The purpose of this study was to understand the academic and social engagement experiences of community college transfer students at a private four-year institution. Approached through the lens of a conceptual critical framework for transfer student research advanced by Laanan and Jain (2017), and using a qualitative narrative methodology, this…

This dissertation investigates the factors influencing the matriculation trends of former College Credit Plus (CCP) participants to host institutions in Ohio, utilizing Perna's (2006) College Choice Model as a framework. The study examines variables such as course modality, geographical proximity to the host institution, course load, and grade…

This research aimed to determine if community college students who complete an associate degree before transferring are likelier to complete a baccalaureate degree than those who transfer before completing an associate degree. Additionally, this study examined if the type of institution, public vs. private, that a student transfers to impacts…

This study examined the experiences of vertical transfer students currently enrolled at a technical university and the academic and social integration of these students into their new institution. The purposes of this study were two-fold. The first objective was to better understand how community colleges prepare students academically and socially…

In recent years, attention to the number of students struggling to meet basic needs such as food and housing has grown, and services such as food pantries, emergency grants, and assistance accessing public benefits have become increasingly common on college campuses. However, much is still unknown about why colleges and universities are adopting…

Students are transferring from community colleges to four-year institutions in increasing numbers, yet transfers are persisting and graduating from four-year institutions at lower levels than students who had begun at the institution. Research suggests that transfer students feel less connected to a four-year institution, and fostering transfer…

The purpose of this mixed methods research is to explore how global studies programs are designed and implemented at public community colleges in the United States and to identify the challenges and the opportunities facing the faculty and administrators tasked with establishing global studies. Despite the fact that most global programs have been…

Successfully leading transformative diversity culture change is one of the most significant challenges facing modern higher education. This study sought out campus diversity officers' perceptions, shaped by their lived experiences as diversity practitioners, to identify and deeply understand diversity leadership practices that they perceived to be…

Using archival records preserved by Iowa's community colleges, private four-year colleges, and public universities, this dissertation examines how Iowa's established higher education institutions responded to and adjusted to the "presence" of new two-year colleges from 1965 to 1975. This decade was a critical period of development for…

Since 1944, student veterans have used the benefits afforded by the GI Bill to enter higher education. Student veterans continue to use a benefit from federal programs to attend colleges and universities. Once military service members end their careers in the military, they are entitled to a higher education under the Forever GI Bill. As of 2017,…

The growing number of community college transfer students aspiring to attain a baccalaureate degree increases the importance of understanding their perceptions about mattering at 4-year institutions. The degree to which students believe that they matter to others, they are significant to others, and they are appreciated by others (Rosenberg &…

With the significant pressure placed on higher education administrators, and more specifically Title IX Coordinators, to manage compliance of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) guidance on Title IX, this study has focused on the perceptions of the of individuals tasked with this obligation. To determine from the individuals on the front line of…

This dissertation charts that growth of the profession of fundraising at American colleges and universities. Fundraising has been central to college and university operations from the beginning of American higher education; the fundraising professional, however, is a 20th century phenomenon. From their first campaigns to erect a building or…

This study examined if and to what extent selected institutional services and special learning and credit opportunities in the 2-year private, for-profit college sector and community colleges in the United States are related to race, socioeconomic status and urbanicity. The researcher evaluated whether the institutional services and special…

The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study was to understand how front-line student services staff experience transition from a traditional model of service to an integrated model of service. There were three fundamental questions framing this research study: 1. What strategies and support systems were utilized by staff making the…