Following a sample of students who participated in admissions lotteries at eight Early College High Schools (ECs) partnering with 2-year colleges, this study examined the college enrollment and degree completion of students who won admissions lotteries and enrolled in ECs in Grade 9 (i.e., EC students), and assessed the EC impact--in terms of…

Transfer is the movement of students and their earned credits from one institution to another. This process includes how students' work from the sending institution is applied toward degree requirements at the receiving institution. The Washington Legislature has tasked the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) with "improving student…

The United States saw nearly one million Some College, No Degree students in just five years who, against all the odds, found their way back into postsecondary education and worked their way through to ultimately earn their first undergraduate credential. This report tells a story of success and points the way to further success. Former students…

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 preliminary data of the…

Building on a previous randomized experiment of the impact of Early Colleges (ECs) (Berger et al., 2013), this follow-up study assessed longer-term impacts of ECs on students' postsecondary outcomes 6 years after expected high school graduation. It also explored the extent to which students' high school experiences mediate EC impacts.…

Overall, too few students are completing two-year college. Those who complete are still starting off unequally. About one-third of students earning academic degrees do not transfer, but rather go directly to work and find their degree has little value in the labor market. Research suggests they could have benefitted from having marketable skills…

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a "College Completion Tool Kit" intended to support the higher education attainment goals set by the Obama administration. These goals are consistent with the state's Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The tool kit lays out strategies for achieving higher levels of attainment…

Over a two-year period beginning in March 2004, community colleges in Maryland developed a revised set of accountability indicators for a state-mandated Performance Accountability Report first required by a 1988 statute. A major innovation was a new model for assessing student degree progress. This article explains the development and components…

The City College of San Francisco (CCSF) began, in the fall of 2000, to routinely survey students who petitioned for associate degrees, awards, or certificates in credit programs. The survey is ongoing, with semester updates. It asks students to rate nine areas: (1) How successful were you in achieving what you wanted to do at CCSF? (2) Would you…

Based on data provided by college districts to the California Community Colleges' Office of the Chancellor, this report provides information on the number of degrees and certificates awarded by the state's community colleges in 1994-95. Following introductory materials, four tables are provided showing the number of degrees and certificates…

In 1989, a study was conducted at the University of West Florida (UWF) to explore the success rate of Associate of Science (AS) and Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree recipients at the college. Although the AS and AAS degrees were originally designed as terminal degrees leading to immediate employment, recipients today are discovering that…

In order to provide a longitudinal look at the characteristics of students earning the associate of arts degree (AA) at Los Angeles City College (LACC), selected statistics were gathered on LACC graduates over the 15-year period, 1964-1979, in terms of number of graduates, percentage of total enrollment, sex, those completing work in the spring…

With significant investments being made in higher education, particularly through merit-based student financial aid programs intended to encourage enrollment and graduation from the state's colleges, and the need for increased numbers of college graduates in South Carolina, the question of whether graduates of South Carolina's colleges and…

Despite some initial hesitancy in the first half of the twentieth century to award associate degrees, since the end of World War II, the associate degree has become as widely accepted by two-year colleges as the baccalaureate degree is by four-year colleges. This is evidenced by the steady increase in the number of associate degrees awarded…

This study used the Tinto Model to examine characteristics of community college students without initial plans to graduate, but who did eventually receive an Associate's degree from the institution. In 1991, a large midwestern community college began asking enrollees whether they planned to graduate. By 1994, sizable numbers of graduates had…