This report examines enrollment and graduation trends at eight Texas institutions, highlights promising programs and strategies for serving Latino students, and offers policy recommendations for improving success rates for the state's Latino students. The analysis was prepared as part of Excelencia's Accelerating Latino Student Success (ALASS)…

There are 11,000 or so people in Kentucky who came within a course or two of earning a college degree, but never did. Almost half a million more took a few college courses but then dropped out. Now educators are trying to lure back those erstwhile students to finish what they started. Over the next 12 years, Kentucky wants to double the number of…

This report provides new and unique empirical evidence on postsecondary education pathways in Atlantic Canada based on the data from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS). This study covers postsecondary students in public institutions at all levels of study--college, bachelor's, master's, Ph.D. and first professional degrees--with…

It has been more than a decade since the U.S. Congress enacted the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act," which requires colleges and universities to make public their six-year degree completion rates. Based on the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act," prospective students and their parents are being encouraged to make…

It is generally difficult to appraise the efficiency with which resources are allocated in the education industry because the outputs of education are often difficult to measure. This study focuses on one output of the university: the Ph.D. degree and examines the factors that influence the production of that output. The case study was made at the…

Focusing on student retention and time to degree completion, this study illustrates how institutional researchers may benefit from the power of predictive analyses associated with data-mining tools. The following are appended: (1) Predictors; and (2) Variable Definitions. (Contains 5 figures.)

This study analyzed the retention and completion rates of international students seeking a master's degree at an American university. Records of 866 international students from 1987-2002 were investigated. Of these, 622 graduated, 92 dropped out of the program, and 152 are still active. Predictor variables analyzed to determine retention to degree…

This report presents information on each of the groups of freshmen who entered Illinois public universities between the 1983-84 and 1991-92 academic years regarding retention and persistence of baccalaureate students, the proportion that graduate, and the length of time needed to complete the Bachelor's degree. The report shows that: (1) 55…

This paper uses the Chain of Response Model (CRM) to help explain retention in the community college population. In the CRM, the student's decision to remain at an educational institution is not an isolated act, but rather the result of a complex chain of responses based on her/his cognitive evaluation of the present situation. The authors applied…

A study of degree completion rates, time taken to earn degrees, and final academic standing in two universities showed wide variation between faculty and academic department, between the universities, between males and females, and between direct entry and transfer students. Assessment of the impact of rising admissions standards is recommended.…

This report presents a summary of findings from the Emerging Pathways project, which seeks to identify the diverse needs and characteristics of adult learners, understand patterns of enrollment in credit and non-credit-bearing courses and offer advice to postsecondary institutions and policymakers committed to adult learners' success. Among its…

Parents, legislators, and even students worry about graduation rates at American public colleges and universities. They compare the statistics they see to their idealized memory of a time when college students enrolled in college immediately after high school and graduated with a bachelor's degree four years later. Although this enrollment pattern…

Examines the total direct and indirect effects of receiving financial aid on persistence to degree using a subsample of 1989 freshmen from the Beginning Postsecondary Student Survey. Analysis shows that although simply receiving financial aid is unrelated to persistence, the effects of financial aid on persistence appear to depend on type and…

This study provides a cross-sectional analysis of graduation rates and persistence for enrollees in major degree programs at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) (Florida). The population for the study comprised all students (n=13,887) enrolled in extant majors as of fall 1994. The study was designed to identify two subgroups for each major:…

This paper identified factors within the higher education environment that significantly influence student retention rates and the timely graduation of traditional full-time, first-time, degree seeking students in the state of Colorado. The paper uses the research findings of national studies and other studies conducted by Wisconsin and…