High impact educational practices are active learning strategies that benefit learning outcomes, increase student engagement, and support student retention. This study examines the retention and persistence impact of student philanthropy, an active learning approach that engages students with the community by incorporating a philanthropy component…

A college degree is increasingly vital for career mobility and economic success as more employers are requiring greater levels of education and credentials. For more than 150 years, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have played a leading role in graduating black students and have made significant contributions to the workforce…

States should graduate students from high school prepared for the challenges they will face in college and their careers. Many states are working toward this goal by improving the quality of career and technical education (CTE) programs, and have looked to industry-recognized credentials as one component of this improvement. However, there is…

Objective: We estimated the correlations between the "pathways" chosen by community college students--in terms of desired credentials and fields of study, as well as other choices and outcomes along the paths--and the attainment of credentials with labor market value. We focused on the extent to which there were recorded changes in…

States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

This study provides an overview and a snapshot of new student orientation (NSO) and new student e-orientation (NSEO) programs, with a focus on the content and feature analysis of the NSEOs. It offers an overview of currently available NSO programs of 100 randomly selected community colleges from a master list of nearly 900 community colleges in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school nurse presence and graduation rates, absenteeism, and American College Test (ACT) scores. A state-wide survey of all public high schools was undertaken (participation rate of 99.1%). Survey data obtained from individual high schools provided information on the employment…

America's diverse higher education landscape includes more than 700 four-year nonprofit colleges and universities that focus on baccalaureate education. These private nondoctoral (PND) institutions are located in almost every state and collectively enroll about 1.6 million students and award nearly 150,000 degrees annually, with the majority of…

Preparing students for transfer to a four-year college or university is a core function of community colleges. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), which is comprised of 16 colleges with over 70 campuses, plays a major role in promoting student mobility between the two-year and four-year sectors of postsecondary education…

Today, many full-time students spend one, two, or more additional years completing a 2-year associate or 4-year bachelor degree. In order to reduce this time frame, many institutions are utilizing a 15 to Finish campaign to encourage full-time students to enroll in 15 credits each semester. The first purpose of this study was to examine if there…

The Completion Report describes the state of postsecondary education degree and credential attainment in Kentucky between Academic Years (AY) 2004-05 and 2013-14. Part One details the number and types of degrees produced during this time and pays attention to trends among key demographics in the state. Part Two provides context for these trends by…

This study connects library user surveys, a common library assessment technique, to institutional data to demonstrate the value an academic library brings to student learning and student outcomes. Using regression techniques, the study identifies multiple significant correlations, both positive and negative, between student use of the library and…

Catholic educational institutions play an important role in educating Latino high achieving students. Latino students attending Catholic high schools are more likely to graduate and transition to college immediately following high school. Few studies have examined the outcomes of Latino students who attend Catholic colleges and universities and…

For the United States to maintain national and global economic stability, colleges must graduate more students. Four-year completion rates have declined and less than one-third of full-time, degree-seeking students graduate in 4 years. Some researchers and policymakers have suggested "leading indicators" to track postsecondary…

Today, community colleges are challenged to maintain their historical identity of open access while increasing student success. This challenge is particularly salient in the context of performance-based funding models. These models create student achievements, which determine institutional levels of state funding. Therefore, these new student…