The literature indicates a continuous cycle of difficulties for transfer students, leading to a failure to acclimate, persist, and obtain a degree. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect the Promise Student Support Program (PSSP) had on community college transfer students. More specifically, the study examined the effect of the PSSP on transfer shock, retention, and graduation rates. Two groups were compared: (a) community college transfer students entering the 4-year university as part of the PSSP between 2006 and 2011, and (b) community college transfer students entering the 4-year university between 2006 and 2011 who met the criteria for the PSSP but did not participate. A comparison was made between the 2 groups to determine if significant differences exist between students benefiting from the programming and support of the PSSP and those students without it. The study utilized the quantitative, quasi-experimental study research design. The research was conducted using descriptive statistics to analyze data related to GPA, retention, and graduation rates. Then, an independent sample t-test was administered to assess if statistical differences existed for GPA from transfer GPA to the 1st semester GPA at the 4-year institution between participants and non-participants in the PSSP. Finally, chi-square test of independence was used to determine if there were differences in retention and graduation rates. The findings, as determined by this study, concluded that participants of the PSSP experienced less transfer shock and had higher rates of retention. However, the PSSP showed no effect on graduation rates. This study is expected to provide 4-year institutions clear evidence of the importance of bridging the gap for transfer students, in general, with transitional programs of support.

Graduation rates in community colleges in academic programs are declining, which negatively impacts funding for these institutions. Enrollment processes of community colleges, and the ease of transferring credit hours, deter students from meeting criteria for graduation. The objective of this study is to determine the effect that residential housing has on graduation rates among community college students in Mississippi. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional research design to look at graduation rates over a 2-year period of time to study graduation rates of residential and commuter students controlling for other demographic characteristics. A higher percentage of commuter students (18%) graduated within normal time than did residential students (11%). Graduation rates of 150% of time was approximately the same (35%). Subsequently, more residential students (54%) than commuter students (49%) graduated at 200% time.

Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015, amended several K-12 accountability requirements. ESSA defined high school graduation rate for the first time in federal education law. In ESSA, the Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) was defined as the ratio of the number of students who graduated with a regular high school diploma over the course of four years divided by the number of students who made up an adjusted cohort. Under ESSA, high schools that graduate less than 67 percent of their students were labeled as low performing. The graduation rate differed significantly between high schools and was influenced by multiple factors. Among other factors, the difference in graduation rates might be attributed to increased dropout rates among groups, such as males, racial minorities, low socioeconomic (SES) families, and schools that were located in urban areas (Bower et al., 2013). This study was modeled after the work of Blowe (2011) and White (2015). A quasi-experimental analysis of ex post facto data was conducted to determine if CTE completion affected students' standardized assessment scores and graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to determine if the completion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) sequences was associated with the graduation rates among Virginia students for the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 cohort years. In addition, the study examined whether there were statistically significant differences in graduation rates among CTE finishers, non-CTE finishers, and total students when regional classifications were considered. School graduation data from the 132 school divisions were grouped according to The National Center for Education Statistics' designated locale classifications type to determine if CTE sequence completion and locale type were associated with graduation rates of each geographic region. The researcher used quasi-experimental, comparative analysis, t-test, and ANOVA to analyze the graduation data of each locale type. The study determined that CTE finishers' graduation rates were significantly higher than students who have not completed CTE programs. In addition, regional classifications had a statistically significant influence on the overall graduation rates for all students. / Doctor of Education / Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), signed into law by President Barak Obama on December 10, 2015, amended several K-12 accountability requirements for K-12 education. Under ESSA, graduation rates were an essential measure of student outcomes, and high schools that graduated less than 67 percent of their students were labeled as low performing. Across the country, the graduation rate differed significantly between high schools and was influenced by a wide range of factors. Among other factors, the difference in graduation rates might be attributed to factors including increased dropout rates among groups, such as males, racial minorities, Hispanics, low socioeconomic (SES) families, and schools that were located in urban areas (Bower et al., 2013). The achievement of a diploma allowed students to choose their path - whether they wish to attend a two- or four-year college, a technical school, workforce training, or enter the military. This study was modeled after the work of Blowe (2011) and White (2015) in using existing data to determine if CTE completion had an association with earning a diploma. The purpose of this study was to determine if the completion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) sequences was associated with the graduation rates of Virginia students for the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 cohort years. In addition, the study examined whether there were statistically significant differences in graduation rates among CTE finishers, non-CTE finishers, and total students when regional classifications were considered. That is, the study analyzed the graduation rates of Virginia's 132 school divisions in determining if completing a CTE course sequence affected state graduation as well as regional graduation rates. Schools were grouped according to The National Center for Education Statistics' designated locale classifications type. The researcher used statistical analysis to compare the graduation data of each locale grouping, rural, town, suburban, and city, to the corresponding annual state average. The results of the study indicated that graduation rates for students who finished CTE sequences were significantly higher than their peers who did not finish a CTE sequence and that regional classifications influenced overall graduation rates.

