This paper examines the impact of a reform aimed at expediting graduation times in Italian universities by reducing the number of exams students must pass to obtain a fixed number of credits. Using event-study estimates that leverage the reform's staggered implementation, we find that this policy change led to an increase in on-time graduation…

In the educational landscape, educational data mining has emerged as an indispensable tool for institutions seeking to deliver exceptional and high-quality education. However, education data revealed suboptimal academic performance among a significant portion of the student population, which consequently resulted in delayed graduation. This…

This research explores the suitability of system-based simulation analysis for higher education (HE) policy-planning. A dynamic system model of the Finnish university funding system covering bachelor-level students is presented. The results show that the model captures the nature of the current funding system, which can be considered a zero-sum…

In higher education, many students do not complete their studies within the term allotted. A Dutch university implemented an intervention aimed to reduce this form of academic procrastination. The intervention consisted of three measures: (1) requiring students to acquire all first-year credits within their first year in university, (2) reducing…

This paper adds to the literature on the relationship between procrastination and academic performance. We measure procrastination as the speed with which students do an online math course on the ALEKS learning platform. This pre-admission course is mandatory for students that are weak in math. Using a large dataset of undergraduate students at a…

Our paper adds to a growing literature of doctoral training by studying factors that drive time-to-completion based on a new and unique data set from an international European graduate school. While previous research focused on individual factors, we inspect the role of institutional factors and the organization of PhD programs for PhD completion.…

To strengthen teacher preparation in the Republic of Palau, Public Law 10-32 (enacted in 2018) requires all teachers in the country to hold an associate's degree in education or in the subject area they will teach by the end of 2023. This policy change required many current teachers and those interested in the teaching profession to enroll in an…

These appendixes provide the technical details, methods, and results for the accompanying infographic. The importance of the study, including guiding research questions, is addressed in appendix A, while the study's research approach and detailed results are provided in appendix B.

This fact sheet explores the association between parental income and the pathways of young adults in postsecondary education for students who began their studies in the 2012/2013 academic year. Students from low-income families have previously been shown to have lower rates of educational access and attainment. This fact sheet focuses on…

Background: In this paper, we investigate the predictors for enrollment and success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs in higher education. We develop a sequential logit model in which students enroll in STEM education, may drop out from STEM higher education, or continue studying until they graduate in an STEM…

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study is to identify potential predictors of academic success or failure in Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in the field of biomedicine. Based on these, the policies and structure of academic programmes granting PhD degrees in biomedicine might be improved. Literature review (State of the art): At…

Contrary to the overall tendency to increase student participation in the financing of higher education, Estonia abolished student tuition fees in 2013. We study the effects of this reform on the students' access to and progress in higher education, concentrating mostly on the changes in probabilities of rural and remote students being admitted…

Australia is following a global trend in doctoral education policy to improve PhD completion times and rates. It is widely believed that accurate data on PhD completion are needed to assess the success of reforms and drive changes in doctoral education. In this article, new national completion data (2005-2018) provided by the Australian Department…

Graduate and doctoral schools around the world struggle to shorten the long time to degree and to prevent high dropout rates. While most of previous research studied individual determinants of PhD completion, we analyze the impact of two structural reforms of the doctoral program on thesis completion at a selective European graduate school.…

This report examines transfer student pathways and performance from British Columbia (BC) Transfer System institutions into BC's public research-intensive universities: Royal Roads University (RRU), Simon Fraser University (SFU), Thompson Rivers University (TRU), University of British Columbia (UBC), University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC),…