Dual enrollment programming is a way in which high schools and colleges can form partnerships to further their shared interest in student success both in high school and college, perseverance to college enrollment and completion, and a way for students to experience the rigors and expectations of college while in the supportive environment of high…

I explore FAFSA completion within the high school context through a three-essay dissertation. Each study connects high school-level FAFSA completion data from the Federal Student Aid Office to other federal or state datasets that allow for assessment of the impact of a variety of high school characteristics. In paper 1, I examine high school-level…

Associate degrees and credentials in Information Technology (IT) have the potential to open up high-wage and high-opportunity labor market opportunities for learners. Yet structural barriers in access to and completion of these degrees and credentials continue to make it difficult for Black learners and workers to access and thrive in these…

There is a great need for education and training about neurodiversity due to the rapid increase of neurodivergent students enrolling in postsecondary educational programs. As neurodivergent professionals, we offer a look at the common myths and misunderstandings that plague neurodivergent students as well as highlight the strengths neurodivergent…

In the U.S., state politicians directly influence legislation and budget decisions that can substantially affect public education spending and students. Does the political party of elected officials matter for these outcomes? We use a regression discontinuity design to analyze close house and gubernatorial elections from 1982 to 2016 and find that…

Selective college admissions are fundamentally a question of tradeoffs: Given capacity, admitting one student means rejecting another. Research to date has generally estimated average effects of college selectivity, and has been unable to distinguish between the effects on students gaining access and on those losing access under alternative…

We provide the first estimated economic impacts of students' access to an entire sector of public higher education in the U.S. Approximately half of Georgia high school graduates who enroll in college do so in the state's public four-year sector, which requires minimum SAT scores for admission. Regression discontinuity estimates show enrollment in…

The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. This report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. We consider a range of achievement measures, including initial enrollments,…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how doctoral students describe their pre-enrollment experiences in an interactive technology-based webinar with senior leaders, and how the webinar experiences influenced their selection of an online doctoral program at a Christian university in the southwestern United States. The…

We investigate whether and how Achieve Atlanta's college scholarship and associated services impact college enrollment, persistence, and graduation among Atlanta Public School graduates experiencing low household income. Qualifying for the scholarship of up to $5,000/year does not meaningfully change college enrollment among those near the high…

States have introduced a range of policies and strategies aimed at boosting college readiness by strengthening collaborations between secondary and postsecondary education sectors. One popular strategy is Early College High Schools, which allows historically underserved student groups to complete college-level coursework and improve their college…

For adults with low incomes and potential first-generation college-goers, enrolling in college can be challenging. The U.S. Department of Education-funded Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs) provide supports to help navigate some of the barriers to enrollment, including assistance with completing college and financial aid application processes,…

The Powered by Publics (PxP) initiative has been an ambitious undertaking from the beginning, aiming to produce hundreds of thousands more undergraduate degrees and halving equity gaps for low-income, minoritized, and first-generation students by 2025. APLU has collected student performance data from the 127 participating institutions over the…

Education administrators are placing greater demands on university faculty, staff, and admission counselors to enroll and retain more students. Understanding this transition and the associated challenges is important for institutions of higher education so they can better assist black male students as they navigate through college and…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS), Louisiana's merit-based student aid program, was created via Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. Act…