The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions (see appendix A for a list of other U.S. jurisdictions). This "First Look" presents findings from the preliminary data of the…

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between participation in federally mandated college and career-preparatory programs--known as programs of study (POS)--and high school achievement outcomes. POS are an organized approach to college and career readiness that offer an aligned sequence of courses spanning secondary and…

Most colleges and universities in the US offer at least some classes online, and a significant number of colleges and universities offer degree programs either all online or predominantly online. Many of the distance learning courses and programs emerge from traditional courses and programs; however, in the past decade we have seen the emergence…

A comparison of student learning outcomes between distance education and campus-based nursing students in a mental health course working toward registered nurse (RN) licensure in a baccalaureate (BS) degree program is presented. Learning outcomes were evaluated using results from a commercially developed content mastery test taken by students who…

Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study explored various factors that predicted bachelor's degree attainment among rural youth attending a four-year institution. Results showed that Hispanic origin, family income, parental educational expectations, the rigor of the high school curriculum, timing and intensity of college…

Teacher education courses at universities qualify graduates to teach in age-related contexts of primary/early childhood/secondary that reflect the organisational structure of schools. In terms of teacher employment, for some considerable time, these longstanding organisational divisions have been by-passed whereby a shortage of teachers in…

The survey on hot topics was added in 2007 to the annual survey of state directors of community colleges conducted by the University of Alabama Education Policy Center. The survey data provided an opportunity for examining the personal attitudes toward the hot topics and the associations between these attitudes and state contexts. This study finds…

In section two of a 2002 amendment on the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Improvement Act, congress stated "A workforce that is highly trained in science...is crucial to generating the innovation that drives economic growth..." (Committee on Science, 2002). Given the growth in science,…

Although access to a postsecondary education has increased exponentially since 1970, access to a bachelor's degree has not grown as swiftly. Moreover, while national longitudinal trend data highlight improvements in bachelor's degree completion in the aggregate, they disguise important disparities in bachelor's degree completion across groups.…

This study highlights the postsecondary pathways of students with disabilities from the Illinois high school class of 2002 (N=7,598) and provides comparisons to the students from the same cohort without a disability (N=105,537). The current study has two parts: 1) an analysis of the differences between students with disabilities and students…

Time to completion of the baccalaureate degree has increased markedly in the United States over the last three decades, even as the wage premium for college graduates has continued to rise. 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…

Observed differences between Associate and Bachelor students are often justified by citing the comparative poorer performance of 2-year students that continue into 4-year programs. This research offers a different approach by investigating introductory-level management courses taught as a combined class at a regional campus of a state university.…

As the leader of the nation's only campus dedicated exclusively to early college, the author heads an institution that ensures students graduate sooner than the national average. As an academic who pursued her graduate work at Oxford University--an institution that confers most of its undergraduate degrees in three years--the author has had direct…

This study focuses on facilitating independent learning amongst Chinese international students completing a Bachelor's Degree. A rationale for cultivating independence is provided and a model of independent learning developed, based on Grow's Staged Self-Directed Learning model and the 1996 Situational Leadership model of Hersey and Blanchard.…

There is considerable variation between male and female Bachelor degree performance at Oxford and Cambridge (Oxbridge) where male students attain more First and Third Class degrees and female students attain more Second Class degrees. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon including the possibility that the distinctive…