Attrition from the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline limits the number of graduates needed to meet STEM workforce demand and impedes efforts to diversify the workforce. Identifying factors that underlie academic success and STEM persistence is an important component to increasing the number of STEM graduates. The current…

Student retention and completion rates are challenging issues in higher education. In the academic domain, pressure exists for every institution to come up with strategies that support student success from enrollment through graduation without compromising academic or accreditation standards. This paper presents the findings from a review of…

Online education continues to become an increasingly prominent part of higher education, but many students struggle in distance courses. For this reason, there has been considerable interest in predicting which students will succeed in online courses and which will receive poor grades or drop out prior to completion. Effective intervention depends…

This study examined the relationship between intercollegiate participation and persistence in college. In addition, it explored the different factors that influenced student athletes' persistence patterns as compared to non-student athletes at residential liberal arts schools. Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education…

This paper discusses methods for benchmarking vocational education and training colleges and presents results from a number of models. It is conceptually difficult to benchmark vocational colleges. The colleges typically offer a wide range of course programmes, and the students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We solve the…

Colleges and universities have recently been under great pressure to increase institutional graduation rates, due to a surge in consumer demand for accountability and the use of graduation rates to deter nine effectiveness and funding. Many colleges may choose to achieve higher graduation rates by simply increasing selectivity. However, this…

Increased federal attention to student completion metrics and uncertain financial forecasts have heightened the tenor of student retention conversations. Improved institutional retention rates will lead to higher completion rates and relieve some funding concerns. To accomplish these improvements, institutions have invested in analytics to better…

Electrical Engineering (EE) and Computer Engineering (CpE) programs have similar curricula, but different demographics and student outcomes. This paper extends earlier longitudinal studies to a larger and more diverse dataset with 90,000 first-time-in-college and 26,000 transfer students who majored in engineering at USA institutions, including…

At community colleges, student preparedness for college-level work is a significant initial barrier. Over 70% of community college students are reported to be inadequately prepared for college mathematics. Because students need to pass college-level math in order to enroll in subsequent courses required for their majors or to complete general…

This study uses the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances to empirically explore differences in saving behavior between Hispanic (N = 533) and non-Hispanic White (N = 2,473) households. The results of the logistic regression model show that self-employed Hispanics were more likely to save, while self-employment was not significant for Whites. Being…

The 6-yr degree-completion rate of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at U.S. colleges and universities is less than 40%. Persistence among women and underrepresented minorities (URMs), including African-American, Latino/a, Native American, and Pacific Islander students, is even more troubling, as these…

College student persistence has been a concern of researchers and practitioners since the early 1960s. Traditional models have addressed the need for students to be integrated into the academic and social domains of the college campus. Recently, critical theorists and researchers have been questioning the relevance of the traditional models for…

Under-enrollment of girls in primary and secondary is a longstanding and well-documented problem in developing countries. Limited parental and communal resources combine with cultural factors to create a disincentive for parents to send their girls to school and to keep them there throughout the school year and for the full primary and secondary…

The issue of teacher shortages across the state and nation, especially in rural areas, is a complex one. The disparity between the number of teachers produced and what is needed to fill classrooms across the nation in states where student populations are growing is exacerbated by issues of attrition of current educators. Mandates for production of…

This study compares the impact of timing of registration on the student learning outcomes of students taking courses at three rural community colleges in the southeastern U.S. during the school years 2001-2003. Findings from this study indicate that early registration has a positive influence on students' grades and course completion rates. Also…