The intent of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to explore the influence of financial knowledge application and financial debts or freedom of traditional Texas college students. The study identified how financial knowledge application influenced whether traditional Texas college students do or do not accumulate debt. The study…

"Creating a Financial Stake in College" is a four-part series of reports that focuses on the relationship between children's savings and improving college success. This series examines: (1) why policymakers should care about savings, (2) the relationship between inequality and bank account ownership, (3) the connections between savings…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Tax Returns: On Tax Day 2012, a 90 Percent High School Graduation Rate Would Yield $1.8 Billion Annually in Additional Tax…

Young immigrants--about 1.4 million of them nationally--are often in the wrong place at the wrong time. Across the country, a patchwork of state laws and policies governs their access to higher education. The inconsistency stems, in part, from disagreement over whether undocumented immigrants are entitled to go to college. While states must…

This manuscript analyzed a survey of programs providing transition services to deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students. Quantitative analyses compared services offered by residential, large (35+ D/HH students), and small (<35 students) programs. Correlations across Employment Preparation, Post-school Preparation, and Transition Assessments…

Between 1990 and 2012, the percentage of 13-year-olds (most of whom are 8th graders) taking algebra more than doubled, from 15% to 34% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Yet recent education policy changes suggest that this movement to encourage algebra-taking in 8th grade has begun to reverse course. Existing research suggests that…

Education--and in particular higher education--is often regarded as a route to social mobility. For this to be the case, however, the link between family background and adult outcomes must be broken (or at least reduced) once we take account of an individual's education history. This paper provides new evidence on differences in graduates'…

Do schools reduce or perpetuate inequality by race and family income? Most studies conclude that schools play only a small role in explaining socioeconomic and racial disparities in educational outcomes, but they usually draw this conclusion based solely on test scores. We reconsider this finding using longitudinal data on test scores and…

This "First Look" presents findings from the preliminary data of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2014 data collection, which included three survey components: Institutional Characteristics for the 2014-15 academic year; Completions, covering the period July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014; and 12-Month…

This report shares the perspectives and aspirations of 17 low-income and working-class students based on interviews the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) conducted over two semesters of their college journeys. The report identifies opportunities for policymakers and institutional leaders to support all students through completion,…

The purpose of "Transforming Schooling for Second Language Learners: Theoretical Insights, Policies, Pedagogies, and Practices" is to bring together educational researchers and practitioners who have implemented, documented, or examined policies, pedagogies, and practices in and out of classrooms and in real and virtual contexts that are…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the college-going experiences of 10 high-achieving first-generation Latino college juniors and seniors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the southwest. Despite facing barriers, many first-generation Latino students succeed in attending and completing their postsecondary education. Yet,…

This paper presents results from the longitudinal experimental study conducted on North Carolina's early college model described in an earlier paper. The primary purpose of this paper is to present the impact of the early college model on outcomes related to postsecondary enrollment. The specific research questions driving this study include: (1)…

This report builds on the 2013 and 2014 Reports on Unmet Need and Student Success at Maryland Public Four-Year Institutions by providing data on six-year graduation rates for the students in the original 2008 entering cohort. For this report, both descriptive analysis and logistic regression were used to understand the relationship between…

Postsecondary early awareness strategies are a fast-growing component of college access to attainment efforts. Broadly defined, these programs and policies encourage low-income and first-generation students to gain the information, skills, and resources they need to successfully take part in higher education. They focus on students in fifth…