The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the incentives regarding the education decisions, resulting from a minimum wage over the period 2005-2014. The question is investigated by comparing the changes in the wage dispersion and upper secondary graduation rate in 17 OECD countries. And then, by comparing the changes in the bites of the minimum wage and educational attainment for upper secondary students in 11 OECD countries, where minimum wages are regulated by law. The majority of previous research seem to point out a negative educational effect of minimum wages. However, this paper finds no evidence that increasing the minimum wage can decrease the high school graduation rate. A possible explanation is that the correlation between the higher employment prospect and educational attainment can create incentives for young individuals to undergo education. This study seems to be the first to investigate the educational effects of minimum wages using internationally comparative data.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify possible relationships between academic achievement, as measured by high school graduation rate and ACT composite scores of individual school districts within the state of Tennessee, and the per-pupil expenditure of each district. Research was conducted to determine whether a significant difference existed in academic achievement measures (high school graduation rate, ACT composite score) among school districts in the state of Tennessee that were classified as above average, average, and below average in relation to their per-pupil expenditure (PPE) in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-16 school years. Ex post facto data were collected from the Tennessee Department of Education website. All pertinent school district information reported appeared on the Tennessee State Report Card website. This publicly reported and available data were collected by accessing the Tennessee State Report Card website. The researcher recorded data related to each school district that reported data in all three of the following categories: per-pupil expenditure, graduation rates, and ACT composite scores. This study examined the relationship of graduation rates to per-pupil expenditure in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years. The results indicated that the high school graduation rates during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school year were not significantly affected by per-pupil expenditure. However, significance was found regarding high school graduation rates in the 2015-2016 school year (p =.016). There was a significant difference in the means between the bottom-third (93.537%) and the top-third (90.422%) of per-pupil expenditure levels during the 2015-2016 school year, with the top-third having significantly higher graduation rates. This study also examined the relationship of ACT composite score to per-pupil expenditures in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years. The results for all of the research questions indicated that the ACT composite score during all years was not significantly affected by per-pupil expenditure.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a significant difference in WorkKeys score, skills score, theory score, and job placement rates as compared by credential and program of study at a technical college in Tennessee. The study used data retrieved from a WorkKeys database and SIMS (Student Information Management System) at a technical college. The population consisted of 445 students in seven programs from 2010-2016 who had participated in the WorkKeys online academic training modules. The dependent variables for the study were WorkKeys score, skill score, and theory score. The independent variables were job placement status (related, non-related, not placed), program of study (Collision Repair/Motorcycle Repair, Computer Information, Welding/Machine Tool and Industrial Maintenance/Residential Maintenance), and graduation credential (diploma, certificate, none). Based on the data collected, it was found that there was a significant difference in the WorkKeys score by credential, skill score by credential, theory score by credential, WorkKeys score by job placement status, skill score by job placement status and theory score by job placement status. The job placement status was significantly affected by the program of study. Finally, the WorkKeys score was not affected by the program of study. Additionally, the not placed status for the Computer Information program was higher than the other two categories (related and non-related) whereas the related status was the highest for the other three programs of study (WEL/MT, CRT/MOT, and IM/RBM).

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