This two-phase study integrated quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the relationship between success outcomes of two-year college students with disabilities and self-determination, and how students with higher and lesser degrees of self-determination understand and describe the outcomes of their post-secondary experience. The "ARC Self-Determination Scale" (Wehmeyer & Kelchner, 1995) and the "Demographic and Outcomes Survey" (researcher...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Disabilities, Research Methodology, Qualitative Research, Self...
This ethnographic narrative employs a neo-Vygotskian perspective (Holland et al.) to examine how, in the setting of a remedial ESL program at a public two-year college in North Georgia, the subject position of an ESL basic writing instructor was mediated by her understandings of and engagement with the multiple and interactive contexts of her professional activity. Despite a wide variety of tensions that complicated the instructor's understandings of who she was professionally, Roberta was able...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Basic Writing, Writing (Composition), Freshman Composition, Remedial Programs,...
This article summarizes my experiences in developing an educational initiative known as the Career Fair Project within the curriculum of the Legal Administration/Law Clerk program at Durham College over the past ten years. A performance-based, student-centered project, the Career Fair empowers students to work collaboratively with one another in order to gain employment within their chosen field. In this article, I discuss the rationale and structure of the course, as well as the outcomes of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Activities, Program Effectiveness, College Environment, Higher Education,...
Online learning environments provide an unprecedented opportunity to increase student access to higher education. Accomplishing this much needed goal requires the active participation and cooperation of university faculty from a broad spectrum of institutional settings. Although online learning has seen rapid growth in recent years, it remains a relatively small percentage of the entire curriculum of higher education today. As a relatively recent development, online teaching can be viewed...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Online Courses, Educational Change, Learning Experience, Faculty...
The experience of seven community college instructors was documented as they applied, for the first time, principles and characteristics of constructivist pedagogy to the design of learning activities. The instructors became a community of learners as they collaborated and shared their experiences among themselves. They reported improvements in the quality of the learning experienced by their students. They observed the development of negotiation, teamwork and management skills in their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Constructivism (Learning), Instructional Design, Learning Activities, Teaching...
The economic news has been dire--from growing unemployment numbers to the slashing of state and local budgets. Schools have been forced to look at cost cutting measures--from larger classes to the elimination of some programs. Yet, amid all the bad news, there is some good news to be found for career and technical education (CTE)--and some opportunities to be found among the obstacles. CTE enrollment at both the secondary and postsecondary levels is up in many communities. Since many of the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Strategic Planning, Vocational Education, Enrollment, Community Colleges,...
Established in 1965, North Shore Community College (NSCC) is one of the oldest and largest of the 15 public comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts. Operating from campuses in Lynn, Beverly and Danvers, NSCC serves more than 10,000 students each year. One of their strategic directions is to build technology media environments that create a "technological village"--a phrase used by NSCC President Dr. Wayne M. Burton--and to increase communication at all levels of the college....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Management Systems, Community Colleges, Recruitment, Higher Education, Cooperation,...
The American higher education system considers itself a primary avenue to opportunity. As providers of broad access to postsecondary education, community colleges are arguably the most vital organ in that pulsing system. But there is a growing acknowledgment that access alone is no longer enough. "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count" is a national initiative focused on helping more community college students succeed. Achieving the Dream firmly embraces and supports the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Community Colleges, Academic Aspiration, Two Year Colleges, College...
Frank Christ is the founder and co-director of the Winter Institutes for Learning Assistance Professionals and has been actively involved with learning assistance and learning centers for the past 40 years. In this interview, Christ talks about how learning centers today differ from those with which he was associated at the beginning of his career, as well as the main difficulties and problems that learning centers are facing today. He also talks about trends in learning centers today that he...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Resources Centers, Interviews, Higher Education, Internet, Web Sites,...
This qualitative study examines current community college library practices in developmental education. Based on semistructured telephone interviews with 27 librarians across the United States, analysis of the results shows that there are librarians who proactively integrate basic library skills into developmental education and academic success courses, collaborate with developmental educators in designing library sessions and class assignments, interact with learning assistance and tutoring...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Assignments, Community Colleges, College Libraries, Library Skills, Librarians,...
