Enrollment Patterns Research Articles

Factors associated with family forest landowner enrollment in state preferential forest property tax programs in the United States

All fifty states in the United States offer preferential forest property tax programs (PFPTPs) that defer, reduce, or eliminate property taxes on enrolled private forest lands, to foster ecosystem services. Among individual programs, there is wide variability in enrollment levels, as well as program structure and administration. Past research has explored patterns of enrollment in individual states, but to our knowledge has never been conducted at the national level. We used binary logistic regression with multiple imputation for missing data to explore the landowner, land, and program characteristics that correlate with likelihood of enrollment in a PFPTP. We found that most landowner objectives and concerns, including those that would appear to be linked to program enrollment, such as concern about the level of taxes, were generally not correlated with likelihood of enrollment. Owning more forest area was correlated with higher likelihood of enrollment. The link of enrollment to population density suggested that enrollment is higher in moderate densities, with higher and lower densities having lower enrollment, possibly due to conflicting incentives for enrollment as land values increase. Program characteristics were negatively correlated with likelihood of enrollment, especially those that restrict uses or management. The owner’s desire for wooded land to stay wooded and higher levels of penalty for program withdrawal were positively correlated with likelihood of enrollment and average rates of tax reductions were not significantly correlated, suggesting that landowners may see programs as a method of conserving and protecting their forestland in the future more than as simply a way to save money.

Complex Patients and Quality of Care in Medicare Advantage.

New federal policies aim to focus Medicare Advantage (MA) plans on the needs of individuals with complex health conditions. Our objective was to examine enrollment patterns of MA beneficiaries with complex needs and the association of enrollment patterns with MA plan performance. Cross-sectional study. The 2015 Medicare Health Outcome Survey baseline survey. A total of 273 336 MA beneficiaries enrolled in 467 MA plans who lived in the community. Complex patients included individuals 65 years and older with multiple self-reported chronic conditions and functional limitations and all patients with disabilities younger than 65 years. Outcomes included 27 performance measures reported under the 5-Star Part C Star Rating. Linear probability regression was used to examine the association of concentration of complex patients and performance measures. Most complex patients were enrolled in general MA plans. Concentration of complex patients ranged from 25.9% in MA contracts in the lowest quintile to 68.9% in the top quintile. MA contract performance scores generally decreased as the concentration of complex patients increased. After adjusting for contract and enrollee characteristics, MA contracts with more complex patients performed less well on half of the Part C performance measures including patient experience, preventive care, and chronic care measures. MA contracts with a high concentration of complex patients have lower performance scores on more than half of Part C measures. Further study is needed to understand whether these performance measures are capturing the delivery of poor care, deficiencies in the health plan's care systems, or whether some measures may not be appropriate for complex patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:395-402, 2020.

How current reporting practices may mask differences: a call for examining cancer-specific demographic enrollment patterns in cancer treatment clinical trials

BackgroundA lack of diversity among clinical trial (CT) participants remains a critical problem. Few studies have examined recruitment variability in cancer treatment CTs by cancer type. Given the increasing organ-specific specialization of oncologic care, an understanding of this variability may affect institutional recruitment practices. MethodsThis study examines three data sources from 2010 through 2014. The analyzed sample includes 3,580 CT participants identified in the institutional Clinical Trials Management System (C TMS) database and 20,305 incident cases of invasive cancer within a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) institutional catchment area. A total of 341,114 incident cases of primary invasive cancer were identified through the California Cancer Registry (CCR). The primary study measurements were sociodemographic characteristics of the three populations (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and health insurance). ResultsRacial/ethnic disparities were observed, with more incident cases of Whites seen in cancer center (68%) and enrolled in CTs (72%) compared to incident cases in catchment area (67%) (p<0.001) overall. More older adults (65) were enrolled in prostate cancer CTs (58%) than seen in cancer center (45%) (p<0.001). Alternatively, fewer older adults were enrolled in breast and colorectal CTs than seen in cancer center (p<0.001). Among colon (p<0.001), breast (p<0.001), and prostate (p=<0.001) cancer types, insurance type significantly varied between incident cases in catchment area, cancer center, and among CT participants. For colorectal cancer, no difference in sex distribution was observed overall. A significant difference in insurance type within each cancer type was observed (p<0.001). ConclusionsThese findings suggest that reporting overall recruitment frequencies may mask differences by cancer type.

Spatial equity and realised access to healthcare - a geospatial analysis of general practitioner enrolments in Waikato, New Zealand.

