Malleable, noncognitive psychological factors such as grit and resilience are seen as critical for academic success and have garnered significant attention from researchers and policymakers. However, there is nontrivial overlap between these two constructs, and it remains unclear whether grit, resilience, or both, constitute the optimal target(s)…

Community colleges fill a unique space in the U.S. higher education system supporting skill development and preparation for students to enter a global workforce. Over time, global workforce demands have prompted community colleges to focus with greater intention on global competency skill development and internationalization of programs and…

The decline in undergraduate enrollment at American colleges and universities, particularly highlighted by a drop of nearly 500,000 students in Fall 2021, continues to reflect broader challenges facing higher education. Factors contributing to this trend include the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic instability, shifting…

Most students who begin at a community college do not complete their desired credential. Many former students fail to graduate due to various barriers rather than their academic performance. To encourage previously successful non-completers to re-enroll and eventually graduate, a growing number of community colleges have implemented re-enrollment…

Responsibility center management (RCM) is a market-based budget model that may benefit certain academic institutions. While there are supporters and opponents of the model, there is a lack of hard evidence about the potential impact of RCM on a variety of institutional variables, hence the need for this study. This study brought together the…

Higher education in the U.S. has undergone dramatic changes as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses responses to the Digital Learning Pulse Survey (DLPS) to examine one aspect of those changes -- how institutions deal with declining enrollments. The DLPS project began in the spring of 2020, it was designed to document the…

This paper examines the adoption and outcomes of shortened parts of term--referred to as SPOT--across nine diverse higher education institutions, drawing on insights from a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders involved in SPOT implementation. The white paper explores the motivations behind the adoption of SPOTs, along with the strategies…

Nearly half of all new community college students drop out of school before successfully completing a degree or credential. It has been found that the greatest percentage of these "non-completer" students terminate their college careers before entering their second year of attendance. First-year seminars (FYS) have long been believed to…

Online learning in the higher education sector has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. Whereas online learning was once a viable alternative for the nontraditional adult student, enrollment trends now show an influx in traditional students opting for virtual education opportunities especially in the last three years during the COVID-19…

Higher education institutions across the United States have increasingly faced an uncertain future as student populations shift, financial pressures mount, and skepticism rises regarding the value of higher education (Seltzer, 2018). As a result, university leaders find themselves endeavoring upon a blind venture of adapting the various corporate…

Research shows that cultural, socioeconomic, and challenging college admission processes are three themes plaguing Latina students pursing higher education. Latinas are faced with familial obligations, strained income gaps, and limited resources supporting their college application process. The purpose of this study was to determine if enrollment…

For colleges of agriculture throughout the US, recruitment and retention of undergraduate students is a matter of existential importance. We analyzed personal statements written by applicants accepted to undergraduate degrees at North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to determine what pre-university…

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed Every Student Success Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the 50-year-old ESEA commitment to equal opportunity for all students (U. S. Department of Education, n.d.). One of the provisions included all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and…

Pre-enrolment self-assessments are a promising way to address student commitment and retention in an early stage. Such assessments aim to inform study decisions by evoking reflection and providing advice for further preparation. Though these assessments require a solid validation process, so far the consequential validity aspect tends to be…

While federal funding has provided financial benefits to assist the increasing number of veteran students in their academic pursuits, universities have not always been well-equipped to properly support this nontraditional demographic. For this study, the researchers utilized a mixed-methods approach to determine if the enrollment, retention, and…