Every day, an estimated 2,500 students across the nation drop out of high school. In the last decade, approximately 30 percent of students who enrolled in high school have failed to graduate four years later. The situation is even more dismal for youth of color. In 2003, only 55 percent of African Americans and 53 percent of Hispanics graduated…

In October 2006, a collaborative of cross-sector leaders launched Project U-Turn, a citywide campaign to bring much-needed attention to Philadelphia's dropout crisis and to build the collective will to resolve it. In addition to increasing public awareness of the issue in a variety of ways, Project U-Turn's work has resulted in significant…

In this paper, absorbing markov chains are used to analyse the flows of higher degree by research candidates (doctoral and master) within an Australian faculty of business. The candidates are analysed according to whether they are full time or part time. The need for such analysis stemmed from what appeared to be a rather poor completion rate (as…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was initiated in 1986 to collect data about all identified institutions whose primary purpose is to provide postsecondary education. Postsecondary education is defined within IPEDS as "the provision of a formal instructional…

In October 2003, NCES asked the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) and the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI) to convene a task force of measurement and policy experts to examine current high school graduation, completion, and dropout indicators (GCD) and recommend improvements in the measures. The Task Force was asked…

This report presents public high school graduation rates for all students and for African Americans, Latinos, and white sub-groups. Rates are reported for each state, for each of the 50 largest school districts, and for a few other districts of interest. The state and district numbers are also reported separately for African Americans, Latinos,…

This report contains the retention and graduation patterns of full-time undergraduate students at Maryland's public four-year colleges and universities from 1982 to 2002. Specifically, it looks at the number and percentage of students who were retained at their original public four-year campus and those who graduated from any senior public college…

This report is one of a series that presents findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Results of the spring 2003 data collection are included and display enrollment data for fall 2002, student financial aid data for the 2001-02 academic year (July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002), financial statistics for fiscal year…

The goal of this report is to measure the institutional characteristics that affect the success of community college students, particularly low-income and minority students. While there is a growing literature on this topic for baccalaureate institutions, few researchers have attempted to address the issue for community colleges. Since this line…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires states to prepare and disseminate an annual state report card. This requirement became effective at the beginning of the 2002-03 school year. The state agency also must ensure each local district collects appropriate data and includes this data at the district level and for each school in its annual…

Only half of our nation's minority students graduate from high school along with their peers. For many groups--Latino, black, or Native American males--graduation rates are even lower. As states hasten to institute higher standards and high-stakes tests in the effort to raise student achievement, this situation is likely to worsen, particularly…

Data from Berea College, which has a full-tuition subsidy and large room/board subsidies, were used to examine low college graduation rate of low-income students. The high attrition rate despite subsidies suggests that the cause is unrelated to costs and may be due to poor precollege educational opportunities or noncost-related difficulties in…

Purpose - This paper aims to compare the performance of building trades apprenticeship programs in the USA, sponsored jointly by employers and unions, with those sponsored unilaterally by employers. It reviews enrolment and graduation rates, including participation of women and minorities. The article also looks behind the numbers to examine the…

Students who are at risk of dropping out of school can be identified retrospectively as early as third grade on the basis of attendance patterns, academic performance, and behavior. Check & Connect is a model designed to promote student engagement, support regular attendance, and improve the likelihood of school completion. The program has been…

Since the mid 1970s the national rate at which incoming 9th graders have completed high school has fallen slowly but steadily; this is also true in 41 states. In 2002, about three in every four students who might have completed high school actually did so; in some states this figure is substantially lower. In this paper I review state-level…