When Americans talk about access to a college education, they tend to narrow the acceptable boundaries of the conversation. They ask why the cost of college has gotten so out of control compared to the costs of other goods and services, and they sometimes talk about the closely related subject of financial aid. But very rarely do Americans discuss the dramatic changes to the financial aid system that have made college increasingly unaffordable to the very students who need financial aid most....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Paying for College, Enrollment, Community Colleges, Two Year...
This is an applied companion to our empirical article elsewhere in this issue (Fichten et al., in press) on technological needs and concerns of Canadian junior/community college- and university-based disability service providers. Here, we provide highlights of our findings as well as timely, practical recommendations to disability service providers about ensuring access to the growing array of information and instructional technologies on campus. The objective is to provide (a) an overview of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Access to Information, Disabilities, Educational Technology, Higher Education,...
Transfer of learning is using previous knowledge in novel contexts. While this is a basic assumption of the educational process, students may not always perceive all the options for using what they have learned in different, novel situations. Within the framework of transfer of learning, this study outlines an attitudinal survey concerning faculty and student attitudes about transfer of learning. Faculty and students completed a measure of expectations for transfer and potential barriers to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Attitudes, Transfer of Training, Models, Surveys, Teacher Attitudes,...
The Developmental Mathematics Program (DMP) at Texas State University-San Marcos in central Texas has undergone systemic, significant changes over the past ten years. These changes primarily resulted from the alignment to the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges' (AMATYC) Crossroads in Mathematics: Standards for Introductory College Mathematics Before Calculus (Cohen, 1995) and Beyond Crossroads: Implementing Mathematics Standards in the First Two Years of College (Blair,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Two Year Colleges, College Mathematics, Mathematics Education, Academic Standards,...
The Center for Economic and Workforce Development (CEWD) at Kingsborough Community College (KCC) is currently working on a workforce development project that contains innovative teaching tools that proved successful in overcoming issues of academic isolation facing the student body. The CUNY Young Adult Program (CYAP) is a partnership of three City University of New York (CUNY) colleges--LaGuardia Community College (lead organization), KCC's CEWD and New York City College of Technology (City...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Food Service, Career Planning, Adult Programs, Young Adults, Education Work...
President Barack Obama has called education "the economic issue of our time", explaining that the rise in unemployment among those without a college education is growing and eight of 10 new jobs created in the US are more likely to hire people with higher education degrees. Indeed, change is what the educational system needs to increase opportunities to access higher education for Latino students who are among the most underrepresented racial groups in higher education. Latinos are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Schools, Gender Differences, Enrollment, White Students, Hispanic American...
The authors examine the factors that influence the college choice process of two-year college students and explore the effect these variables have on the two-year/four-year college choice dichotomy, using the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) of 1995-96 and the Beginning Postsecondary (BPS) component of that survey. This study provides new insight into the influence that background characteristics, aspirations, high school experience, college experience, price and subsidy, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High Schools, Grade Point Average, College Choice, Student Financial Aid, Educational...
In this article, the authors report the results of two studies examining the participation rates of Latino students in postsecondary technical education (CTE) programs in community colleges and two-year proprietary institutions in the United States in 1994 and 2000. It is believed that the quality of the future U.S. Labor market will depend, to a great extent, on this group's education and job skills. Although Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, they are also...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Labor Market, Job Skills, Technical Education, Proprietary Schools, Hispanic...
Washington could add as many as 110,000 new jobs by 2017 by closing skill gaps--the mismatch between the skills people have and those employers need, according to a March 2013 Washington Roundtable report. STEM professions face the most critical demand. Of the 25,000 jobs vacant for three months or more due to a shortage of qualified candidates, 80 percent are in high demand STEM and health care fields. Employers are desperate to find STEM workers, while job-seekers without STEM training are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Technical Institutes, Two Year Colleges, STEM Education, Labor...
Washington's community and technical colleges are fundamentally transforming precollege (remedial) education to move students faster into credit-bearing classes. The state's colleges are working with high schools to prevent the need for remediation. They are also shortening the path for college students of all ages who need the extra help. Courses bring students up-to-speed in math and English language arts (reading/writing) so they can complete college, land well-paying jobs and upskill...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Remedial Instruction, Community Colleges, Technical Institutes, Two Year Colleges,...
