It is well established that students who begin post-secondary education at a community college are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree than otherwise similar undergraduates who begin at a 4-year school, but there is less consensus over the mechanisms generating this disparity. We explore these using national longitudinal transcript data and…

As the U.S. population ages and policy changes emerge, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the U.S. will experience a significant shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs). Many colleges and universities are attempting to increase the size of nursing cohorts to respond to this imminent shortage. Notwithstanding a 2.6%…

In this investigation, the graduation and persistence rates of Texas community college students by ethnic membership (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian) for the 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 academic years were examined. Statistically significant differences were present between the 2000 and the 2010 graduation and…

The U.S. national high school graduation rate recently reached a record high with 81 percent of the Class of 2013 graduating within four years. While this accomplishment is laudable, it should not obscure the fact that more than 1,200 high schools, serving more than 1.1 million students, still fail to graduate one-third or more of their students…

This statistical brief illustrates the status of the Hispanic student population in the United States. As this demographic group continues to grow, NCLR calls on schools, teachers, and policymakers to provide Latino students with the support and resources necessary for academic success.

U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

The purpose of this guidebook is to provide guidance to school districts in completing their local Tribal Education Status Report (TESR). Any data that is reported in the local TESRs has to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) which is a Federal law that protects the privacy of…

Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) remains a major challenge, particularly in developing countries. Specifically, achieving the target of completing a full course of primary schooling among all children, which is goal two, is a major challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa. Though literature consensually suggests that the…

The 2013 edition of "Diplomas Count," entitled "Second Chances: Turning Dropouts into Graduates," examines dropout recovery and innovative strategies for returning to the educational fold the 1 million students who leave school without a diploma each year. "Education Week's" journalists investigate interventions that…

Students with physical disabilities attend college at significantly lower rates, and have a lower college graduation rates, than students without disabilities. Research addressing graduation rates of students with physical disabilities indicates that wheelchair basketball athletes graduate at significantly higher rates than students with physical…

The California State University system recently announced a long-term Graduation Initiative to increase the six-year graduation rate by 8%. As a result, close attention is being focused on ways to retain students at risk of leaving the university prior to graduation. Although it is generally acknowledged that mentoring programs promote college…

In the last decade, higher education institutions have come under attack for their inability to enhance graduation rates. Although community colleges are known for their open-door enrollment policy, they are currently challenged to improve student success. This study was designed to determine which strategies have been most effective in…

In the 2013 Tomás Rivera lecture, Francisco Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas system, discusses how a major shift in the demographics of the United States is having a profound effect on K-12 and higher education.

This paper examines the institutional determinants of federal loan status for a recent cohort of college students. We first set out how institutions influence loan accumulations and repayment rates, with particular focus on for-profit colleges. We then test a set of hypotheses about loan status and repayment using national data on loans, defaults,…

When the Annie E. Casey Foundation published its first "KIDS COUNT Data Book" in 1990, there were 64 million children in America. Now, almost three decades later, there are close to 74 million. This 30th edition of the "Data Book" examines how America's child population has changed, demographically and geographically. The…