The Texas Education Agency (TEA) was awarded Charter School Program (CSP) funding in 2007, and specified that the required evaluation would focus on the experiences and outcomes of new charter schools authorized to begin serving students across 4 school years: 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. TEA categorizes charter schools in terms of…

This report compares high school indicators of college readiness for the Baltimore City Schools Class of 2011 with actual readiness as determined by Maryland colleges. Each Maryland college determines its own criteria for entering credit bearing courses or taking developmental courses. As a result, findings are reported separately by college…

Preparing to attend a postsecondary institution often involves many steps. In addition to academic preparation, high school students who plan to pursue postsecondary education must apply for admission to a college. For those who want to attend a 4-year institution, most also need to take a college entrance examination and obtain financial aid…

This study examined the availability and characteristics of university-based precollege programs designed to improve college access and success for students attending District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Employing a mixed-method approach, this study used quantitative data collected through a survey instrument to measure the degree to which…

Each year millions of young people graduate from high school and enroll in colleges and universities across the country, and many of these students are underprepared for the demands and academic rigor of college-level courses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in graduation rates between students…

Low-income high school graduates are less likely to get to a postsecondary institution than their middle and upper-income peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2000). Students who do enter a four-year institution do not have the necessary academic preparation to succeed and obtain a professional degree. The study examined how two national college…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine time and efficiency to undergraduate degree completion. Four dependent variables were examined including semesters enrolled, semesters elapsed, graduation efficiency index (GEI), and alternative GEI. Many independent variables were assessed to determine if they had a correlation to time or…

U.S. colleges and universities are failing to graduate a greater number of students than in previous decades, although there has been more than a 25 percent increase in the number of students enrolling in colleges after high school graduation for the last three decades. Nevertheless, the 6-year graduation rate has been lingering around 66 percent…

With over 4,400 colleges and universities offering a variety of degrees and programs, and more than 2,000 non-degree granting institutions, the postsecondary education landscape within the United States can be a complex web to navigate for high school students (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). The transition from high school to postsecondary…

Multiple efforts have been undertaken around the world to describe and categorize universities and systems of higher education, in the understanding that knowledge about these institutions can inform interventions which can improve educational quality and efficiency, while helping consumers--students, parents, employers, and governments--make…

With their open access admission policies, low tuition costs, and convenient locations, community colleges are designed to make college accessible to all. They strive to meet three main goals. The first is to teach marketable vocational skills, the second is to provide the first two years of a four-year bachelor's degree program, and the third is…

San Francisco's Bridge to Success (BtS) initiative brings together the City and County of San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), and key community organizations to promote postsecondary success for underrepresented students. Various working groups, each comprised of staff from…

In Spring 2013 San José State University (SJSU) launched SJSU Plus: three college courses required for most students to graduate, which used massive open online course provider Udacity's platform, attracting over 15,000 students. Retention and success (pass/fail) and online support were tested using an augmented online learning environment (AOLE)…

An important goal for California is that public high schools continue to make progress in closing the achievement gap between demographic groups and that students are prepared for postsecondary education. In early 2008 Commission staff started developing a composite measure of academic preparation based on standardized test scores in nine college…

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a network of charter schools designed to improve the educational opportunities available to low-income families. KIPP schools seek to boost their students' academic achievement and, ultimately, prepare them to enroll and succeed in college. This paper provides the most thorough analysis to date of the…