As demand for virtual schools continues to grow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need to understand how these schools influence long-term student outcomes. Utilizing administrative data from Indiana, this article estimates the impacts of virtual charter high schools on high school graduation, dropout, and college…

This study aimed to replicate, revise, and validate the model of Institutional Performance in Graduation Rate developed by Fung based on Tinto and Astin theories. The sample included 706 public, 4-year, Title IV postsecondary institutions in the United States. Two CFA-SEM models were conducted with the IPEDS 2011-2017 data. The relationships among…

The primary purpose of this mixed-methods study is to define the problem and to understand the system that has been leading to unacceptably low graduation outcomes for historically excluded Trio Student Support Services (Trio SSS) students at Mid-Atlantic University (MAU), a pseudonym. To achieve the primary purpose extant documents and…

"Investigating the Impacts of College Closures on Student Outcomes" is the first of three planned novel reports, co-authored by SHEEO and the NSC Research Center, seeking to quantify the impacts of college closures on students' subsequent postsecondary enrollment and completion outcomes and to identify the policy levers states may have…

This introductory report outlines the challenges of postsecondary completion, the variable value provided by a postsecondary pathway, and the corresponding cost and debt. Together, these challenges create an inequitable, ineffective, and unsustainable U.S. postsecondary system in which individuals are increasingly reluctant to participate or…

Background/Context: Students designated as English Learners (ELs) account for 10.4 percent of all students nationwide but have historically been provided unequal access to educational resources (Gándara et al., 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Further, education policies are often blind to ELs' strengths and challenges,…

In a prior study, MDRC researchers found that Small Schools of Choice, a SIG-approved high school reform initiative, markedly and consistently increased high school graduation rates in New York City when it was implemented in 100+ high schools between 2002 and 2008. A four-year follow-up study found that the initiative increased students'…

Participation in the modern U.S. economy requires that most workers have education and training beyond high school, with over 60 percent of all jobs and 80 percent of middle-class jobs requiring some level of postsecondary education. This report draws upon data from the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14) to…

Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are considered models of excellence to support underrepresented racial and ethnic students; however, multiple definitions of MSIs complicate the consumption and production of research on these critical institutions. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) uses set criteria to define MSIs, based primarily on…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions. This "First Look" is a revised version of the preliminary report released on July 18, 2017. It includes fully edited and…

Chronic absenteeism affects the majority of schools in the United States. An assessment of centers of learning illustrates that a majority of students miss a month of learning in an academic year through excused or unexcused absences. The majority of schools exhibit 95% average daily attendance rates, as the learners tend to not miss school, on…

Although some studies have explored the influence of academic achievement on rural students' college access and success, little research has analyzed the relationship between students of different types of rural communities and their persistence in postsecondary education. This study examined the likelihood of college-going students from three…

This report describes the adult student's experience with prior learning assessment (PLA) using student record data from 72 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States, primarily focusing on the data from 69 of those institutions based on the more detailed data provided by those institutions to the study. Researchers from the…

This report describes the adult student's experience with prior learning assessment (PLA) using student record data from 72 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States, primarily focusing on the data from 69 of those institutions based on the more detailed data provided by those institutions to the study. Researchers from the…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions (see appendix A for a list of other U.S. jurisdictions). This "First Look" presents findings from the provisional data for…