Community and technical colleges are known as "Democracy's colleges." They are grounded in the core American value that all people deserve the opportunity to move up in the world, regardless of where they are from, what obstacles they face and where they need to start. At a time when college education is the ticket to a middle-class lifestyle, America's open-door colleges serve as engines of social mobility. The evidence is clear in Washington state, where about 388,000 students...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Technical Institutes, Democratic Values, Social Mobility,...
Washington's community and technical colleges are a collective, powerful, unmatched resource for advancing prosperity through education. These 34 colleges not only connect with employers in the regions where they operate, but also with each other through common programs--like advanced manufacturing and allied health--that align with Washington's overall job-growth strategy. This approach connects every community to the full range of economic possibilities locally and regionally. People land...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Technical Institutes, Two Year Colleges, Two Year College...
Growing Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics (STEM) talent Washington MESA--Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement--helps under-represented community college students excel in school and ultimately earn STEM bachelor's degrees. MESA has two key programs: one for K-12 students, and the other for community and technical college students. The K-12 progam helps students at middle and high schools (and some elementary schools) succeed in math and science and become competitively...
Topics: ERIC Archive, STEM Education, Mathematics Education, Science Education, Engineering Education,...
Washington's community and technical colleges have an open door policy that gives everyone a fair shot at enrolling in college and improving their lives if they have the drive and determination. They accept students at any age and stage in their lives and at any educational level. They take students from where they are, to where they want to be. This brief report discusses how community and technical colleges continually develop and improve ways to move more students through school and into...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Technical Institutes, Community Colleges, Enrollment, Open Enrollment, Academic...
Washington's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST) quickly teaches students literacy, work, and college-readiness skills so they can move through school and into living wage jobs faster. Pioneered by Washington's community and technical colleges, I-BEST uses a team-teaching approach to combine college-readiness classes with regular, credit-bearing job training or academic classes. This document briefly discusses the economic strength and the dramatic results from...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Basic Education, Two Year Colleges, Technical Institutes, Community Colleges,...
Washington state has a large and rapidly growing foreign-born population. In 2011, immigrants made up 16.5 percent of Washington's civilian employed workforce, up from 7.1 percent in 1990. These new arrivals create jobs by forming businesses, spending income in local economies and raising employers' productivity. Thanks to project I-DEA (Integrated Digital English Acceleration), English language learners who face the largest language gaps are learning English while gaining skills for college...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Technical Institutes, English Language Learners, Immigrants,...
This report provides a "first look" at selected findings from the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14). It is based on final data describing a nationally representative sample of undergraduates who entered postsecondary education for the first time during the 2011-12 academic year. BPS:12/14 covers the experiences of these first-time beginning students over 3 academic years, 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14, and provides information about the rates at...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Longitudinal Studies, Postsecondary Education, Academic Persistence, Educational...
This "First Look" presents findings from the provisional data of the IPEDS winter 2014-15 data collection, which included four survey components: (1) Graduation Rates (GR); (2) 200 Percent Graduation Rates (GR200); (3) Student Financial Aid (SFA); and (4) Admissions (ADM). GR and GR200 present graduation rates for selected cohorts within 100, 150, and 200 percent of normal program completion time (e.g., "normal" program completion time for a bachelor's degree would be 4...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Graduation Rate, Student Financial Aid, College Admission, Tables (Data),...
This report shows college enrollment and graduation trends among African American SAT® takers who finished high school in 2004 and 2010 by various student characteristics, including aspirations, self-perceived ability, and academic achievements. In every case, students in the top categories were the most likely to enroll in four-year colleges within one year after graduating from high school in 2004 and in 2010. Students in these top categories among the 2004 cohort were also more likely to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Attendance, Enrollment Trends, Graduation Rate, College Graduates, High...
High school seniors who answered that they would choose to borrow, when asked what they would do if college costs were $1,500 more than they, their family, and a scholarship could provide, were significantly more likely to attend college in the next four years than were students who answered that they would choose other options (delaying college entrance, attending a less expensive college, or getting a job). This held true even after controlling for other variables such as educational...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Seniors, Student Attitudes, Student Loan Programs, Student Financial Aid,...
