What happens when college students are not able to enroll in the courses they want? We use a natural experiment at Purdue University in which first-year students are conditionally randomly assigned to oversubscribed courses. Compared to students who are assigned a requested course, those who are shut out are 40% less likely to ever take the…

Motivated by assessment of externally awarded grants and internal programmatic practices, we used transcript and demographic data for students entering a highly selective residential liberal arts college between 2002-2015 to answer institutional-level questions about course taking patterns and pathways relevant to Science, Technology, Engineering,…

In the United States, women are more likely than men to enter and complete college, but they remain underrepresented among baccalaureates in science-related majors. We show that in a cohort of college entrants who graduated from high school in 2004, men were more than twice as likely as women to complete baccalaureate degrees in science,…

This study examines the impact of a "natural experiment" that gave students the choice to place into or out of developmental math because of an unintended mistake made by a community college. During self-placement, more students chose to enroll in gateway college- and transfer-level math courses, however, greater proportions of female,…

Evidence of inefficient course-taking patterns at community colleges has spurred policy conversations about how to ensure effective course sequences. Structural reforms, like guided pathways, seek to reduce major switching as a means to streamline student course taking and eliminate unnecessary credits. By placing students into broad fields of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the low placement participation rate among international students compared with UK students, by examining the impact of individual factors such as gender and domicile and academic achievement such as prior academic qualification, prior academic results and subsequent academic results on…

In 2016, the Utah State Board of Regents adopted a 10-year strategic plan, including two specific goals related to students' participation in and completion of higher education: first, that 75% of Utah's 12th graders would enroll in post-secondary education within five years of high school graduation by the year 2025; and, second, that degree…

In this article we examine gender differences in factors related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) education and employment between the ages of 36 and 39. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, we identified a STEMM high school talent pool. We found early gender differences in interest in…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV)" continues a longstanding federal investment in career and technical education (CTE) through grants to states and subgrants to local entities such as local education agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs). As the fourth reauthorization of a…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV)" reinforces a longstanding federal commitment to supporting career and technical education (CTE). Although federal contributions account for only a fraction of total state and local spending on CTE, federal policy has had, and continues to have, a large…

This paper is part of a research paper series that the Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada commissioned in 2001 to contribute to the development of a research strategy for young Canadians completing their education and starting their careers. The series focuses on various elements of the school-work transitions of…