As both universities and students demonstrate an increasing interest in offering and taking online courses, a better understanding of the causes of student outcomes, such as student achievement has become increasingly important. Exploring the causes of varying rates of student success in online courses of higher education is an ongoing challenge…

Since the seminal work of Davis in 1989 produced the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), researchers have sought to extend the framework and use the resulting models to describe the predictors of technology adoption specific to various populations. Although the TAM has been used to understand the adoption of technology in higher education, most of…

Since the publication of the "College Scorecard" by The U.S. Department of Education in 2015, comparisons between college attendance costs and institutional outcomes (i.e., graduation rates, post-graduation earnings) have come into sharp focus. This increased scrutiny requires institutions of higher learning to be more transparent about…

Study abroad has been a part of the curricular and co-curricular programming of higher education since 1875. Yet, despite the long history, a literature search revealed that study abroad is the least examined of the high impact practices (HIPs) related to engagement theory. Further, despite its promise as a retention strategy, study abroad has…

In 2000, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) adopted Closing the Gaps by 2015: The Texas Higher Education Plan. This new master plan set goals for Texas higher education in participation, success, research, and excellence. The plan acknowledged a shortfall related to projected demographic shifts in both the number of degrees and…

Historically, retaining students and maximizing their academic achievement has been a challenge for administrators in American colleges and universities. Since the mid-twentieth century, the sophomore year has increasingly been suspected of being a gateway to declining grades, decreased morale, and increased attrition among college students.…

Previous research has demonstrated that first-generation college students are less likely to persist to their sophomore year than non-first-generation students (Davis, 2010; Choy, 2001). The first six weeks has been identified as a critical time for adjustment and integration to college (Tinto, 1987; Astin, 1993; Woosley, 2003, 2009). Although…

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States and the second fastest growing group in the in post-secondary education. However, at most major universities Hispanic students are less likely to stay enrolled and less likely to graduate than any other racial group. It is vital for Hispanics to earn a college degree, as earning…

The present study examined the extent to which the U.S. STEM labor market is stratified in terms of quality of employment. Through a series of cluster analyses and Chi-square tests on data drawn from the 2008 Survey of Income Program Participation (SIPP), the study found evidence of segmentation in the highly-skilled STEM and non-STEM samples,…

Changes in a multitude of factors including the economy, student enrollment, university goals and policies, and the available talent pool have created an imbalance in the supply and demand for qualified part-time faculty. The unmet demand has prompted university leaders to seek an understanding of part-time faculty affective commitment, job…

Clients with learning disabilities constitute a cultural group that has not been extensively studied. The professional literature has found that counselors have reported the need for additional training in working with clients with disabilities. This study explored counselors' beliefs and perceived knowledge regarding counseling clients with…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative research study using cross-sectional data was to compare groups of higher education institutions based on their level of scholarship of engagement across: (a) level of faculty-student interactions and (b) how the predictive value of faculty-student interactions compares among the three…

The importance of college completion has risen high on the U.S. policy agenda in recent years. An obvious strategy for increasing college completion is improving graduation rates, which for public universities have hovered around 50% for decades. Higher education scholars previously have revealed many student and institutional characteristics…

This dissertation analyzes the nearly 100,000 foreign students who attained science and engineering (S&E) doctorates in the five fields of physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, and social and behavioral sciences at American universities from 1994 to 2005. Two models are presented. In the first model…

This study examined computer attitude, and the impact of personal characteristics and ICT adoption patterns on performance of multidisciplinary teaching faculty in three public universities in Ghana. A cross-sectional research of mixed methods was applied in collecting data and information. Quantitative data from 164 respondents were analyzed…