Given the explosion of theoretical and empirical interest in the STEM gender gap in recent years, almost exclusively focused on four-year colleges, this paper primarily investigates the following question: How does the nature of the gender gap differ among two- and four-year college students, if at all? This study seeks to answer the following sub-questions: (1) To what extent do men and women differ in the scientific degrees they complete?; (2) How does the gender gap in scientific degrees...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Two Year Colleges, STEM Education, Gender Differences, Racial Differences,...
The changing nature of the U.S. economy has fostered concerns that too few students are successfully completing postsecondary education (Achieve, 2004). Three quarters of those who enter high school graduate within four years, with approximately 70 percent of those graduates enrolling immediately in some form of postsecondary education (Ross et al., 2012). Of those who do attend, insufficient numbers complete a degree with only a little less than half (49 %) of beginning postsecondary students...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cost Effectiveness, Dual Enrollment, High Schools, Postsecondary Education,...
The performance of higher education in New Mexico--measured by cost-efficiency, degree production, graduation rates, and a host of other metrics--remains exceptionally low in comparison with all but two or three other states. For most of the 2013 calendar year the Higher Education Department worked on various fronts to address the most pressing issues. Most prominent among these were the funding formula and the fate of the Lottery Scholarship. The new performance-based funding formula, written...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Annual Reports, Enrollment Trends, Academic Persistence, College...
This report provides a resource of accurate, timely and comprehensive facts about higher education in Minnesota. It includes comparisons over time as well as national and peer institution comparisons to add context for the interpretation of the data. It is expected to be used by a number of stakeholder groups such as legislators, educators and researchers. The document is organized into three sections: (1) Preparing for and Entering College; (2) During College; and (3) Outcomes of College. A...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, College Preparation, College Readiness, Student Financial Aid, High...
Pursuant to statute (23-1-113 [9] C.R.S), the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) is required to submit a report concerning the postsecondary academic progress and success of the preceding six high school graduating classes. Due to limitations on the availability of data, this report covers the high school graduating classes of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Future reports will include additional data as they are available to the Department. This report has been submitted to the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Graduates, Enrollment, Postsecondary Education, College Freshmen, School...
Minnesota is home to some of the finest postsecondary institutions in the country. From campuses large to small, urban to rural, close to home or far away, the state's public and private colleges and universities offer a broad spectrum of surprising educational opportunities and experiences. This guide can help students explore Minnesota College options. It includes public and private colleges and universities located in Minnesota offering two-year associate and four-year bachelor's degrees. In...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Choice, Public Colleges, Private Colleges, Institutional Characteristics,...
The College Board offers fee reductions to students based on eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch in an attempt to introduce the benefits of AP® Exam participation to students most at risk in the education system. This report examined college outcomes of low-SES students with a focused investigation comparing students who took an AP Exam and received a fee reduction to students who took no AP Exams. Students were classified as low-SES if they reported that their annual household income...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Low Income Groups, Advanced Placement, Fees, Student Financial Aid, At Risk Students,...
The outcomes states gain from investing in postsecondary financial aid programs remain hotly debated, leading to great interest in developing programs that are both cost-effective and productive in helping states meet goals. In the 2012-13 academic year, states collectively provided approximately $11.2 billion in financial aid to students enrolled in postsecondary institutions across the country. States take a wide variety of approaches in making investments in postsecondary financial aid. This...
Topics: ERIC Archive, State Aid, Student Financial Aid, Postsecondary Education, College Students, Trend...
The South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract is a comprehensive, single-source compilation of tables and graphs which report data frequently requested by the Governor, Legislators, college and university staff, other state government officials, and the general public. The 2014 edition of the Statistical Abstract marks the 36th year of this valuable publication. This Abstract includes the most recent statistics on enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty, tuition and fees, funding, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Full Time Equivalency, Full Time Students, Enrollment Trends,...
After twenty years of expanding school-choice options, state leaders, educators, and families have a new tool: course choice, a strategy for students to learn from unconventional providers that might range from top-tier universities or innovative community colleges to local employers, labs, or hospitals. In "Expanding the Education Universe: A Fifty-State Strategy for Course Choice," Fordham's Michael Brickman outlines policy questions and options to weigh when designing course-choice...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Course Selection (Students), Educational Policy, Eligibility, Financial Support,...
