Understanding patterns of educational attainment among rural youth is a critical concern for our nation as we seek to make postsecondary access and attainment more equitable across our increasingly diverse student population. The current study examines data collected in the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to identify contemporary patterns of…

Purpose: With every passing day, the center of gravity for air traffic for the Middle East and Turkey is shifting toward becoming a center for airway transport, maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) and transfer. The MRO sector is gaining importance because of this increase in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to examine the future employability…

In recent years, policymakers and academics have become increasingly interested in the returns to sub-baccalaureate degrees. This interest arises from surging demand for such programs over the 2000s, especially in the wake of the 2008 recession, as well as from President Obama's charge to dramatically increase the number of students with a college…

This study addresses gaps in the theoretical and policy literature by examining the relationship between associate degree program credit requirements and four student outcomes: associate degree attainment, time to degree, final associate degree grade point average, and persistence. Using student unit record data, a longitudinal quantitative study…

Does extra financial aid for the summer lead to gains in completion and earnings? Despite being the largest source of financial aid to low-income college students, the traditional Pell Grant has had one major limitation: if students enroll in two semesters full-time, they will not have any tuition support for the summer term of the same academic…

Objective: Colleges have increased postsecondary educational access for youth, including individuals with disabilities, but completion rates remain low. This study tests the hypothesis that health conditions that reduce social integration predict lower educational attainment among college students. Method: The sample from the nationally…

Prior research studies associated the employment of part-time faculty with student degree and/or certificate completion (Benjamin, 2002; Ehrenberg & Zhang, 2005; Jacoby, 2006; Leslie & Gappa, 2002; Umbach, 2008; Umbach & Wawrzynski, 2005). To date, institutional-level data have been utilized to investigate whether such employment…

Using the Beginning Postsecondary Student Survey and Transcript Data, we find no statistically significant differential return to certificate or Associate's degrees between for-profits and not-for-profits. Point estimates suggest a slightly lower return to a for-profit certificate and a slightly higher return to a for-profit Associate's degree,…

Prevalence of academic risk (PAR) group profiles provide data enabling empirically based group-specialized prescriptions for targeted academic success interventions to increase student retention, completion, and graduation rates, while improving allocation of institutional resources. Postsecondary student attrition engenders student debt,…

Objective: Research on labor market outcomes for individuals who enroll in technical colleges is limited, with even less attention to the effects of short-term certificates than associate degrees. Also, despite the importance of manufacturing programs, there is a lack of research on employment outcomes for individuals who enroll in these programs…

This inquiry is an exploration of the educational trajectories of African American women community college students. We compare the persistence of African American women to African American men and to all women college students using the 1996/2001 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Survey and the 1993/2003 Baccalaureate and Beyond…

The purpose of this study was to investigate selected variables among community college transfer students with or without associate's degrees and native students at a 4-year university to determine the impact of the articulation and transfer process on baccalaureate attainment. More specifically, the study examined the differences in demographic…

The purpose of this ex-post facto quantitative study was to evaluate the benefits of professional technical postsecondary education in Idaho. Human capital theory formed the basis of understanding the importance of acquiring education beyond high school, both for the individual and society. Interactions between entry earnings and cost of attending…

The purpose of this study was to examine the pathway model of a nursing curriculum and evaluate the relationship and predictive ability of demographic and academic variables on the success or failure of those taking the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN®) and to determine the impact of noncognitive role…

Workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. Yet, because of how the STEM economy has been defined, policymakers have mainly focused on supporting workers with at least a bachelor's (BA) degree, overlooking a strong potential workforce of those with less than a BA. This report…