In response to the growing call to increase college completion rates, many campus officials have turned their attention to the "sophomore slump"--a term that broadly defines the somewhat-common and lackluster performance of a substantial portion of second-year college students. To examine this issue, this report looks beyond test scores…

Ten years ago when Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) published its annual study of freshman motivations, those students were entering college in the shadow of the worst recession since the Great Depression. That report, which examined attitudes of students from 2009, provided insight into their motivations, attitudes, and needs in the midst of a very…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of university instructors meeting individually with students early in a term to discuss the students' career goals and plans and how those may relate to the course. Two psychology instructors set up individual 15-minute meetings with students. Evaluation of the meetings involved evaluation…

How do students and alumni of for-profit colleges feel about their schools and the value of their education? Do they have distinct expectations, priorities, and needs compared with students who choose to study at not-for-profit institutions? Are prospective students effectively weighing their options before deciding to enroll at for-profit…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of undergraduate college students attending a public and a private university in the State of Kuwait to understand how they develop their understanding and valuing of information literacy and information literacy standards. Data from student and faculty interviews and student…

Student employment is increasingly common in many countries. Compared to earlier decades, not only more students work but they also work longer hours. Among European countries Estonia is one of the clear "leaders" in student employment. This study uses survey data from 2,496 students in Estonian public and private universities to examine…

Higher education has seen significant changes in the student experience in the past 10 years. For the past decade, everything from student attitudes about college to the technology they use every day has impacted their satisfaction with, and perception of, the college experience. This report is a comparison of student satisfaction, separated by 10…

The level of job performance, international comparability and competitiveness of Nigerian university graduates are burning issues. Consequently, the academic quality of Nigerian universities has come under severe criticism. Since university lecturers are key players in quality assurance in universities, this study explored their perceptions of…

A number of U.S. higher education institutions are converting from quarter-to semester-based academic calendars; in fall 2012, seventeen Ohio institutions did so. Over a two-year time period, college student samples were recruited from a large, public, urban, Midwestern university that was undergoing a transition from a quarter-based to a…

Students enrolled in a first-semester, critical-thinking course assessed their perception of their own wellness using a 52-question survey. Within the survey, holistic wellness was measured along seven dimensions: (a) physical, (b) intellectual, (c) social, (d) occupational, (e) spiritual, (f) emotional, and (g) environmental. Individual…

Based on 22 focus groups conducted at institutions located in a Midwestern metropolitan region, this study explores working, commuting and adult-learner college students' implicit theories about financial aid policy and seeks to understand how students make sense of their own experiences in paying for college. The institutions participating in the…

In recent years violent crimes on several university campuses have been highlighted by mass media, drawing national attention to the issue of campus crime. Not all college campuses, however, experience the same level of crime. While community colleges serve roughly half of all undergraduates in the U.S., statistically these public institutions…

The aim of this study is to examine the attributes which influence students' selection of electives as part of their university degree programme. Marketing students at a public university in Malaysia participated in the research. Conjoint analysis was used to understand the trade-offs between three attributes when selecting elective subjects.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of international students of service quality delivery (SQD) in a Malaysian public university. Design/methodology/approach: The study was limited to the University's immediate physical environment and its associated human and systems-based services. The physical environment in this…

The purpose of this study was to investigate intellectual diversity on elite public universities in southern California through the perceptual lens of the evangelical undergraduate student. Intellectual diversity has been defined as "the intellectual independence of professors, researchers, and students in the pursuit of knowledge and the…