Determining whether the arts are beneficial to a student’s education is a widely, and hotly debated topic every year in the United States, with many studies published each year demonstrating the impact that the arts have on various educational outcomes, from increased test scores to higher graduation rates. This paper examines previous research on the efficacy of incentives and how students’ participation in extracurricular activities, from sports to the arts, could impact graduation rates. It also develops a model for analyzing the present value of a high school education to a student using a discounted present value analysis and conducts an empirical analysis of 77 high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District over 4 different school years to determine a relationship between the number of art classes offered and graduation rates. The results of the analysis do not support the hypothesis that an increase in the number of art classes offered per student will increase graduation rates, and actually suggests the opposite.

Thesis advisor: Robert Murphy / This study proposes several causes that may explain why NCAA Division I athletes graduate at a lower rate than regular students. The main tradeoff that I examine in this paper is how the academic quality of a school affects student-athletes’ chances of succeeding relative to the rest of the student body. We pinpoint the underlying causes of this graduation gap between regular students and student-athletes, leading us to suggest policies to improve the future academic success of NCAA athletes. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

Many four year institutions are reorganizing their processes and structures to develop a more inclusive model related to campus diversity efforts. Minimal information has been reported about two year institutional efforts toward inclusive excellence. Given the predicted demographic shifts of the nation and more specifically, the projected increase in enrollments of racially and ethnically diverse student bodies in community colleges, it is essential for higher education administrators and policymakers to understand the structures needed to support minority student success at community colleges. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine institutional support structures around inclusive excellence. An Institutional Diversity Practice Index (IDPI) was created using eleven key indicators found within the literature related to institutional practices that enhance minority student success. The absence or presence of practices at each school were tallied to create two groups. Groups were then compared to determine whether significant differences existed between retention and graduation rates, as well as differences in selected items on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) related to diversity and support. Due to the sample size limitations of minority student enrollment, the 13 community colleges in this study were classified into one of two groups: Higher Institutional Diversity Practice Index (6 practices or more) and Lower Institutional Diversity Practice Index (5 practices or less). Archival data were used to examine retention rates, graduation rates, and student engagement indictors from the CSSE survey. The sampling frame for the study included all 13 TBR community college students during the academic 2013-2014 academic year. Findings indicated that institutions who were classified in the higher practice group reported higher retention rates of African American and Hispanic students. There were no statistically significant differences between the high and low group with regard to graduation rates or student engagement indicators on the CSSE survey. A larger sample size would be required to determine what combination of institutional practices predict minority student retention and graduation rates. Overall, this study plows new ground and provides information related to the current landscape of institutional structures that support minority student success in Tennessee.

Includes bibliographical references / The interplay between structure and agency: How Academic Development Programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering. This study explores and seeks to explain the ways in which a group of Academic Development Programme (ADP) students 'made their way' through their studies in engineering at the University of Cape Town. Underpinned by Bhaskar's realist philosophy of social science, the study uses Margaret Archer's morphogenetic realist social theory to explore the interaction between the university (social and cultural relations) and the students (agential relations). Data was generated through a series of three interviews with each of 12students in the fourth year of their studies and through an analysis of selected university documents. Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach, which allows for the temporal analytical separation of structure, culture and agency, provides methodological and analytical tools to investigate interactions between their respective emergent properties. It posits that structure and culture predate the actions of agents who transform it. As such, structural and cultural emergent properties condition the situations in which agents find themselves. Furthermore, agents' personal emergent properties, such as corporate agency and reflexivity, allow them to deliberate on their courses of actions. Key to this theoretical approach is the notion that structure and culture do not act in a deterministic way; their properties can only become powers when they are activated by agents' projects. With regard to structure, it was found that the combination of a fragmented curriculum, a shortened examination period, and unfavourable examination timetables all served as potential constraints to students' projects. With regard to culture, it was found that the ideas of mainstream students and lecturers about ADP students exacerbated such ADP students' experiences of marginalisation and exception. Moreover, the study found that the mainly black student enrolment of the Academic Support Programme for Engineering in Cape Town (ASPECT) was experienced by students as racial prejudice. While the findings suggest that students thus found themselves in extremely constrained circumstances, they were also found to have exercised corporate agency and different modes of reflexivity to overcome some of their constraining circumstances. Following an analytical process of retroduction, the study suggests that the ADP, although it facilitated students' entry into the university, simultaneously positioned them within a situational logic of constraining contradiction and as such exacerbated their experiences of exception. Moreover, it is argued that, although the university has made major structural changes to accommodate students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds, the ideas that shape the ADP space perpetuate the view that these students have an educational' deficit'. In conclusion, the study suggests that higher education should reconsider the idea of separate programmes, as their inherent situational logic appears to work against some of their fundamental goals, which are to facilitate redress and to widen participation.

