Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed Aug. 3, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Law, Policy and Society Program. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 142 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-131).

How doctoral students view their institution's ability to resolve problems may be directly related to their overall satisfaction of the institution. Challenges such as barriers to communication could have a negative effect on the students' ability to be retained by the institution. Policies to address issues relating to retention; high default rates on student loans and student services are increasing and more constraining. While the literature indicates the formation of federal policies to monitor recruitment practices of for-profit online institutions, it is not known to what extent these policies have influenced the quality of postrecruitment services. Using the theoretical framework of Vincent Tinto's model of student retention, this qualitative phenomenological study analyzes the quality of these postrecruitment policies related to enrollment, financial, and problem resolution from the perspective of students. Data were collected from 20 current and former doctoral students of online programs at for-profit institutions through inteviews. These interview data were transcribed, and then subjected to open coding and thematic analysis. Findings indicate that participants perceive that their institutions were prepared to resolve problems; however, communication issues were prevalent largely because of the asynchronous nature of email communication or differences in time zones. Based on these findings, the recommendation is for institutions to consider reevaluating methods of communication with students. Social change can be obtained by utilizing the students' experiences to facilitate improvements in the for-profit sector to minimize the opportunity for snowball effects such as retention challenges.

This study uses the competing Burton Clark's "Cooling Out Theory" and Daniel Bell's "Theory of the Postindustrial Economy" to examine the function that for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) play in American higher education and how it is different from non-profit traditional colleges and universities (TCUs). This was done through three sections of analysis. The first examined if students who enroll at these FPCUs are less academically prepared than those attending non-profit traditional colleges or universities. The second tested if academic preparedness is associated with postsecondary performance at FPCUs to the same degree it is at TCUs. The final section of analysis looked at FPCU graduates to see if they have different short-term job outcomes when compared to traditional college graduates. This research utilizes The Beginning Postsecondary Survey 2009- a restricted-use longitudinal data set produced by the National Center for Education Statistics that followed 16,700 first-time college enrollees from 2003 until 2009. This data set includes information on student demographics, academic performance, enrollment history, and job outcomes. The results of this study indicated that when compared to traditional college students, FPCU students are less likely to be academically prepared for college and are more frequently characterized by risk factors that previous research has shown makes it less likely they will complete their degree. This research also found that unlike TCUs, high school academic performance is not associated with post-secondary performance or likelihood of degree attainment at FPCUs. Finally, it was observed that FPCU graduates were less likely to have jobs related to their degree and earned less income than TCU graduates, but had about the same degree of job satisfaction.