Graduation efficiency is of top concern for institutions of higher education throughout the world. Increasingly, accountability metrics have come under scrutiny as policymakers seek to ensure public resources are efficiently used. Traditionally, higher education policymakers in the USA and Europe have used graduation rate as an accountability…

Strengths-based education initiatives have been implemented at higher education institutions world-wide as efforts to enhance student retention and degree completion. The Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) joined the institutions utilizing strengths identification and development…

Undergraduate research is widely perceived as a "high-impact practice" that promotes students' learning, cognition, career planning, and educational attainment. With some exceptions, the existing evidence largely provides support for these beliefs. However, these studies typically examine research experiences that occur later in the…

What do state policies say about how to fund postsecondary education? This 50-State Comparison answers this question by searching state statutes, state rules and regulations, enacted state budget bills, and state postsecondary education agency policies that address postsecondary education budgeting and funding. According to the content of the…

This exploratory, descriptive study examined trends associated with Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) student stop out, reenrollment, and persistence to a credential upon reenrollment. For the 2006-2017 cohorts, 78% were retained from first to second year. Inferential models suggested that first-year stop out was mainly correlated to students' high…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. On average, 43 percent of credits are lost nationwide through the transfer process. Recognizing that today's students…

This three-article dissertation sought to explore the potential causal link of students' collegiate residence with three broad categories of student outcomes. Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, each article employed propensity score matching in an effort to reduce selection bias associated with a student's…

Increasing 4-year graduation rates among US students, particularly those historically disadvantaged in higher education, is a national imperative. The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the multifaceted Research Aligned Mentorship Program in advancing the academic success of low income, first generation college, and minority students…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS) was created by Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. Act 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative…

This dissertation analyzes the effects of various inputs in the education production function on student outcomes in higher education. Using unique data from public higher education in Arkansas, this paper uses student-level analysis to understand effects interactions between students with peers and instructors on college and labor market…

The "Yearly Success and Progress Rates" report goes beyond traditional student outcome measures by showing year-by-year rates of retention, persistence, transfer, completion and stop-out. It is designed to help institutions and states better identify and inform effective intervention points to increase student success. This report…

Despite considerable debate about the effects of fraternities and sororities on college campuses, the extent to which these organizations promote or detract from student success is unclear. Therefore, we used propensity score analyses to examine the link between membership in a social fraternity or sorority and several student success outcomes.…

Student attrition in postsecondary education is a significant public policy problem. Nations invest substantial resources in college systems, and when students leave, this investment is lost. To understand the factors that influence student attrition in US and Russian public universities, we use the perspective of academic momentum, defined…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to utilize a comprehensive 9-16 dataset to quantitatively examine which pre-college credit programs are the most significant predictors of college achievement as defined by college GPA, first to second year retention, time to degree and graduation date. A qualitative analysis was conducted, which via the…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS) was created by Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered post-secondary education in the fall of 1998. Act 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative…