After three years of treading water (2005, 2006, and 2007), in 2008 (academic year 2007-08), undergraduate degrees in economics awarded by U.S. colleges and universities resumed the strong upward trajectory they exhibited from 1997 through 2004, when they rose almost 60 percent over seven years. This trend has continued unabated since 2007, with…

Time to completion of the baccalaureate degree has increased markedly in the United States over the past three decades. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 and the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, we show that the increase in time to degree is localized among those who begin their…

This article describes a qualitative study examining factors influencing the decision-making processes of traditional-age students living in rural, southeastern Kentucky as they progress toward acquiring a bachelor's degree using the community college as a steppingstone. Specifically, this study explored students' perspectives of the factors that…

This article presents the findings of a cross-disciplinary project between BA (Hons) Interior Design, Creative Multimedia and Film and Media Studies at a large Metropolitan University in the North of England. The collaboration was part of Unit X, a faculty-wide credit-bearing initiative to enable better collaboration across art and design courses.…

We analyse the relationship between job search and over-education for recent Australian bachelor degree graduates using data from the 2011 Beyond Graduation Survey. Results from panel estimation suggest that jobs found through university careers offices are associated with lower probability of over-education relative to jobs found through…

International trends for pre-registration nurse education at degree level alongside "widening access" initiatives mean that academic achievement of students entering via different educational routes is of interest to both higher and further education institutions. This article examines the academic achievement of students undertaking a…

Efforts to improve the Black science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pipeline have focused on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); however, this work generally fails to acknowledge men. This article characterized Black male receipts of bachelor's degrees from HBCUs in STEM fields between 1981 and 2009 using a…

High Fidelity Simulation is a teaching strategy that is becoming well-entrenched in the world of nursing education and is rapidly expanding due to the challenges and demands of the health care environment. The problem addressed in this study is the conflicting research results regarding the effectiveness of HFS for students' knowledge acquisition…

The purpose of this study was to test a model using Rosabeth Kanter's theory (1977; 1993) of structural empowerment to determine if this model can predict student nurses' level of critical thinking. Major goals of nursing education are to cultivate graduates who can think critically with a keen sense of clinical judgment, and who can perform…

Currently, there is a shortage of Americans entering STEM careers. Furthermore, women remain underrepresented in these fields. In this paper I discuss the career decisions of three undergraduate women mathematics majors who, during their undergraduate years, expressed an interest in obtaining a career in mathematics but lacked substantial…

Canada's province of Ontario introduced a new policy in 2000 allowing community colleges to offer a new type of undergraduate degree. This decision was a significant policy change for the government considering the nature of Ontario's binary system, where a rigid separation has historically prevailed between the university and college sectors.…

This study examined whether eligibility for the Florida Student Access Grant, a need-based grant for low-income students in Florida, affects college enrollment, credit accumulation, persistence over time in college, and, eventually, graduation. The sample for this study included seniors in Florida public high schools in 1999-2000 who submitted a…

Overall, too few students are completing two-year college. Those who complete are still starting off unequally. About one-third of students earning academic degrees do not transfer, but rather go directly to work and find their degree has little value in the labor market. Research suggests they could have benefitted from having marketable skills…

Every year, the Student Transitions Project (STP) collects post-secondary enrollment and credential completion data from the twenty-five British Columbia (B.C.) public post-secondary institutions and links this data to secondary enrollment information via encrypted personal education numbers (PENs). Now comprising fourteen full years of…

This is a new report that combines the previous Annual Accountability Report and University Work Plans into a single document more closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This revised document will enhance the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by enabling comparisons between past goals…