This qualitative phenomenological research employed purposive sampling to delve into the educational concept of equity disparity stemming from college readiness programs. The study specifically targeted teachers and administrators who possessed firsthand experience with the phenomenon of inequity observed among students achieving success within…

Many students enter into higher education institutions to pursue degrees in STEM fields with varying levels of academic preparedness, and many students will never finish a college degree. To address academic underpreparedness, many institutions have developed remedial coursework to increase student persistence and graduation rates with varying…

This work used mixed methods to understand the enrollment of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) high schools. Grounded in previous work that described and recommended school practices for recruitment, admission, and retention of students from historically…

While earning a high school diploma is a critical educational milestone for students, research has shown that obtaining a college degree further equalizes opportunities and increases their upward mobility. To be eligible to apply for the University of California system, students must take 15 college-preparatory courses during their high school…

The National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS) is an organization comprised of member high schools from across the country, some of which are residential schools in which students from across the state apply to gain admittance to advanced academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. Underrepresentation of…

This study was designed to analyze the perceptions of required college admissions testing by graduates in the state of Oklahoma. Students in the state of Oklahoma were required to take the ACT or SAT to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act, following the adoption by the state in 2017. This study was conducted to determine: whether graduates…

This dissertation includes three chapters on industrial organization and the economics of education, centered around New York City's public high school choice procedure. In the first chapter, I document evidence of informational frictions in the usage of the public high school choice in New York City and the patterns of racial disparities. The…

With the wide introduction of English-medium instruction (EMI) to higher education institutions throughout East Asian countries, many East Asian universities are using English proficiency tests that were not originally designed for this context to make admissions and placement decisions. To support the use of these tests in this new EMI context,…

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory mixed methods study is to explain the association between priority registration and student success as measured by success in transfer level mathematics and English at Sierra College. In addition, it to explain student perceptions of priority registration and their success and…

This qualitative case study was undertaken to understand the perspectives of first-generation, conditionally-admitted students, regarding how their participation in a college access program may or may not have contributed to their persistence at a Historically Black College and University. This study was grounded in Tinto's (2012) Model of…

This dissertation studies college admissions in Brazil in the past two decades, a period characterized by a decline in the socioeconomic inequality in demand for higher education. The first chapter studies an affirmative action policy enacted at a flagship university in Brazil to lower the socioeconomic inequality in college access. I find…

Higher education in the United States is both a public good, providing educated, critical-thinking, prepared, and productive citizens; as well as a private good, giving individuals opportunities to improve their financial situation and possibly their statuses in society. In order for these goods to be earned, students need to be retained by…

In this study, I investigated and compared secondary school preservice music teacher education programs in the Republic of Korea and in the United States of America. The purpose of this study was to identify similarities and differences between secondary school preservice music teacher education programs from Korea and the United States to…

The use of categorical dependent variables with the classical linear regression model (CLRM) violates many of the model's assumptions and may result in biased estimates (Long, 1997; O'Connell, Goldstein, Rogers, & Peng, 2008). Many dependent variables of interest to educational researchers (e.g., professorial rank, educational attainment) are…

Recent studies have revealed how large shares of college-ready students "undermatch", or enroll in colleges with less competitive admissions processes than they are eligible to attend. Undermatch sits at the nexus of both college access and completion agendas, as undermatching to a less selective institution results in a decreased…