The growing concern of doctoral student persistence has increased exponentially in higher education over the past decade. The body of research presented in this dissertation examines the complex phenomenon of persistence and possible pathways to addressing the dilemma of deteriorating academic persistence for doctoral students. It explores and…

A significant amount of research has been documented on both attrition and retention of doctoral students. The attrition of doctoral students is a loss to society and academia when the prospective scholar does not complete the rigors of the dissertation journey. The time and money invested by the graduate students and the university is of no true…

Besides traditional admissions criteria, research-intensive social work PhD programs may rely on personal interviews and curriculum vitae or resumes to gauge prior research experience to determine applicants' fit for the research-related productivity expected in their programs. Case record review of social work PhD candidates (n=56) entering the…

Although admission criteria such as GRE scores and undergraduate GPAs (UGPAs) have been shown to moderately predict success in graduate school for students in other academic disciplines and in MSW programs, no published research has examined factors associated with success in social work PhD programs. This article reports the findings of a pilot…

Secondary data on 1,028 graduate students nested within 24 programs and admitted into either a Ph. D. or Ed. D. program between 1990 and 2006 at an American public university were used to illustrate the benefits of employing multilevel discrete-time hazard analysis in understanding the timing of doctorate completion in Education and the factors…

This article describes the rationale, implementation, and assessment of a summer-study format, part-time doctoral program that was designed to address the shortcomings of traditional part-time doctoral education in social welfare. Findings of a comparative analysis between 67 full-time and 52 part-time doctoral students suggest that the program…

In addition to opening remarks and a presentation on graduate education as a national resource, presentations are included on: the uses and limitations of dimensions of quality study; assessment of quality in master's degree programs; the graduate school in the university administration structure; creativity in graduate education; the uses of…

This book is intended as a guide for working adults planning to attend graduate school on a part-time basis. Written in an informal, conversational style, it begins with a review of the development of graduate school as a part-time phenomenon and the changing nature of graduate degrees, and notes that what works for master's degree study may not…