Student attrition in postsecondary education is a significant public policy problem. Nations invest substantial resources in college systems, and when students leave, this investment is lost. To understand the factors that influence student attrition in US and Russian public universities, we use the perspective of academic momentum, defined…

This paper analyzes time to first degree at German universities. The database is the "Absolventenpanel" 2001, a panel study conducted by the "Hochschul-Informations-System." The German university system is characterized by a long duration of study; the regular time is often exceeded. One potential reason might be the high…

Postdoc is a special transitional position for those with a doctoral degree and is usually regarded as an investment to accumulate the additional human and social capital needed to facilitate future job searches or to add to an academic reserve army of unemployed PhDs. Given the prevalence of postdoctoral positions nowadays, it is crucial to…

Since the mid-1990s, there has been an abrupt growth of doctoral enrollments and doctoral programs in Argentina and Latin America. However, completion rates at this education level are far from satisfying. Attrition rates in Social Sciences doctoral programs "are known" to be high, and higher in Social Sciences and Humanities (which will…

Besides traditional admissions criteria, research-intensive social work PhD programs may rely on personal interviews and curriculum vitae or resumes to gauge prior research experience to determine applicants' fit for the research-related productivity expected in their programs. Case record review of social work PhD candidates (n=56) entering the…

Analyzing data from the Wabash National Study, we use probit models while adjusting for sample selection to estimate the influence of effective instructional behaviors on graduating from college. Net of a host of potential confounders, we find that exposure to effective instruction significantly predicts graduating from college in four years. We…

This snapshot goes beyond traditional measures of postsecondary attainment by tracking the fall 2012 entering cohort over time, and showing persistence, stop-out, and completion rates at the end of each subsequent academic year. The model tracks outcomes for both full-time and part-time starters, and takes spring and summer terms into account.…

This report provides students, parents, and others with employment, earnings, and other outcome information on graduates of Arkansas's state-supported (public) institutions of higher education. This report is intended to help readers make informed decisions about education and career choices. As specified in Arkansas Act 852 of 2015, information…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS) was created by Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered post-secondary education in the fall of 1998. Act 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative…

Doctoral student enrollment and study require significant resources such as faculty time, student time, and funding. However, doctoral student attrition is a serious problem nationwide, especially at the dissertation level. When doctoral students do not complete their dissertations, their potential contributions to society are substantially…

Financial aid has long been used to increase access to postsecondary education, particularly for underrepresented students. Given the size of the financial aid system and the widespread use of aid, it should also be thought of as a tool to improve academic success and postsecondary completion. Evidence suggests that using additional financial aid…

Timely completion has recently been an important focus of academic literature on supervising Doctoral students. This paper is a reflection on the academic literature on timely doctoral completion by a former Doctoral student who has been a serial non-completer. This reflection explores whether academics' constructions, reported in the research…