Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

Characteristics of graduates who completed bachelor's degrees within 4 years of high school graduation were compared with graduates who took longer than 4 years. Data were obtained from the Postsecondary School Transcripts Study, a supplement to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The sample consisted of 4,440…

Recognizing the need to strengthen the community college pathway, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance has undertaken an initiative on community colleges. Through its research, the Committee has noted three critical transition points for students who start at a community college and intend to obtain a bachelor's degree:…

The Toolbox Revisited is a data essay that follows a nationally representative cohort of students from high school into postsecondary education, and asks what aspects of their formal schooling contribute to completing a bachelor's degree by their mid-20s. The universe of students is confined to those who attended a four-year college at any time,…

Student success in college has never been more important. The economic advantage to baccalaureate degree holders remains substantial, with college graduates averaging a million dollars more in lifetime earnings than high school graduates. There is also the long list of non-pecuniary benefits of college--intellectual development and critical…

The third component of our three-part series focuses on students who attained a bachelor's degree and what it took to get there. We used multiple regression analysis to determine the factors that seemed to matter on the pathway to the BA. The appendix of this report provides methodological details to this analysis. (Contains 2 footnotes and 7…

Preentry qualifications of 181 British nursing students were compared with their completion rate and course grades. The number of General Certificate of Secondary Education "A" grades significantly predicted completion and achievement. Those with nonconventional qualifications such as General National Vocational Qualifications or Access…

The U.S. Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report to help inform policymakers about the progress of education in the United States. Using data from across the center and from other sources of education data, "The Condition of Education 2015" presents 42 key indicators on…

This study examined how background and high school variables affected participants in either realizing their potential by completing a bachelor's degree or experiencing lost talent by not completing a bachelor's degree. A sample of participants who had demonstrated above average cognitive ability and had high postsecondary educational goals when…

The study examined the validity of the Eccles model of achievement behaviors for its predictive validity in determining student persistence in the postsecondary educational system to completion of the baccalaureate degree. The value placed on college attendance had significant influence on persistence. (Author/MLW)

While the effects of the shift from need- to merit-based grants on student enrollment and receipt of aid have been examined thoroughly by a number of analysts, very few recent reports have examined the effects of these grants on students' persistence towards completing bachelor's degrees. To examine this issue, this report explores the linkages…

This study of the persistence behavior of undergraduates at America's 4-year colleges and universities used data from the "High School and Beyond" study, a national survey of 28,000 high-school seniors. "Persistence" is described as the flow of students through college over a 6-year period. Four categories of persistence were…

A recent Educational Testing Service study, "Performance at the Top: From Elementary through Graduate School," used a variety of test data to track high-ability (top 25 percent) students. College officials see the findings as troubling, speculating that high-achievers lose interest in introductory courses and need smaller classes. (MSE)

Descibes a study that identifies student academic behavior prior to transfer and the relationship of this behavior to academic persistence. Results indicated that the completion of the associate degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher increased persistence rate to an equal level with students native to a university. (Contains 33 references.) (KC)

This report examines the length of time it takes Maryland students to earn a baccalaureate at a public college in the state, the factors that might delay degree progress, and alternative strategies for reducing time-to-degree. Among new full-time freshmen at Maryland's public four-year campuses since 1980, most took longer than 4 years to earn a…