Successful higher education systems are student centered and constantly improving. They also are committed to addressing long-standing policies, perspectives, and practices that--intentionally or not--marginalize Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or People of Color (BILPOC) students, students from under-resourced families, and others who were not…

Student support is a key focus within the widening participation agenda, as effective support enhances retention and success. However, student support is not well defined in higher education, which is problematic as it is difficult to measure success if stakeholders have different definitions. Without clear boundaries in student support, educators…

Considering the collectivist culture and strong family connections in Latinx families, engaging parents and family members of new Latinx students in higher education is important to promote students' persistence and completion of their degrees. Parent and family member orientation (PFMO) programs offered in Spanish provide a bridge between…

This paper address how we may understand inclusion strategies designed to reduce the gender gap in higher education in engineering and ICT engineering in particular. Based on a case study of a long-term inclusion effort and statistics on recruitment and retainment, we argue that inclusion initiatives which address important inclusion needs and put…

Increasingly, obtaining a job that pays family-sustaining wages means getting a college degree or other postsecondary credential. However, according to the 2021 U.S. Census, only 31.5 percent of Texans ages 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)--the highest authority in the state…

DE programming in higher education should be designed to increase student success, and well-designed corequisite models have shown great potential as an accelerated option for completion of the first college-level course in math. With the support of a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board grant, Tarleton State University, a member institution…

This exploratory, descriptive study examined trends associated with Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) student stop out, reenrollment, and persistence to a credential upon reenrollment. For the 2006-2017 cohorts, 78% were retained from first to second year. Inferential models suggested that first-year stop out was mainly correlated to students' high…

As higher education institutions develop fully online course programs to provide better access for the non-traditional learner, there is increasing interest in identifying students who may be at risk of attrition and poor performance in these online course programs. In our study, we investigate the effectiveness of an online orientation course in…

Latino/as are the fastest growing population in the United States and have the second lowest graduation rate among all demographics. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain a better understanding of the barriers affecting Latino/a success as well as exploring self-identified engagement strategies leading to Latino/a student first…

In an era of increasingly hyped Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that seem to evoke feelings of both promise and peril for higher education, many institutions are struggling to find their niche among top-tier Ivy League schools offering courses to thousands of participants for free. While the effectiveness of MOOCs in terms of learning outcomes…

This report focuses on one of the State University of New York's (SUNY's) applied learning initiatives that includes work-based activities, e.g., co-ops, internships, work study, and clinical placement (SUNY Works). With funds from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, SUNY asked the Rockefeller Institute of Government to examine applied…

In 2002, the New Mexico State University College Assistance Migrant Program (NMSU CAMP) was created to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees held by students from farmworker backgrounds by mediating structural impediments that typically normalize post-secondary inequities for this population. Migrant and seasonal farmworker students are…

In New Zealand, Maori (indigenous New Zealanders) and Pacific students tend not to attain the same levels of educational success as Pakeha (New Zealanders of European descent). Addressing this problem is a particular challenge in the sciences. The kaupapa (values-base) of Te Ropu Awhina (Awhina) is to produce Maori and Pacific professionals to…

This research is a qualitative case study exploring the experiences of African American male mentoring community college students. Such programs have proliferated throughout higher education, over the past 20 years, in an effort to improve the retention, performance and goal attainment of African American males. The theoretical framework shaping…

This is the second in an occasional series called "Promising Practices: What Works in the Midwest." The series was launched to showcase innovative initiatives and effective ways to address common challenges and unique opportunities in higher education. Promising practices enable educators and policymakers to compare and benchmark…