The value of education has rarely been disputed in the United States. The importance of education has been so critical to the country's well-being that elementary and secondary education has been a free public good and postsecondary education has been heavily subsidized through grants to public institutions and to students. In this report, the authors discuss the problems that exist if California is going to meet its economic and civic demands. Too many students drop out of high school and too...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Futures (of Society), Educational Change, Educational Trends,...
This snapshot report provides information on student persistence and retention rates for Spring 2014. Data is presented in tabular format on the following: (1) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates by Starting Enrollment Intensity (all institutional sectors); (2) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates by Age at College Entry (all institutional sectors); (3) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates for Students Who Start College at Four-Year Public Institutions; (4) First-Year...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Persistence, Enrollment Rate, Public Colleges, Private Colleges, Proprietary...
This Snapshot Report offers information on student persistence and retention rates for 2009-2013. It offers data on the following: (1) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates for Students Who Start College at Four-Year Private Nonprofit Institutions; (2) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates for Students Who Start College at Four-Year For-Profit Institutions; and (3) First-Year Persistence and Retention Rates for Students Who Start College at Two-Year Public Institutions. Notes and a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Persistence, School Holding Power, College Freshmen, College Students,...
In late 2007, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) expanded its Enrollment Reporting service to include several additional data elements (commonly referred to as the "A2" or "expanded" data elements). One of these expanded data elements is student gender. Although gender is potentially important to a number of research projects, it is currently an optional data element in Clearinghouse Enrollment Reporting. Consequently, postsecondary institutions have populated this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Enrollment, Data, Sex, Statistical Analysis, Postsecondary Education, College...
Current Term Enrollment Estimates, published every December and May by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, include national enrollment estimates by institutional sector, state, enrollment intensity, age group, and gender. Enrollment estimates are adjusted for Clearinghouse data coverage rates by institutional sector, state, and year. As of spring 2014, postsecondary institutions actively submitting enrollment data to the Clearinghouse account for 96 percent of enrollments at...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Enrollment, Postsecondary Education, College Students, Enrollment Rate, Enrollment...
Current Term Enrollment Estimates, published every December and May by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC), include national enrollment estimates by institutional sector, state, enrollment intensity, age group, and gender. Enrollment estimates are adjusted for Clearinghouse data coverage rates by institutional sector, state, and year. As of fall 2014, postsecondary institutions actively submitting enrollment data to the Clearinghouse account for 96 percent of enrollments...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Enrollment, Postsecondary Education, College Students, Enrollment Rate, Enrollment...
In the 2013-14 academic year, 46 percent of students who completed a degree at a four-year institution were enrolled at a two-year institution at some point in the previous 10 years. This is a one percentage point increase over the comparable figure for degrees awarded in 2010-11. The prior two-year enrollment may have been brief (as little as a single course) and the two-year institution may or may not have been the first one the student attended. As shown on page 3, 21 percent of students...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Two Year Colleges, College Role, College Outcomes Assessment, Enrollment Trends,...
This second annual report provides high school-to-college transition rates for graduates of public non-charter, public charter, and private high schools. For students of public non-charter high schools the rates are reported in 12 categories based on the school-level demographic and geographic characteristics. This timely and comprehensive data is important for educators and policymakers interested in outcomes of secondary education and access to postsecondary education, particularly for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Graduates, Public Schools, Charter Schools, Private Schools, High...
Since the 2008-09 academic year, the National Student Clearinghouse has provided its participating institutions with the option to include 13 additional data elements in their enrollment submissions. These additional data elements help make Clearinghouse data more comprehensive and enable StudentTracker? participants to utilize a more robust data set, thus gaining a greater understanding of prospective, current, and former students. Additionally, postsecondary institutions are eligible to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Databases, Student Records, Enrollment, Postsecondary Education, Colleges, Academic...
During their senior year, students in the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools develop a postsecondary plan indicating their intentions upon graduation from high school. Postsecondary plan data were generated and consists of several categories, including attending a four-year college/university, attending a two-year/community college, attending a vocational/technical school, seeking employment or an apprenticeship/on-the-job training, enlisting in the military, or joining...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Seniors, Public Schools, Scholarships, Graduation Rate, Student Financial...