College Entrants Research Articles

The Community College Penalty? Examining the Bachelor’s Completion Rates of Community College Transfer Students as a Function of Time

Objective: Recent studies have shown that community college transfer students are just as likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree as students who directly enroll in a 4-year institution. However, these studies do not typically examine whether there is a penalty for community college students in terms of the length of time it takes to complete a bachelor’s degree. In this study, we seek to determine whether there are differences between community college transfer students and direct 4-year college entrants regarding the likelihood of bachelor’s degree completion as a function of time. Method: Propensity score matching with a posttreatment adjustment was used to create observationally equivalent groups of community college transfer students and rising 4-year college juniors. Propensity scores were calculated using a multilevel model with students nested within high schools to account for pretreatment contextual differences. Descriptive survival analysis was applied to ascertain whether differences existed in the cumulative rate of bachelor’s degree completion throughout a 7-year tracking period. Results: Several significant prematch differences between the two groups—community college transfers and 4-year college juniors—were established. It was then demonstrated how the matching process created adequate balance between the two groups on all observed covariates. Although community college students experienced an initial penalty with respect to degree completion until 125% of normal time, the penalty was no longer evident 6 years after initial enrollment in college. Contributions: Given this finding, we discuss the need for policies that help community college transfer students achieve timely bachelor’s degree completion.

Relationships Matter: the Views of College Entrants to an Ancient Scottish University

It is widely acknowledged that higher education in the UK is under pressure. As successive government’s policies have reinforced the idea that higher education is a market like any other, with students as consumers of packages of education, so the pedagogical relationships upon which education have been centred are stretched to breaking-point. But are relationships between staff and students really in jeopardy? This article will report on a longitudinal study of the experiences of students who entered directly from Scotland’s colleges into one ancient Scottish university. These students were followed through their degree programmes and a year after graduation using repeated questionnaires and interviews. In addition, a sub-sample has recently been interviewed ten years after the start of their studies. The research demonstrates that good relationships between staff and students and between students and their peers continue to matter, and that they are central to students’ well-being and success at university.

From school to university to work: migration of highly educated youths in China

A burgeoning body of the literature has studied the migration of university-bound students and university graduates in developed countries, but little research has been conducted on this issue in China. Using microdata from the 2005 1 % population sample survey, this paper examines, for the first time, the migration of university entrants and graduates in China by describing their migration patterns and modeling their choices of destination location. The migration patterns show that recent university graduates are highly concentrated in three eastern provincial units, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong, and that the destinations of university entrants tend to be more dispersed geographically. The results from conditional logit models indicate that highly educated youths, in particular those who study in a regular university, have a strong tendency to stay in the same province after graduation. The migration of university entrants is determined mainly by regional differences in university enrollment, while the distribution of national key universities, economic opportunities, and the cost of living plays a less important role in their location choices. The migration of university graduates is driven primarily by regional differences in wage levels. Comparing with vocational college entrants, regular university entrants are attracted to regions with more national key universities. Comparing with vocational college graduates, regular university graduates are attracted to regions with higher wage levels. Our findings suggest that increasing labor market returns is a more effective approach than investing in higher education to curb brain drain in China’s less developed regions.

Preferences, constraints, and the process of sex segregation in college majors: A choice analysis

The persistence of horizontal sex segregation in higher education continues to puzzle social scientists. To help resolve this puzzle, we analyze a sample of college entrants in Germany with a discrete choice design that allows for social learning from the experiences of others. We make at least two contributions to the state of research. First, we test whether essentialist gender stereotypes affect major selection mostly through internalization or rather as external constraints that high school graduates adapt their behavior to. Empirically, we find that internalized vocational interests better explain gendered major choices than conformance with friends' and parents' expectations does. Second, we scrutinize whether segregation results from women's anticipation of gendered family roles or from their anticipation of sex-based discrimination, but we find no evidence for either of these hypotheses. As in most previous studies, differences in mathematics achievement fail to explain gendered patterns of selection into college majors.

専門学校における現役入学生と非現役入学生の学習動機の特徴

専門学校における現役入学生と非現役入学生の学習動機の特徴

Estimates of Enhanced Outcomes in Employment, Income, Health, and Volunteerism for The Association of Boarding Schools Member School Graduates

We analyzed data from 65 schools that are U.S. members of The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) to estimate how TABS member school graduates who enter college compare with college entrants from non-boarding schools on several long-term quality-of-life estimates. Although TABS students are more likely to graduate college than the population of college-bound U.S. high school students as a whole, they are also more likely to come from households with higher education and income levels. We statistically removed some of this advantage using proxy data from the U.S. Census Bureau. After this adjustment, TABS students still remain more likely to graduate college. We use the increased likelihood of holding a bachelor’s degree to project increased estimates in earnings, health, volunteering, and other life outcomes.

