Establishing early academic momentum via credit accumulation is strongly associated with community college student success. Using data from one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our quasi-experimental study examined how different first-semester credit loads influenced persistence. For part-time students…

Drawing on data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS), this study examined the risks associated with losing credits in the process of transferring between colleges. The effects of credit loss are considered on the timing of degree completion and student loan…

This study explored the relationships between voluntary online course enrollment (pre-pandemic), time poverty, and college outcomes. Results indicate that students who enrolled in at least one fully online course were significantly more time poor than other students; these differences were largely explained by age, parental status, and paid work.…

The purpose of this study is to provide robust estimates of the potential link between study abroad participation and community college students' academic outcomes, namely academic qualifications (GPA), progression toward degree (credits passed), and credential completion. Theoretically, study abroad is thought to impact students' outcomes,…

Prior research has explored how international students' interactions with domestic students and with other international students predict their self-reported short-term outcomes, particularly in the context of the environmental challenges that international students may encounter. The present study builds upon this earlier work by using…

Postsecondary outcomes are significantly worse for student parents even though they earn higher GPA's on average. This study used institutional records and survey data from a large urban U.S. university to explore whether time poverty explains this trend. The results of regression and KHB decomposition analysis reveal that students with…

Using detailed administrative data from Virginia, this paper examines whether community college "vertical transfer" students who resemble "native four-year" students in their accumulated college-level credits and performance at their point of entry into the four-year sector perform equally well in terms of both academic and…

I examine whether academic motivation and engagement--conditions that advocates consider mechanisms for the effect of dual enrollment--account for the relationship between dual enrollment and academic performance. Few studies examine the claimed mechanisms that account for the impact of dual enrollment, which leaves the processes through which…

Using linked, individual-level data from a large metropolitan K-12 district and a large urban community college district in California, we examine whether indicators of college-readiness for graduating high school students who were initially classified as English Learners (ELs) are honored in community college course placement. In particular, we…

In an effort to improve developmental education students' outcomes, community colleges have been experimenting with acceleration strategies. Models of acceleration allow students to complete their developmental requirements in a shorter amount of time. However, there has been limited empirical research on the effects of accelerating students'…

A number of colleges throughout the country are now engaging in the practice of awarding "credit for life/work experience." Some of the institutional practices currently being followed are discussed along with a number of issues that any institution about to embark on this process should consider. (Editor/PG)

Based on an analysis of responses from baccalaureate programs evaluating life experiences, a basis for a student fee system is developed, and the cost implications of alternative processes are explored. Practices at several institutions are reported. (Author/LBH)

College diplomas are seen as not necessarily representing academic achievement, but the fact that a student has sat through enough courses to accumulate sufficient credits for graduation. A case is made for 10 measures of achievement to serve as a basis for graduation. (Article originally published in 1937.) (AF)

Credentialing educational accomplishment is an important function of colleges and universities. It is shown that accreditation and national assessment programs provide academe with effective tools for improving the quality and social justice of the credentialing system regarding extrainstitutional learning. National testing programs, ACE credit…

A study of patterns of undergraduates' credit-distribution in three major fields of study (mathematics, political science, and English) at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, is described. Students' extra-major credit distribution was less than it might have been and extra-major specialization greater than it needed to be. (MLW)