A baccalaureate degree is essential to success in the contemporary United States. The degree offers improved economic security and the development of capabilities such as critical thinking, effective communication, quantitative reasoning, creativity, problem solving, personal and social responsibility, and social and cultural capital. Failure to…

Research in higher education over the past several decades has extensively examined the extent to which various aspects of the college environment affect student persistence (Astin, 1962, 1993; Bean, 1980; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Tinto, 1975, 1988, 1993). Furthermore, researchers have noted the importance of the residential living…

The Council of Higher Education, in this state-mandated biennial plan, sets four goals for Virginia's state-supported system of higher education to achieve: access, excellence, accountability, and placement among the best systems of higher education in the United States. The plan concentrates on the 84 degree-granting institutions that have been…

The Tuition Assistance Grant and Loan Program (TAGLP) provides financial assistance to Virginia students attending independent colleges in Virginia. The study described in this report was designed to examine the group of students who receive financial assistance (in the form of grants) under the TAGLP, and to determine the impact of the Tuition…