The expansion of higher education has led to greater diversity among students, with a significant portion of them aged 25 and above. This demographic group represents a range of intersecting identities associated with their different roles, responsibilities, and life trajectories. While older students face obstacles to engagement, persistence, and…

Dropout of university students can have negative consequences for students' futures as well as for university income. University systems with a multiple enrollment policy may offer students benefits, such as a second chance to graduate instead of dropping out. However, little is known about the outcome constellations (graduation, dropout) of…

This study focuses on the admission criteria of a bachelor of accountancy (BAcc) degree program as one of many factors influencing students' success in graduating in the regulated time frames. The present study used constructivist learning and student engagement theories as connected lenses to explore the effect of admission criteria on…

Few student success programs nationally have been as effective as CUNY's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) initiative, which has grown to serve 25,000 community college students. CUNY has a promising program modeled on ASAP that is helping students at senior colleges complete their bachelor's degrees on time: the Accelerate, Complete,…

Accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs (ABSN) have grown to meet the needs of the health care industry. These short-term programs attract unique groups of learners that have achieved baccalaureate degrees in other disciplines and are recruited to an intense, fast-paced program that differs from a traditional baccalaureate nursing program. The…

Currently, roughly one-third of college students fit the federal government's definition of first-generation college student status, meaning neither parent has earned a baccalaureate degree (RTI International, 2023). This study utilized archival data at an access institution in the southeastern United States in a causal-comparative study using…

Parents' happiness orientation has garnered early attention in school choice studies but has not been cautiously examined. Drawing on Aristotle's framework of Eudaimonia and Hedonia, along with Ahmed's concept of the happiness promise, this study transcends a perspec­tive of preference and examines how parents understand and pursue happiness in…

The time it takes a student to complete a bachelor's degree in college is ever-changing. The four-year timeframe to finish a degree in the United States has become a dream many will not accomplish for various reasons. Looking to the past, we have seen bachelor's degrees go from a three-year timeframe to a four-year timeframe, college costs have…

Academic undermatching--students enrolling in colleges that are less academically selective than those for which they qualify--is a barrier hindering college degree attainment. Given the many reasons students undermatch, this phenomenon is likely to continue; yet, we know little about the characteristics that may be related to degree attainment…

This dissertation uses an anti-deficit perspective to explore the academic experiences of Black men who have completed their bachelor's degrees at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Despite the reality that only 34% of Black men achieve their undergraduate degrees within six years, this study shifts the narrative from focusing on obstacles…

This paper addresses the need for a more comprehensive framework of excellence in higher education, which goes beyond academic achievement alone, placing emphasis on its integration with personal characteristics, and acknowledging the diversity in the student population. Two research studies were conducted to establish this comprehensive…

This longitudinal study of 17,455 students, the majority from underrepresented groups, investigated leaks in the vertical transfer pipeline from associate's-degree program entry to bachelor's-degree receipt. Investigated were both the size of the leaks and some associated variables. Pipeline progress examinations included quantification of early…

This study aimed to investigate how international students enrolled on medical and surgical bachelor's degree programs (MBBS) in China perceived online medical education course, compared to native Chinese students during the Covid-19 pandemic. The perceptions of 38 MBBS and 31 Chinese sophomores were surveyed using the Chaoxing platform. The…

This study probed the predictive effects of accelerated college credits over and above the predictive effects of FAFSA EFC index number, sex, and first-generation status on baccalaureate outcomes on first-time college students. A hierarchical multiple regression on 2,817 students who graduated from a private university in central Arkansas was…

Numerous national reports have identified the importance of significantly improving pathways that begin with Latinx students enrolling in 2-year institutions and ultimately completing baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields at 4-year institutions. Many programs using multiple interventions have been designed, implemented, and studied to achieve this…