Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs) can play a central role in skill development and higher education expansion, yet their quality varies greatly within and among countries. In this paper we explore the relationship between programs' practices and inputs (quality determinants) and student academic and labor market outcomes. We design and…

Background/Context: Inequitable access to higher education continues to be driven by socioeconomic inequalities (Wolniak et al., 2016). Aid spending by state governments has been found to bolster higher enrollment and degree awards at two-year colleges (Monarrez et al., 2021). Where federal funds have taken on a larger portion of funding in the…

Leadership preparation is essential in developing critical skills of effective school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs vary greatly in terms of program features, it is important to identify which specific elements are likely associated with program quality. Using multiple years of Initiative for Systemic Program Improvement…

In 1998, the University of Wisconsin-Madison began offering learning community opportunities to all UW-Madison staff, faculty, and students. Later on in 2012, the Learning Communities for Institutional Change & Excellence (LCICE) unit formally launched within the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement. LCICE offered…

Some education programs' early positive effects disappear over time. Other programs have unanticipated positive long-term effects. Foundations warn of the dangers of putting too much weight on in-program effects, which, they say, often fade after a program ends. This Issue Focus tackles the topic of post-program effects in postsecondary education.…

In 2016, Missouri State University (MSU) received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to provide scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S-STEM) for academically talented students with financial need. The MSU S-STEM program provided two years of financial and academic assistance, supporting students who began their…

Background: Promise programs are place-based financial aid awards that seek to promote postsecondary attainment by covering all or nearly all college tuition costs. In 2015 Oregon became the second state in the country after Tennessee to implement a statewide promise program (Higher Education Coordinating Commission [HECC], 2020). Oregon Promise…

This study examines the impact of a comprehensive college transition program, the Thompson Scholars Learning Communities (TSLC), on psychosocial outcomes using an experimental design. We estimate overall and heterogenous effects of program participation on students' sense of belonging to campus, feelings of mattering to campus, sense of academic…

The book analyses and evaluates several key community college reform programs that emerged after the Recession of 2008 and as a result of major initiatives in California, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Connecticut and Wisconsin. Because of the economic downturn in the early 21st Century, an already eroding financial base for public higher education…

This program evaluation highlights the Key Culture, Communication, & Sports (KCCS) Program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, a learning community program dedicated to serving student-athletes. Learning communities, considered high-impact practice in higher education, have a longstanding and successful approach to supporting new…

National college completion rates for men of color at open- and broad-access postsecondary institutions (including community colleges) lag behind completion rates for White students and for female students of any race or ethnicity. Research points to several broad factors to explain these unequal outcomes, including precollege environments that do…

To better understand the components that create an equitable learning environment, we have analyzed a number of highly successful programs that we developed and conducted targeting K-12 students, their teachers, and university students. We identified four criteria experienced by the student that are essential for his or her recruitment,…

High-impact educational practices support student and faculty learning and achievement. By creating an alternative structure through which students have access to these practices, and by investing resources to make that structure available to all students, Bryn Mawr College has been able to ensure that participation in high-impact practices occurs…

At the University of Central Missouri (UCM), the THRIVE program is made up of young adults, ages 18 to 25, who have developmental or intellectual disabilities. A merger occurred between the THRIVE program and the adapted physical education course required for physical education teacher education (PETE) students to provide practical experiences for…

This paper explores the notion of impact in the context of academic development programs and considers how it can be described and understood. We argue that impact has a range of meanings and academic development programs such as graduate certificates have a broad group of stakeholders and hence the impact is different for each group depending on…