Geographic measures of accessibility can quantify inequitable distributions of health care. Although closest distance measures are often used in Aotearoa New Zealand these may not reflect patient use of health care. This research examines patterns of patient enrolment in general practitioner (GP) services from a geospatial perspective. Patient enrolment records (n=137 596) from one primary health organisation were examined and geographic information systems used to determine whether patients enrolled with their closest GP service. A binomial logistic regression was performed to examine factors associated with the bypass of GP services closer to patients' homes. Overall 68.1% of patients in the sample bypassed the GP service closest to their home, while rates of GP bypass varied across the Waikato region and between rural and urban areas. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that rurality of patient residence, patient ethnicity, patient age, area-level socioeconomic deprivation, sex, distance to the closest GP clinic, clinic after-hours availability, M&#257;ori service provider status, GP and nurse full time equivalent hours, and clinic fees were statistically significant predictors of increased closest-GP bypass. While residents of major urban areas had high rates of GP bypass, this was followed by patients living in rural areas - patients living more than 20 km from the closest GP service had exceptionally high rates of GP bypass. This study suggests that most patients in the Waikato region do not enrol with the GP service closest to their home and it outlines several factors, including rurality of residence, associated with the GP bypass. Closest distance accessibility measures may be inappropriate in mixed urban-rural settings, and researchers should consider other approaches to quantifying spatial equity. Health services should also be designed to better reflect the realities of the populations they serve.

Noncredit Education in Community College: Students, Course Enrollments, and Academic Outcomes

Objective: This study examines the characteristics, course enrollment patterns, and academic outcomes of students who started their college careers in noncredit courses. Method: Drawing upon a rich...

Noncredit Education in Community College: Students, Course Enrollments, and Academic Outcomes

Objective: This study examines the characteristics, course enrollment patterns, and academic outcomes of students who started their college careers in noncredit courses. Method: Drawing upon a rich dataset that includes transcript and demographic information on both for-credit and noncredit students in multiple institutions, this study explores the demographic and academic profiles of students enrolled in various fields of noncredit education, their course performance in noncredit programs, their educational intent upon initial enrollment, and their transition to the for-credit sector among degree-seeking students. Results: Our results support recent evidence from qualitative studies and studies from a single institution that students enrolled in noncredit programs tend to be adult learners and are typically from a lower socioeconomic background than credit students at community colleges. Yet, more than half of the noncredit students drop out of college after their initial term, even among students who expressed intent to transition to credit-bearing programs. The idiosyncratic patterns of course enrollment and transition to credential programs seem to suggest that there is no general structured pathway or institutional support for credential-seeking noncredit students. Contributions: This article is among one of the first attempts that use student transcript data from multiple institutions to provide a comprehensive understanding of noncredit students and their academic outcomes. Results from this study highlight the importance of future research in exploring institutional services and structures that may effectively facilitate the academic progression and success of noncredit students.

Unpacking the monolith

PurposeThe term STEM often remains an undifferentiated category, especially at the graduate level. Conceptualizing STEM as a monolithic category, rather than as a combination of distinct fields, prevents researchers from understanding and documenting the full range of persistent inequality within scientific disciplines at the graduate level and throughout the lifespan. The purpose of this paper is to address two oversights prior to degree completion within the context of the USA by asking two specific questions: To what extent is gender associated with choice of discipline within STEM graduate education? In the USA, do gender differences in STEM fields depend on citizenship status?Design/methodology/approachUsing data from the 2015 International STEM Graduate Student in the US Survey, this study employs multinomial logistic regression analyses and presents predicted probabilities to assess differences of enrollment in STEM fields by gender and citizenship status.FindingsResults show that domestic women were less likely to enroll in computer sciences and engineering when compared to domestic men. However, in contrast to domestic students, there were no gender differences among international students’ enrollment in engineering.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper shows the importance and complexity of how gender intersects with citizenship status in enrollment patterns in STEM graduate fields. The survey included the top 10 universities in the USA based on the total enrollment of international students, and it is unclear if there exists differences in these selected students and schools when compared to students at colleges and universities that enroll less international graduate students.Originality/valueThe author makes the case to disaggregate STEM to better assess how specific fields can be modified to attract graduate students worldwide. This paper accentuates the significance of gender and citizenship status for understanding differences in choice of discipline among graduate students in STEM.