Cope and Grow

In this grounded theory qualitative study, we interviewed 34 graduates from one cohort of 51 students from a prestigious early college entrance program in China. Based on the interview data, we identified distinct convergent and divergent patterns of lived experiences and changes. We found several dominant themes, including peers’ mutual stimulation for excellence, academic competition, big-fish-little-pond effect, coping with academic challenges, transition to college life, developing intrinsic interests, and making critical career decisions. Based on the thematic analysis, we developed a Cope-and-Grow model of strivings for academic excellence while developing one’s self-identity. Three interrelated claims are made about the unique situation in which early college entrants found themselves, individual differences in coping and growing experiences, and intrapersonal changes over time. Rich connections are made between the Cope-and-Grow model and the extant empirical research and theories, such as aptitude theory, developmental asynchrony theory, and talent development theory. We also discussed the implications of the findings for curricular and instructional adaptation, counseling interventions, and future research.

How Risky is College Investment?

This paper is motivated by the fact that nearly half of U.S. college students drop out without earning a bachelor’s degree. Its objective is to quantify how much uncertainty college entrants face about their graduation outcomes. To do so, we develop a quantitative model of college choice. The innovation is to model in detail how students progress towards a college degree. The model is calibrated using transcript and financial data. We find that more than half of college entrants can predict whether they will graduate with at least 80% probability. As a result, stylized policies that insure students against the financial risks associated with uncertain graduation have little value for the majority of college entrants.

How Risky is College Investment?

This paper is motivated by the fact that nearly half of U.S. college students drop out without earning a bachelor’s degree. Its objective is to quantify how much uncertainty college entrants face about their graduation outcomes. To do so, we develop a quantitative model of college choice. The innovation is to model in detail how students progress towards a college degree. The model is calibrated using transcript and financial data. We find that more than half of college entrants can predict whether they will graduate with at least 80% probability. As a result, stylized policies that insure students against the financial risks associated with uncertain graduation have little value for the majority of college entrants.

Student Attitudes toward Information Systems Management as Major and Career Options

 Abstract—In today's world of fast paced technology growth and the ability in incorporating information technology (I.T.) into business, students who desire careers in Information Systems Management (ISM) are declining. The decline is due to a number of causes, including outsourcing of jobs and recent lackluster economic activity. Information Systems Management is a major where students study how to analyze, design or prescribe and manage systems which integrate data a company creates into value-addedand usable information for use at the management level. Information Systems professionals' foci include but not limited to, managing databases for a company and ascertaining that data captured and maintained within the databases and systems provides integrity and value. Careers in Information Systems Management has high job security in today's marketplace and a higher than average salary. But, there is a stigma associated with those career options and it is preventing current generation of students from considering the major. There has been such a severe shortage of trained professionals within the field of Information Systems Management that companies have to continue to outsource because there are relatively few or no qualified individuals available domestically for hire. The main reasons for the decline are students' misperception of Information Systems Management as a field of study and that young college entrants are not educated aboutits career possibilities and future prospects in the field.

Affirmative action bans and college graduation rates

This paper estimates the effects of statewide affirmative action bans on graduation rates within colleges and on the fraction of college entrants who become graduates of selective institutions. On net, affirmative action bans lead to fewer underrepresented minorities becoming graduates of selective colleges. Although the graduation rates for underrepresented minority groups at selective institutions rise when affirmative action is banned, this may be due to the changing composition of students at these universities. Moreover, this effect is small relative to the number displaced from selective universities due to affirmative action bans.

Promoting positive psychology using social networking sites: a study of new college entrants on Facebook.

This study explores the potential of promoting college students’ positive psychological development using popular online social networks. Online social networks have dramatically changed the ways college students manage their social relationships. Social network activities, such as checking Facebook posts dominates students’ Internet time and has the potential to assist students’ positive development. Positive psychology is a scientific study of how ordinary individuals can apply their strength effectively when facing objective difficulties and how this capability can be cultivated with certain approaches. A positive message delivery approach was designed for a group of new college entrants. A series of positive messages was edited by university counselors and delivered by students to their Facebook social groups. Responses from each posted positive messages were collected and analyzed by researchers. The responses indicated that: (1) relationships of individual engagement and social influence in this study can partially explain the observed student behavior; (2) using class-based social groups can promote a positive atmosphere to enhance strong-tie relationships in both the physical and virtual environments, and (3) promoting student’s positive attitudes can substantially impact adolescents’ future developments, and many positive attitudes can be cultivated by emotional events and social influence.

Effects of Family Functioning and Parenting Style on Early Entrants’ Academic Performance and Program Completion

The purpose of the current study was to examine the predictive nature of parenting style and overall family environment on the academic performance and program completion of early college entrants. Furthermore, gender and family form were examined as possible moderators to these relationships. A total of 88 early college entrants participated in this study. Results indicate that gender and family form had no measurable effect on grade point average or on program completion among early college entrants. Parenting style combined with overall family environment was not predictive of program completion or changes in academic performance. However, further analyses revealed that an authoritative parenting style was related to increases in grade point average among those students who showed an increase in grade point average during the program.

