The purpose of this study was to illuminate the barriers to persistence underprepared students at the community college experience after the initial successful completion of one semester. A qualitative interview study, grounded in phenomenology, was implemented. Participants were identified through a process of purposeful selection, which included…

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine student-athlete perceptions of the role of summer pre-enrollment in their adjustment and transition to college. The study focused on student-athletes who received athletically-related financial aid at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-AAA institution. The…

The Study of Community College Structures for Student Success (SCCSSS) was launched in 2010 with three goals at its center: (1) To explore a set of promising institutional practices and organizational structures identified through theory and research as having the potential to support community college student success; (2) To present a synthesized…

The new GI Bill offers the best educational benefits for veterans in the history of the nation. While many campus officials believe a surge of student veterans is under way, 2012 is the first year of college eligibility for veterans who enlisted specifically for the Post 9-11 GI Bill benefits signed into law in the summer of 2008. Further, the…

This study examined reasons for student choice of a specific community college. The site of the study is a west Texas public, two-year institution with 4,674 students, full- and part-time, as of fall 2008. The top six reasons for selection were transferability of courses, available academic programs and quality, campus location, cost, available…

This study explored the impact of financial-aid on student-athletes' academic progression from freshmen to sophomore year in associates' degree programs in Oklahoma. Differences were found according to socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and race/ethnicity and between athlete and nonathlete students. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

According to the United States Census Bureau (2005), Hispanics are the youngest and largest minority group in the country. Unfortunately, Hispanics have the largest drop-out rates of any major ethnic group in the US, which will result in fewer Hispanics entering Ph.D. programs (Yosso & Solorzano, 2006). Because of this doctoral achievement gap…

Title IX was enacted over 40 years ago, and although there have been marked increases in the number of girls and women participating in athletics at every level, gender equity in athletics continues to be a concern. This is especially evident at the community college level. Title IX requires equity in the areas of opportunities for participation,…

An educated workforce is one of the bedrocks not just of a strong American middle class, but also of a strong U.S. economy. To ensure that America has the most competitive global workforce, President Barack Obama articulated a goal that, by 2020, every American should continue their educational training after high school so that the United States…

A baccalaureate degree is essential to success in the contemporary United States. The degree offers improved economic security and the development of capabilities such as critical thinking, effective communication, quantitative reasoning, creativity, problem solving, personal and social responsibility, and social and cultural capital. Failure to…

Each year, Iowa's 15 community colleges submit data on enrollment on the 10th business day of the fall semester. Some highlights from this report focus on: (1) Iowa's Community Colleges; (2) Fall Enrollment; (3) Fiscal Year Credit Enrollment and Demographics;(4) Online Credit Enrollment;(5) Joint Enrollment and Demographics; (6) Credit Student…

This study investigates how the impact of developmental education is moderated by classroom composition. Drawing on a regression discontinuity design, we used data from 3,429 community college students, nested within 223 classrooms, to explore the extent to which classroom and instructor characteristics moderated the effect of developmental…

College graduation rates often lag behind college attendance rates. One theory as to why students do not complete college is that they lack key information about how to be successful or fail to act on the information that they have. We present evidence from a randomized experiment which tests the effectiveness of individualized student coaching.…

What happens to youth in foster care when they turn 18? Many face unprecedented challenges like homelessness, lack of financial resources, difficulty accessing educational opportunities, and unemployment. In this issue brief, The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) document these challenges and opportunities in three distinct yet overlapping areas…

This compendium of narrative and statistical information is an overview of the Oregon University System (OUS) and is the last Fact Book published under the auspices of the Oregon University System. The introduction includes a mission statement, a listing of OUS campuses and centers, a roster of the members of the State Board of Higher Education,…