Whiteness and economic advantage in digital schooling: Diversity patterns and equity considerations for K-12 online charter schools

Scholars and policymakers have yet to hold a robust conversation about diversity in K-12 online schools. This study builds on research that suggests online charter schools enroll higher percentages of White and economically advantaged students compared to national K-12 school enrollment averages. While these findings remain consistent, the study presented here employs techniques used in school segregation and diversity research to develop a more nuanced understanding of online charter school enrollment patterns. While more White and wealthy students attend online charter schools compared to other types of schools nationally, there are differences across states. Understanding the nature of these differences helps consider possibilities for moving online charter school enrollments toward increased diversity. While diversity in traditional schools has benefits, this article concludes with cautions about how to achieve equity through diversity in online spaces and if these goals are attainable. If online charter schools achieve racial and economic diversity, their leaders need to apply critical lenses in developing online programming to ensure diverse enrollments lead to equity.

New Destinations and the Early Childhood Education of Mexican-Origin Children.

This study examined differences in exposure to early childhood education among Mexican-origin children across Latino/a destinations. Early childhood educational enrollment patterns, which are highly sensitive to community resources and foundational components of long-term educational inequalities, can offer a valuable window into how destinations may be shaping incorporation among Mexican-origin families. Integrating data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort with county-level data from the decennial census, multilevel logistic regression models revealed that Mexican-origin, black, and white children had lower odds of enrollment in early childhood education programs if they lived in new Latino/a destinations versus established destinations. The negative association between new destinations and early childhood education enrollment persisted despite controls for household selectivity, state and local early childhood education contexts, Latino/a educational attainment, Latino-white residential segregation, and immigration enforcement agreements. Within the Mexican-origin subgroup, the enrollment gap between new and established destinations was widest among the least-acculturated families, as measured by parental nativity, duration of residence, citizenship status, and English proficiency. These findings highlight how both place and acculturation stratify outcomes within the large and growing Mexican-origin subset of the Latino/a population.

Estimating Outcome-Exposure Associations when Exposure Biomarker Detection Limits vary Across Batches.

Limit of detection (LOD) issues are ubiquitous in exposure assessment. Although there is an extensive literature on modeling exposure data under such imperfect measurement processes, including likelihood-based methods and multiple imputation, the standard practice continues to be naïve single imputation by a constant (e.g., (Equation is included in full-text article.)). In this article, we consider the situation where, due to the practical logistics of data accrual, sampling, and resource constraints, exposure data are analyzed in multiple batches where the LOD and the proportion of censored observations differ across batches. Compounding this problem is the potential for nonrandom assignment of samples to each batch, often driven by enrollment patterns and biosample storage. This issue is particularly important for binary outcome data where batches may have different levels of outcome enrichment. We first consider variants of existing methods to address varying LODs across multiple batches. We then propose a likelihood-based multiple imputation strategy to impute observations that are below the LOD while simultaneously accounting for differential batch assignment. Our simulation study shows that our proposed method has superior estimation properties (i.e., bias, coverage, statistical efficiency) compared to standard alternatives, provided that distributional assumptions are satisfied. Additionally, in most batch assignment configurations, complete-case analysis can be made unbiased by including batch indicator terms in the analysis model, although this strategy is less efficient relative to the proposed method. We illustrate our method by analyzing data from a cohort study in Puerto Rico that is investigating the relation between endocrine disruptor exposures and preterm birth.

Incidence and Predictors of Hospice Utilization at the End of Life in Elderly Patients with Brain Metastases

Brain metastases cause significant morbidity and mortality. Integration of hospice services toward the end of life improves symptom control and quality of life for patients. Dedicated studies relating to the incidence and predictive factors of hospice enrollment in patients with brain metastases are lacking. We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database to study patterns of hospice enrollment at the end of life in elderly patients with brain metastases. We hypothesize the existence of sociodemographic predictors of hospice utilization in this population. We obtained SEER-Medicare datasets for primary cancer sites that most commonly metastasize to the brain, namely lung cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, renal cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer and testicular cancer. We identified patients with brain metastases aged 66 years and older, who were diagnosed between 2005-2016 and passed away prior to December 31, 2016. The primary outcome was hospice enrollment (yes versus no). We tested the association between hospice enrollment and sociodemographic and hospital-based covariates using univariable and multivariable logistic regression. As a subset analysis, among patients who enrolled on hospice, we identified predictors of late (<7 days before death) enrollment given the importance of earlier initiation of hospice services. We identified 50,696 eligible patients with brain metastases who died between 2005-2016. The incidence of hospice enrollment was 71.5% (95% CI: 71.1-71.9). Using multivariable regression analysis, we found that female gender (OR 1.285, 95% CI: 1.233-1.332) and older age (OR 1.009, 95% CI: 1.006-1.012) predicted enrollment in hospice. The odds of enrollment for black patients (OR 0.76, CI 0.71-0.82), Hispanic patients (OR 0.82, CI: 0.75-0.90) and Asian patients (OR 0.52, CI: 0.47-0.56) were significantly lower compared to white patients. Admission to a teaching hospital (OR 1.08, CI: 1.04-1.11) or to a government-owned hospital (OR 1.06, CI:1.03-1.10) within six months of death were associated with higher odds of hospice enrollment. Among patients enrolled in hospice, 67.7% (95% CI: 67.2-68.1) were enrolled ≥7 days prior to death. The median length of stay among all hospice enrollees was 13 days with IQR 5.0-33.0 days. Using multivariable regression analysis, we found that female gender (OR 1.352, CI: 1.291-1.416) predicted earlier hospice referral while urban residence (OR 0.877, CI: 0.812-0.948) predicted late hospice enrollment. Sociodemographic disparities exist in hospice utilization at the end of life among elderly patients with brain metastases. Further investigation to facilitate targeted interventions addressing such disparities may be warranted.

