Student parents--college students with dependent children--are highly motivated to succeed in college. They pursue degrees not only to achieve economic mobility for themselves but also to secure a better future for their children. Despite their high aspirations, they encounter significant barriers that contribute to frequent stop-outs--withdrawing…

From Fall 2019 through Spring 2020, The Hunt Institute released a series of policy briefs, "Attainment for All: Postsecondary Pathways," that highlighted scalable state-level strategies to boost postsecondary attainment rates among specific student subpopulations including high school graduates, first-generation students, and adult…

This practice report details a large, four-year, public, research 1 (very high research activity), Hispanic Serving Institution's (HSI) approach to tackling barriers to timely graduation through the implementation of a virtual support center, the Graduation Help Desk (GHD). The GHD, established in late 2017, operates at the level of the provost's…

Black students are disproportionately represented in special education, especially in categories that are subjectively determined by educators. Also, Black students with disabilities experience disproportionate rates of exclusionary discipline in schools and have disproportionately higher dropout rates and lower graduation rates. Research has…

Background/Context: Students designated as English Learners (ELs) account for 10.4 percent of all students nationwide but have historically been provided unequal access to educational resources (Gándara et al., 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Further, education policies are often blind to ELs' strengths and challenges,…

Completing the A-G course sequence is the standard pathway to college for California high school graduates; however, findings indicate that there is substantial variation in A-G enrollment and completion rates across student subgroups and schools. This brief describes the distribution in access to and success in A-G courses as well as strategies…

This three-study dissertation investigated how socioeconomic factors and policies are associated with educational outcomes for undocumented youth and, in one of the papers, to what extent education and employment outcomes intersect. Guided by the specific questions of each study, the three papers take different theoretical and methodological…

Transfer articulation agreements are employed by institutions of higher education and state legislatures alike to improve transfer efficiency between two-year and four-year institutions. These agreements often aim both to increase transfer rates and baccalaureate degree completion and to decrease time to degree. Studies exploring the efficacy of…

This literature review highlights barriers to persistence, retention, and graduation for students of color at institutions of higher learning. Successful strategies, approaches, and initiatives are discussed with consideration to deficit and strengths-based approaches. It is also highlighted that universities may need to address programmatic…

For the last two decades, graduation rates have been one of the key metrics used to evaluate school effectiveness under federal law, with the goal of ensuring that all students receive a high-quality education. Researchers have found, however, that policies intended to optimize this accountability measure can have undesirable consequences for…

Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) conducted original research on an often-overlooked group of students--parents with children--as they struggle to make ends meet while pursuing academic degrees and certificates. Student parents often face enormous financial barriers to academic success. They report high financial insecurity including…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. For every 100 students who enroll in community colleges, 31 students transfer to a four-year institution. Of those, only 15…

Supporters of free college in the US often point to countries that do not charge tuition to argue for the policy. However, international examples often illustrate that free-college policies entail unintended consequences. Ireland offers a particularly apt case study on that point. In the mid-1990s, Ireland abolished tuition for full-time…

Latinx Californians represent the largest ethnic group in the state, with a demographic that is disproportionately young. The state must significantly increase the educational opportunity and success of Latinx Californians, ensuring that more of them are prepared for college, attend college, and graduate with the skills necessary to thrive…

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students continue to have some of the lowest high school graduation and postsecondary attainment rates in the nation. There are a variety of factors that lead to inequitable outcomes for these students. They typically face significantly higher levels of student need, as they are more often low-income and…