This Statistics in Brief focuses on students whose parents have not attended college and examines these students' high school success and postsecondary enrollment, persistence and degree completion once they enrolled in college, and graduate school enrollment and employment outcomes after they attained a bachelor's degree. Their outcomes are…

This First Look report presents selected findings from the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/17), a nationally representative survey of undergraduates who entered postsecondary education for the first time in the 2011-12 academic year. BPS:12/17 covers the experiences of these first-time beginning postsecondary…

Issues of postsecondary education access and attainment have a direct impact on individuals' social and economic mobility, the labor market, and the nation's ability to stay globally competitive. Sample surveys--cross-sectional or longitudinal surveys of a subpopulation of individuals--on precollege experiences and preparation, postsecondary…

An estimated 46 million adults have some college education but have not completed their degrees. For many, especially those who have accumulated several years' worth of credits, the inability to finish college remains a frustration. If the United States is to achieve its ambitious education attainment goals, many more adults with such experience…

Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, is an important and often overlooked strategy for helping adults progress towards a degree. PLA is the process by which many colleges evaluate for academic credit the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom (or from non-college instructional programs), including…

This study by the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), California, aims to determine the impact of prerequisite enforcement on retention and course completion rates in English and math courses among underrepresented students. The report analyzed a subset of the more than 300 prerequisite-enforced courses offered by the SDCCD. The course…

This study addressed the question of how much graduation rates would improve if new students were followed for 10 instead of four or six years from their date of first enrollment; it also compared enrollment and graduation patterns of new freshmen and new transfers to see if graduation rates were similar after 10 years. Participants were all…

Results of a national survey, "Attracting and Retaining Adult Learners" (ARAL), by the American College Testing Program are summarized. Attention is focused on programs and services that have been successful with adult learners. ARAL respondents were from three types of institutions: (1) those for whom adult learners represent a primary thrust of…