The Association of Abnormal Liver Tests with Hepatitis C Testing in Primary Care

BackgroundAs hepatitis C virus birth cohort (1945-1965) screening in primary care improves, testing patterns in response to persistently abnormal liver tests are less well known. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study of a patient-centered medical home between 2007 and 2016 evaluates the association of abnormal liver chemistries and other clinical and demographic factors with hepatitis C antibody (HCV Ab) testing in patients with persistently abnormal liver tests. Patients with at least 2 consecutive abnormal liver tests were categorized by the clinical pattern of liver chemistry abnormality, including cholestatic, hepatocellular, and mixed patterns. The primary outcomes were: 1) completed HCV Ab tests; and 2) positive HCV Ab results for those patients tested. ResultsOf 4512 patients with consecutive abnormal liver tests, only 730 (16%) underwent HCV Ab testing within 1 year of the second abnormality; 81/730 (11%) had HCV Ab detected. A logistic regression model revealed that mixed (odds ratio [OR] 2.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.72-2.82) and hepatocellular (OR 1.43; 95% CI, 1.15-1.79) patterns of liver test abnormality, female sex, and alcohol and tobacco abuse were associated with higher odds of HCV Ab testing. Hepatocellular (OR 7.51; 95% CI, 2.18-25.94) and mixed patterns (OR 5.88; 95% CI, 1.64-21.15) of liver test abnormalities, male sex, Medicaid enrollment, and drug and tobacco abuse had higher odds of positive HCV Ab results. ConclusionsThere is opportunity to improve hepatitis C diagnostic testing in patients with consecutively elevated liver tests, and hepatocellular and mixed patterns of abnormality should prompt primary care providers to action.

Enrollment patterns and students’ risk of academic difficulty

PurposeExperiencing academic difficulty can deter students’ academic momentum, decreasing the speed with which they complete coursework and increasing the odds that they will not persist to a credential. The purpose of this paper is to expand upon an existing framework that investigates students’ academic difficulty in co-enrolled courses by adding additional co-enrollment variables that may influence academic performance in introductory gateway courses.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses quantile regression to better understand academic difficulty in co-enrolled courses and the impact that students’ co-enrollment patterns may have on their success in focal introductory gateway courses.FindingsThis study revealed significant relationships between student success and co-enrollment patterns, including: the disciplinary alignment of the course with a student’s major, the student’s co-enrollment in other difficult courses and experiencing below average academic performance in a co-enrolled course. Further, impact of these relationships often differed by students’ performance quantile in the focal course.Practical implicationsThe results point to factors related to the student and their co-enrolled courses that faculty, academic advisors and curriculum committees can consider as they design general education requirements within and across disciplinary majors.Originality/valueThis approach advances the understanding of how a prescribed curriculum produces interdependent pathways that can promote or deter students’ success through the organization of curricular requirements and student course taking. The paper provides a generalizable methodology that can be used by other universities to investigate curricular pathways that have the potential to reduce student success.

School Characteristics and Enrollment Trend in Upper Basic Schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria from 2008-2016

The study investigated school characteristics and enrolment trend in upper basic schools in Akwa Ibom State Nigeria from 2008-2016. Two research questions were answered while two null hypotheses were also tested. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Census technique was adopted in selecting all the 227 public upper basic schools in the area of study. An instrument tagged “School Characteristics and Enrolment in Upper Basic Schools Checklist (SCEUBSC)” was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics (percentages) was used to summarize data relating to the research questions, bar chart was used for illustrations of the enrolment pattern while independent t-test was used to test the two null hypotheses at .05 alpha level. Findings revealed that enrolment in upper basic schools in Akwa Ibom State was high in single-sex schools and boarding schools, while it was low in mixed-sex schools and day schools. Based on the findings, it was concluded that there was an upward trend in enrolment in all the schools from 2008-2013 and a downward trend from 2015-2016. It was recommended among others that research allocation in terms of personnel and infrastructures should be evenly distributed across the state as these will reduce rural-urban migration.