This applied dissertation was designed to describe and explain the dropout phenomenon occurring in a rural high school in southeastern North Carolina. Caucasian students were dropping out at a disproportionate rate compared to other ethnic groups in the school. Over the last 4 years, 68 students did not graduate with their prospective class at the southeastern rural North Carolina high school research site; approximately 63% of those students were Caucasian, and 37% were non-Caucasian. Caucasian students were the smallest population at the selected high school (40%); however, they accounted for the highest average percentage of dropouts (63%). In 2011, Caucasian students alone accounted for 81% of the total dropouts. In essence, the largest ethnic group not graduating in this rural school district was Caucasian students. In an effort to investigate the academic, social, and home factors (strains) that may have contributed to the high dropout rate of Caucasian students, a study was conducted at the high school. The study involved investigating perceptions of professional staff at the selected high school. Professional staff completed a survey that measured perceptions as to why Caucasian students dropped out a higher rate than other ethnic groups. The general research design answering the 2 research questions for this study was a explanatory mixed-methods research design utilizing quantitative and qualitative data collected sequentially. After calculating descriptive statistics from survey responses (means and frequency of occurrence), performing a chi-square goodness-of-fit test, and conducting focus-group interviews, the results of the study indicated that professional staff members at the selected high school perceived that academic and home and community setting strains, not social strains, were the greatest influence on why Caucasian students were not graduating at the same rate as non-Caucasian high school students at the selected rural high school.

The overall college enrollment rates for young adults have increased over the last several years. While this is promising, a notable amount of students do not attain a degree. This scenario can create major consequences for the United States as global competitiveness requires a workforce that possesses a postsecondary degree. Dual enrollment is a program that has been seen to answer the need for more postsecondary graduates. Despite the robust literature that suggests the positive effects for students who participate in dual enrollment, limited research exists on the effects of dual enrollment on the institution. Therefore, this study attempted to fill the gap in the literature by examining the effects of dual enrollment on an institution. The independent variable was participation in dual enrollment and the dependent variables were persistence rates and degree completion. The population consisted of 5,251 first-time, full-time students in the Mississippi Community College System. Of this number, 741 had taken at least 1 dual enrollment course between the fall of 2010 and the spring of 2015, and 4,510 had no previous dual enrollment experience at all. A Chi-square test was used for both research questions. Results of the study indicate that there is a significant difference in persistence rates when comparing dual enrolled students to non-dual enrolled students. First-time, full-time students who had previous dual enrollment experience were more likely to maintain consistent enrollment (69%) at the community college than students who had no previous dual enrollment experience (45%). There is also a significant relationship between students attaining a degree in a timely manner when comparing dual enrolled students to non-dual enrolled students. First-time, full-time students who had previous dual enrollment experience were more likely to earn a degree in 3 years (61%) than students who did not participate in dual enrollment (35%). The effect size for both research questions was small. While the outcomes of this study are positive, it is imperative to continue to examine the effects of dual enrollment on an institution. Policy differences at each of the Mississippi community colleges could render different outcomes for the students and ultimately affect the institution.

Student retention rates and graduation rates currently play a major role in measuring the success of institutions of higher education. To contribute to the likelihood of this success many institutions offer programs designed to increase the academic performance of their students especially those classified as incoming freshmen. Others are more focused and target those who are from underrepresented populations. Nonetheless not many programs have been designed to aid those students in the subsequent years that follow freshman year. The purpose of this research project was to determine if there are significant differences in the success of those students who participate in a multi-year program as opposed to those who participate in a program specifically designed for incoming freshmen. Additionally these 2 groups were compared with students who did not participate in either program. The participants in this study were classified within 3 groups: Quest for Success, Student Support Services, and nonprogram participants. Archival data were used to examine grade point averages, retention rates, and graduation rates. A random sample of 125 students from each of the 3 groups (375 total) was examined for the purposes of comparing mean grade point averages. For the purposes of comparing retention rates and graduation rates, however, the population was examined due to the manner in which data were provided. Additionally the use of the population provided more precise retention rates and graduation rates in this study. Findings of the study are congruent with the literature in terms of the role that outreach programs play in the success of underrepresented students. These results revealed that students in the multi-year program, Student Support Services, had significantly higher grade point averages, retention rates, and graduation rates when compared to Quest for Success (a 1-year incoming freshman program). Student Support Services also had significantly higher grade point averages and retention rates than nonprogram participants from underrepresented student populations. Furthermore there were no significant differences found in comparisons between Quest for Success and nonprogram participants.