America's diverse higher education landscape includes more than 700 four-year nonprofit colleges and universities that focus on baccalaureate education. These private nondoctoral (PND) institutions are located in almost every state and collectively enroll about 1.6 million students and award nearly 150,000 degrees annually, with the majority of…

In this brief, the authors propose three measures of "early momentum" for two reasons: Research is beginning to show that these near-term metrics predict long-term success, and the metrics focus attention on initial conditions at colleges that are particularly important for solidifying the foundation for student success. While these…

An alarming convergence of factors--diminishing percentages of high school graduates enrolling immediately in postsecondary education, traditionally underserved students comprising a growing proportion of the overall U.S. school population, and projections that more occupations in the future will need education beyond high school--suggest that…

Prior learning assessment (PLA) is the process of evaluating learning, regardless of when or where the learning occurred, and, if the learning is at the college level, awarding college credit to the possessor of that learning. This article provides an overview of the PLA program at a large public U.S. institution and presents the findings of the…

In the past, negative effects of not graduating high school have included a higher likelihood of unemployment, a greater chance of living below the poverty line, and relying on government supported programs. Health problems and criminal activities are also linked to the incompletion of high school. One domain of the high school curriculum, Career…

The purpose of this descriptive causal-comparative study was to examine persistence to graduation of student cohorts with 60+ credit hours earned who are native to the university and transfer students coming into Tennessee Technological University with 60+ credit hours previously earned at a community college. Data were obtained for each student…

Research was undertaken to determine whether comparable grading standards are used in evaluating student performance at two-year community colleges and four-year universities. Examination of academic records of 417 students who took college level math at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in fall 2009 compared the performance of those who…

This report analyzes college completion metrics for the Appalachian Region, compares outcomes of students attending campuses in the Region with those of students attending campuses outside the Region, and offers insight about major stumbling blocks to college progression and completion for students in Appalachia.

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Data Exchange is a cooperative effort of the SREB and the statewide higher education governing and coordinating boards in the South. Founded in 1969-1970, it is one of the nation's oldest, most comprehensive sources of comparative data on public higher education. The Data Exchange annually…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Data Exchange is a one-of-a-kind regional program with 23 statewide higher education governing and coordinating board partners. The Data Exchange annually collects, compiles, and publishes: (1) the most current and detailed comparative statistics on postsecondary education in the 16 SREB states;…

The statute [T.C.A. Section 49-7-202(c)(7)] requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to prepare a biennial report for the governor and the general assembly, "commenting upon major developments, trends, new policies, budgets and financial considerations which in the judgment of the commission will be useful to the governor and to the…

Each year millions of young people graduate from high school and enroll in colleges and universities across the country, and many of these students are underprepared for the demands and academic rigor of college-level courses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in graduation rates between students…

The high school graduation rate in Tennessee has failed to meet the state required benchmark of 90%. The state graduation rate in 2003 was 76%, in 2004 it was 75.7%, 2005 it was 77.9%, and in 2006 it was 80.7%. The Tennessee State Department of Education is searching for effective methods to increase the graduation rate for Tennessee high schools.…

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-5-108 requires the state to develop a report card or assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs. This report includes data on the performance of each institution's graduates in the following areas required by state statute: placement and retention rates, Praxis results, and teacher effect data based on…

Tennessee needs to continuously increase its degree productivity by four percent every year from now until 2025. In the midst of this need for increased degree production, the state's current economic realities indicate public institutions will receive little to no new state appropriated revenues for the foreseeable future. The Master Plan Annual…