In Chapter 1, I investigate whether the presence of peers from the same country of origin affects the success of international doctoral students. I use unique, administrative data on higher education enrollment and leverage variation in peer composition across cohorts within a program. Results indicate that a 10 percentage point increase in the…

China has witnessed unprecedented higher education expansion since the 1990s. The gross higher education enrollment rate--the percentage of student population of all ages enrolled in the higher education institutions relative to the total 18-22 population--has increased from 9.8% in 1998 to more than 40% in 2016. As the overall postsecondary…

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to identify recruitment tools, which may effectively increase international student enrollment at a public, state-assisted university in Texas that does not actively recruit internationally through international travel or dedicated recruitment plans structured for international students.…

The increased competitive nature of higher education institutions has caused many small private liberal arts colleges/universities to struggle economically. The cost of keeping such institutions viable is high. Many institutions have had to raise tuitions rates, which resulted in decreased enrollment numbers. As a result, many institutions have…

Black males account for 4.3% of the total enrollment at four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States. The percentage of Black men who are enrolled in college is nearly the same as it was in 1976 (Harper, 2006a; Palmer & Strayhorn, 2008; Strayhorn, 2008a, 2010). With this low exponential growth of Black males attending institutions…

This dissertation consists of two chapters studying the importance of household income for shaping student outcomes in the market for higher education in the United States. The first chapter uses the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 to document that conditional on student ability, high-income students are more likely to enroll in college and…

The Study of Educational Equity in Hawai?i (SEE-HI) explores the relationships between quality and equity variables, focusing on access to licensed mathematics teaching, learning environment, school climate, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, geographic location, math proficiency, and college enrollment in Hawai?i's public schools. Research…

The landscape of American higher education is becoming more competitive each year. Discussions about equity and increasing access to underrepresented student groups grows each year, particularly regarding the role of standardized testing. Some research has shown the SAT and ACT exams, the two primary college entrance exams used in the United…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how doctoral students describe their pre-enrollment experiences in an interactive technology-based webinar with senior leaders, and how the webinar experiences influenced their selection of an online doctoral program at a Christian university in the southwestern United States. The…

Education administrators are placing greater demands on university faculty, staff, and admission counselors to enroll and retain more students. Understanding this transition and the associated challenges is important for institutions of higher education so they can better assist black male students as they navigate through college and…

Institutions of higher education (IHEs) engage in practices that mirror the operations of businesses, including execution of ongoing strategic management initiatives, particularly in marketing and admissions. IHEs benefit from building profiles of target customers (i.e., prospective students) and using these data to enhance recruitment campaigns.…

This dissertation includes three essays that examine the potential of policies, interventions, and curricula in improving transitions to four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. The first essay provides a novel investigation of New York City's adoption of SAT School Day (SSD), which provides universal access to college entrance exams for…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine Black students access and success in health-related degrees by examining enrollment a graduation rates in the Fall of 2016 and the Fall of 2019. Archival data were obtained from THECN consisting of the number of Black students enrolled and number of degrees awarded in health-related degrees at…

Although overall access to higher education has improved for underrepresented minority students (Engstrom & Tinto, 2008), there remains a persistent equity gap in college educational attainment for men of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In particular, Southeast Asian male students demonstrate higher attrition rates (Museus &…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of dual enrollment programs in the State of Alabama. Dual enrollment programs allow high school students to enroll in college courses for college credit prior to high school graduation. Advocates consider dual enrollment as a way to transition high school students into college, and they further…