There is an ever increasing need to ‘Close the Gaps’ in higher education and increase college enrollment rates. Colleges have responded to this need through numerous recruitment efforts yet limited research exists on the successful components of model programs that have been established. This study explored components of College Connection, a nationally recognized recruitment initiative by Austin Community College. College Connection is geared toward increasing the college-going rate in central Texas by providing all high school seniors with the tools, support, and guidance to enroll in college. The research was conducted through a qualitative study of graduating high school seniors from two different high schools in central Texas. The study explored whether students were participating in the four ‘required’ components of College Connection, and if so, were the ‘optional’ and ‘recommended’ support services at each of the high schools being utilized. It was also important to examine which of the student support services offered on the high school campuses were most helpful according to students. Factors that students perceived were preventing them from participating in enrollment activities were also explored. Additionally, themes and recruitment strategies that emerged from the qualitative interviews were collected and used as suggestions to refine current practice. Background data on the participation rates, success, and retention of students who had participated in College Connection showed enormous progress in central Texas. This study, however, reaffirmed the idea that “students don’t do optional,” and it was essential to have students in all high schools participate in all of the enrollment steps. None of the participating students in this study attended any of the ‘optional’ evening or Saturday events held on their high school campus. The study went on to reveal that even the ‘required’ enrollment components at one of the high schools were not being required of all high school seniors. This prevented many graduating high school seniors from participating in enrollment activities and gathering college information as was intended. Furthermore, both high schools elected not to schedule any of the optional or recommended components the college had offered such as registration support, teleconferencing or campus tours. This study overall found that students who did participate in the required enrollment activities found the college support services to be extremely “helpful and informative.” It also became evident that the recruitment efforts at both high schools had begun to establish a college-going culture where students were familiar with college enrollment steps and terminology, and all but one student mentioned they would be pursuing higher education after high school graduation. / text

The primary focus of this comparative research was to explore the impact of the addition of football programs on the enrollment and fiscal health of 530 small, tuition-dependent private U.S. colleges and universities from 1985 to 2000. The institutions studied represented a group of institutions that are increasingly challenged to manage or improve their enrollments and fiscal health at a time when competitive pressures raise questions as to their long-term viability. In the analysis, institutions were separated into four groups. The first group consisted of 52 institutions that established intercollegiate football programs during that time period. The second group was comprised of six institutions that ended football programs during that time period. The third group involved 172 institutions that had football programs during the entire time span. The fourth group consisted of 300 institutions that had no football program during the entire time span of the study. Data regarding enrollment and fiscal health for all 530 institutions were collected from publicly available sources to account for the 25 years of the study and the analysis was conducted. This study incorporated an interrupted time series design, which allowed for a large series of observations made on the same variable consecutively over time. The results of this study demonstrated that initiating a new football program produces a greater increase in undergraduate enrollment for initiating institutions than for those institutions not initiating a football program. Initiating a football program also produces a greater increase in fiscal health for initiating institutions than for those institutions not initiating a football program. In addition the study confirmed that initiating a football program increases the rate of growth of undergraduate enrollment of initiating institutions compared to those institutions that did not have a football program during the time span of the study. This was not the case for institutions that had a football program during the time span of the study. Finally, starting a football program increases the rate of improvement of the fiscal health of initiating institutions compared to those institutions not initiating a football program. / text

abstract: Many educators believe that the path to a better future is a college education. Initiatives that promote college-going cultures are quite commonplace in many public high schools with some offering elective college-prep support programs like Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). Yet, certain groups of students are not taking advantage of these opportunities. In the initial AVID sections at a metropolitan high school in the American Southwest, the girls out-numbered the boys 2:1, and the Hispanic girls outnumbered the Hispanic boys by almost 3:1. The purpose of this study was to uncover some of the factors that influenced five Hispanic males' participation, or lack thereof, in AVID, and the ways in which those factors connected to their masculine identities. What the participants say about what influenced them to be involved, or not, in the program is reported. Some themes revealed in the interviews include how the participants' scholar identity is connected to their masculine identity, how they balance their "coolness" quotient with their desires to achieve academic success, how they depend on personal relationships and collaboration, and how their families and communities have influenced them. This information may lead to the development of strategies that will increase future representation of Hispanic males in similar programs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

No description available.

Diné (Navajo) students drop out of high school and postsecondary education at higher than average rates. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Diné students currently enrolled in college describe the factors that supported their pursuit of higher education. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was used as a framework and to identify and analyze factors that influence access, enrollment, and participation in higher education. The Diné participants in this study were six students enrolled in postsecondary education at the time of this research, recruited from two university campuses in the Southwestern U.S. Each student participated in a semistructured interview and completed a demographic questionnaire. Open-coding was used to analyze the interviews, and it was observed that factors relating to each of Bronfenbrenner’s five levels of ecological systems theory had an impact on the participants’ access, enrollment, and persistence in postsecondary education. A number of themes emerged that will be useful to stakeholders who work with this population of students. Recommendations are provided that are intended to help these stakeholders retain Diné students at higher rates.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether: 1) Southwest Region TRIO high school students between the years 1991 - 2001 continued to college immediately after high school at rates significantly different than similar population students on national and state levels; and 2) immediate college continuation for this group was a function of social and economic characteristics including race, gender, parental education, and home-care environment. The sample included 414 TRIO program participants from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Data on the 414 participants were gathered using an existing database containing demographic and post-secondary enrollment information on study participants. The findings of this study reveal Southwest Region TRIO students during this ten-year period continued to college immediately after high school at rates not significantly different than the national low-income population of students. Results indicate that when compared to all students in the five-state southwest region, the majority low-income, first-generation TRIO population continued to college at rates not significantly different than all-income students in the region. Findings of this study also revealed select social and economic characteristics were not predictors of immediate college continuation for this group. Finally, the study showed out-of-home care environment students continued to college at significantly higher rates than in-home care Southwest Region TRIO students.

The problem of this study is to ascertain the existing relationships between enrollment size and methods of financial management in selected public institutions of higher education. The purposes set forth for this investigation are to conduct a survey of the financial management methods of a major segment of Texas higher education, to analyze the existing relationships of these financial methods with increasing enrollments ranging from 2,537 to 26,531, and to assess the implications thereof for indicators of optimum and maximum enrollments under variable methods of financial management.