Many factors affect students selecting a university to attend and almost as many factors that can present challenges once they enroll and begin attending classes. Once they start taking courses, the next challenge is completing them, and this can be particularly taxing for online students. In the case of online universities, quality assessment…

The vast amount of research conducted on student persistence over the past thirty years is indicative of the continuing and evolving interest in retention of students. Framed through multiple perspectives, this retention research is driven by the fact that more students leave institutions without graduating, year after year. Much more than an…

In September 1999, a pilot program of Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) was introduced in 15 local education authorities (LEAs) in England to provide payments to students aged 16-19 who are from low-income families and who are attending full-time courses in schools and colleges. Participants are entitled to 2 years' support and must be…

The use of surveys of student aid recipients in one university is reported, focusing on survey rationale and methodology. Topics include survey organization, questionnaire content and design, sampling and procedures, and analysis and presentation of results. The significance and use made of information obtained from one recent survey are…

A framework for monitoring quality control (QC) of processor contracts administered by the Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) is presented and applied to the Pell Grant program. Guidelines for establishing QC measures and standards are included, and the uses of a sampling procedure in the QC system are…

This report summarizes Washington-statewide results achieved in the most recent academic year for which statewide data are available (in most cases, the 2005-2006 academic year). Data on results for individual four-year institutions, as well as a variety of background information and contextual data is presented separately in a comprehensive…