This study aims to better understand two primary factors associated with student retention, with a particular focus on transfer commuter students. The factors of focus for this study are student sense of connectedness and perceived support networks. Retention and graduation are an area of importance nationally for all student populations (Lumina…

Many community college students in the U.S. do not complete a credential or degree, thus facing dramatically reduced earning potential (Levesque, 2018). The purpose of this study was to understand and examine why students drop out with the intent of developing practical and feasible solutions to prevent them from dropping out. This Action Research…

Despite increases in college enrollment, college completion rates have not kept up, at both 2-year and 4-year institutions. In California specifically, the 6-year graduation or transfer rate for students at 2-year institutions was only 48%. In response to the idea that students arrive at college unprepared, driving these low college success rates,…

This document contains the technical appendices for the report "Dual Enrollment in California: Promoting Equitable Student Access and Success." Appendices include: (1) Data and methods; and (2) Additional tables and figures. [This report was written with research support from Bonnie Brooks and Gabriel Gutierrez Aragon. For the full…

Community colleges have been criticized for having lower graduation rates than four year colleges, but few studies have looked at non-graduation transfer, in which a student leaves the community college for a four-year college without taking an associate degree. The current study utilizes institutional data and a discrete-time event history model…

An ever-increasing number of individuals are turning to community college for their higher education. However, the majority of students entering community college fail to complete their degrees, and as a result, earn lower wages throughout the course of their lives. If community college retention rates were increased, graduates could become part…

The 2016 Nebraska Higher Education Progress Report is the 12th annual progress report designed to provide the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving three key priorities for Nebraska's postsecondary education system. These priorities were developed by the 2003 LR 174 Higher Education Task…

Community colleges are an essential component of America's higher education system. Last year, they enrolled well over 6 million students, a number that continues to grow. Community colleges have multiple missions, and their performance ultimately needs to be evaluated on multiple metrics. However, one key mission of community colleges is the…

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated annual report summarizing important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The 2019 Condition of Education report presents 48 indicators on topics ranging from prekindergarten through postsecondary education, as well as labor force outcomes and international…

The purpose of this study was to examine the college enrollment and persistence rates of rural high schools in Pennsylvania; the types of postsecondary institutions in which students from such schools enroll; and the student, school, and college characteristics associated with enrollment and persistence outcomes. The study used extant data from…

The Annual Condition of Education Report provides a wide range of state-level data, including shifts in student populations and demographics, teacher salaries and characteristics, student achievement results, and school financial information. The report provides important metrics to the education community about the status of the education system.…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

Decreasing the high school dropout rate in the United States is gaining a great deal of national attention. One of the key strategies that has been identified to decrease dropout rate is to offer at-risk students alternatives to traditional school. This study contributed to our knowledge about alternative high schools for at-risk students by using…

The Student Transitions Project (STP) is a collaborative effort of British Columbia's (BC's) Ministries of Education and Advanced Education and Labour Market Development and BC's public post-secondary institutions. STP research is helping school districts, post-secondary institutions and the Ministries of Education and Advanced Education and…

Students who attend college part time are at a disadvantage relative to their full-time peers, according to a report released in June by the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The report analyzes data from a 2004 national postsecondary student-aid study to create a profile of part-time…