Factors Contributing to the Upward Transfer of Baccalaureate Aspirants Beginning at Community Colleges

This study examined factors associated with the upward transfer of baccalaureate aspirants beginning at community colleges. Based on data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study, a sequential logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict bachelor's degree-seeking community college entrants' transfer to four-year institutions.

Factors Influencing Japanese Women To Choose Two-Year Colleges in Japan

Two-year colleges in Japan have traditionally absorbed the major portion of female college entrants due to long-held gender stereotypes. Recently, Japanese women began to explore selfhood outside the traditional realm of marriage and motherhood. However, two-year colleges in Japan today continue to enroll mostly female students and few male students. Moreover, the general public continues to regard two-year colleges as a place for young women to prepare themselves for marriage and motherhood. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether traditional gender stereotypes continue to influence the decision of Japanese females pursuing a two-year college education. A sample of 214 Japanese female students enrolled in a two-year college participated in the study. The survey questionnaire was developed to examine factors perceived as influential by Japanese women on their decision to choose a two-year college. The questionnaire items were adopted based on a review of literature pertinent to gender roles and women in higher education in Japan and the government surveys on Japanese women's life-course plans. Exploratory factor analyses extracted three factors: traditional gender expectations, career and marriage, and career interests. Students in this study ranked career interest highest, followed by traditional gender expectations, and career and marriage. This suggests that women's choices of two-year college are based first on their concerns for job and financial security, second for marriage and family, and third for the dual goals of pursuing both a career and marriage. The finding suggests a changing role for two-year colleges in contemporary Japan.

Factors Contributing to the Upward Transfer of Baccalaureate Aspirants Beginning at Community Colleges

This study examined factors associated with the upward transfer of baccalaureate aspirants beginning at community colleges. Based on data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study, a sequential logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict bachelor's degree-seeking community college entrants' transfer to four-year institutions.

Personal Well-Being of Gifted Students Following Participation in an Early College-Entrance Program

In this study, life satisfaction and its correlates were explored through analysis of the experiences and psychological traits of highly gifted students who were accelerated into an early college-entrance program. Happiness, fulfillment in life, assuredness, and good dispositions are constructs that point toward positive character development and thriving. These early college entrants expressed greater global satisfaction with their lives than age peers. They specifically reported elevated levels of satisfaction in their achievements, immediate standard of living, personal safety, and future security than age peers. They expressed powerful feelings of general self-efficacy and high levels of trait seriousness, two constructs related to facilitating success. The findings in this study suggest these early college entrants are on a path toward personal thriving and living a good life.

The Effect of Level of College Entry on Midcareer Occupational Attainments

The economic benefits of attending community colleges, as opposed to other higher education sectors, have been a subject of intense debate since the 1960s. Using the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), this study compares the midcareer occupational attainments (in terms of income and occupational prestige) of students who began postsecondary study at community colleges and students who began postsecondary study at 4-year colleges. Study participants were between 14 and 22 years of age in 1979; income and occupational prestige data used in the analyses were the latest available for the respondents from the 1996, 1998, and 2000 waves of the NLSY79 study. Controlling for a variety of student background characteristics, regression analysis and matched models using propensity scores revealed that the gap in earnings between the community college and 4-year college entrants remained small for most groups, with the exception of Black and Hispanic males. This overall finding runs counter to what one might expect on the basis of previous studies showing that at early stages of one’s career, community college entrants hold relatively low-prestige jobs in comparison to those held by 4-year college entrants and that the income gaps between the two groups might therefore be expected to increase over time.

Consequences of Receipt of a Psychiatric Diagnosis for Completion of College

Consequences of Receipt of a Psychiatric Diagnosis for Completion of College

Hepatitis B immunity in adolescents and necessity for boost vaccination: 23 years after nationwide hepatitis B virus vaccination program in Taiwan

The first universal hepatitis B vaccination program for newborns in the world was launched in Taiwan in July 1984. Most studies on the effectiveness of hepatitis B vaccination focused on the seroprevalence of HBs Ag among children under 14 years old. Only few studies focused on the seropositivity of anti-HBs among adolescents aged 15–18 years old. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the nationwide hepatitis B vaccination program on the immunity to HBV infection and the necessity of boost among adolescents. In this study including eight annual seroprevalence surveys from 2000 to 2007, 2342 college entrants (1589 15-year-olds in group I and 753 18-year-olds in group II) and 1851 university freshmen (18-year-olds in group III) participated. Subjects identified anti-HBs, HBs Ag and anti-HBc negative were given boost three doses of HBV vaccine. The HBs Ag seroprevalence was 11.6%, 3.5% and 1.0% for participants who were born before 1984, 1984–1986 and after 1986. The anti-HBs-seropositive rates were significantly higher in group II (83.1%) than in group I (53.0%) and group III (53.5%). All 572 participants who were seronegative for anti-HBs, HBs Ag and anti-HBc became anti-HBs-seropositive after catch-up vaccination. It is concluded that the anti-HBs-seropositive rate decreased to 50% in 15 years after vaccination, and boost vaccination was 100% effective. The necessity and age for boost among anti-HBs negative adolescents and the timing of the first immunization should be further evaluated.