Workforce development represents a central priority in a comprehensive effort to create wealth, industry thickening, and broad-based prosperity. From the onset of the Great Recession in 2007, the Sacramento Region experienced anemic economic growth and remained behind the nation in job creation. Contextualized in the aftermath of the economic…

"Closing the Gaps: The Texas Higher Education Plan" was adopted in October 2000 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The goal of the "Closing the Gaps" ("CTG") plan is to close educational gaps in participation, success, excellence, and research within Texas and between Texas and other states by…

"Projections of Education Statistics to 2022" is the 41st report in a series begun in 1964. It includes statistics on elementary and secondary schools and postsecondary degree-granting institutions. This report provides revisions of projections shown in "Projections of Education Statistics to 2021" and projections of…

"Research Messages 2013" provides a summary of the research published in 2013 by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in the following broad categories: (1) skills and productivity: from VET qualifications to higher-level qualifications and issues affecting the workforce; (2) social inclusion and participation in…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the perceptions of employers and graduates regarding the applied baccalaureate degree when conferred by community colleges. By better understanding the perceptions of employers and graduates, community colleges considering offering applied baccalaureate degrees will have some context within which…

U.S. colleges and universities are failing to graduate a greater number of students than in previous decades, although there has been more than a 25 percent increase in the number of students enrolling in colleges after high school graduation for the last three decades. Nevertheless, the 6-year graduation rate has been lingering around 66 percent…

A survey was conducted of teacher education baccalaureate graduates from the first five years (2004-08) of St. Petersburg College's (SPC) programs in Florida, along with teacher education baccalaureate graduates from 2004-08 of the nearest state university, University of South Florida (USF). The survey focused on graduates who were found to be…

Background/Context: Transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions remains a contentious issue in higher education, with proponents showing that students do indeed transfer to four-year institutions and opponents arguing that starting in community colleges hinders baccalaureate degree attainment. One particularly salient issue in this…

My dissertation utilizes an explanatory, sequential mixed-methods research design to assess factors influencing community college students' transfer probability to baccalaureate-granting institutions and to present promising practices in colleges and states directed at improving upward transfer, particularly for low-income and first-generation…

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a "College Completion Tool Kit" intended to support the higher education attainment goals set by the Obama administration. These goals are consistent with the state's Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The tool kit lays out strategies for achieving higher levels of attainment…

This study sought to examine and comprehensively describe transfer students who have earned a two-year technical or occupational Associate in Science (AS) degree at the community college and entered the university to pursue the Bachelor of Science in Applied Science (BSAS). The BSAS degree is a specialized baccalaureate degree program created…

This report describes the total number of Virginia Community College System (VCCS) transfer students each institution of higher education enrolled, and graduated from 2001-02 to 2005-06. The number of VCCS transfer students admitted to each higher education institution is not included because the State Council of Higher Education does not require…

In the nation's changing economy, there is an increasing necessity for baccalaureate level education for jobs that have never before required that level of education. One potential solution to issues related to baccalaureate attainment and workforce development is the applied baccalaureate degree. Applied baccalaureate degrees have arisen from a…

Although several studies have examined the extent to which tuition influences college enrollment at the undergraduate level (e.g., Heller, 1999; Kane, 1995, 1999), there is no known research that examines how changes in financial aspects of state higher education policy affect the production of postsecondary degrees. Using state-level data…

To stay competitive in the knowledge-based global economy, businesses in the United States need access to employees with bachelor's degrees. However, there is a growing gap between employers' demand and the supply of baccalaureate graduates from four-year colleges and universities. To expand access to bachelor's degrees, legislators in 18 states…