Is the Autism Boom Headed for Medicaid? Patterns in the Enrollment of Autistic Adults in Wisconsin Medicaid, 2008-2018.

Our primary objective was to describe demographic characteristics and enrollment patterns in a unique 11-year full sample of adult Wisconsin Medicaid beneficiaries with identified autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID). We obtained de-identified Medicaid claims data for adults with a recorded ASD or ID diagnosis aged 21 and older with any Medicaid fee-for-service claims between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2018. We assessed enrollment, age, number of visits, and paid amount per year using generalized linear models with a random intercept for each beneficiary. We identified claims for 4,775 autistic adults without ID, 2,738 autistic adults with ID, 14,945 adults with ID, and 3,484 adults with Down syndrome. The age distribution of the diagnostic group with ASD diagnoses was right skewed with a majority of beneficiaries less than age 30. The ASD without ID diagnostic group had the least visits and paid amount per person per year compared to other groups. In each age category, the ASD with ID diagnostic group had the most paid amount per person per year compared to other groups. It is urgent that we identify the health and health service needs of autistic adults from young adulthood through old age. Our findings have implications for ensuring adequate health coverage across the lifespan and highlight the importance of a strong and accessible health care system for autistic people. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1541-1550. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Medicaid provides health insurance to disabled people who meet income requirements. We assessed patterns of enrollment and service use among autistic adults and adults with developmental disabilities in Wisconsin Medicaid. We found a consistent influx of new young autistic adults without intellectual disability into the Medicaid system, with fewer visits and lower paid amounts compared to other developmental disability groups. The changing population of autistic people using Medicaid has implications for providing health care to autistic adults in the future.

Who benefits from selective education? Evidence from elite boarding school admissions

Existing research finds minimal gains from attending elite US secondary schools. This paper estimates the causal effect of attending a selective public boarding school, an institutional model increasingly used by states to serve academically gifted students. Regression discontinuity estimates using multiple admissions thresholds show math score gains and college application and enrollment patterns that shift away from less competitive colleges. Effects are concentrated among minorities, students with lower prior individual achievement, from rural neighborhoods, or lower-achieving sending schools. The opportunity to attend selective boarding schools reduces the tendency of disadvantaged or under-represented students to attend a less selective college by at least one-quarter.

Social Robots for Hospitalized Children.

Social robots (SRs) are increasingly present in medical and educational contexts, but their use in inpatient pediatric settings has not been demonstrated in studies. In this study, we aimed to (1) describe the introduction of SR technology into the pediatric inpatient setting through an innovative partnership among a pediatric teaching hospital, robotics development, and computational behavioral science laboratories and (2) present feasibility and acceptability data. Fifty-four children ages 3 to 10 years were randomly exposed to 1 of 3 interventions: (1) interactive SR teddy bear; (2) tablet-based avatar version of the bear; or (3) plush teddy bear with human presence. We monitored intervention enrollment and completion patterns, obtained qualitative feedback on acceptability of SR use from child life-specialist stakeholders, and assessed children's positive and negative affect, anxiety, and pain intensity pre- and postintervention. The intervention was well received and appeared feasible, with 93% of those enrolled completing the study (with 80% complete parent data). Children exposed to the SR reported more positive affect relative to those who received a plush animal. SR interactions were characterized by greater levels of joyfulness and agreeableness than comparison interventions. Child life specialist stakeholders reported numerous potential benefits of SR technology in the pediatric setting. The SR appears to be an engaging tool that may provide new ways to address the emotional needs of hospitalized children, potentially increasing access to emotionally targeted interventions. Rigorous development and validation of SR technology in pediatrics could ultimately lead to scalable and cost-effective tools to improve the patient care experience.

States as Sites of Educational (In)Equality: State Contexts and the Socioeconomic Achievement Gradient.

Socioeconomic achievement gaps have long been a central focus of educational research. However, not much is known about how (and why) between-district gaps vary among states, even though states are a primary organizational level in the decentralized education system in the United States. Using data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), this study describes state-level socioeconomic achievement gradients and the growth of these gradients from Grades 3 to 8. We also examine state-level correlates of the gradients and their growth, including school system funding equity, preschool enrollment patterns, the distribution of teachers, income inequality, and segregation. We find that socioeconomic gradients and their growth rates vary considerably among states, and that between-district income segregation is positively associated with the socioeconomic achievement gradient.

Paying for Palliative Care in Medicare: Evidence From the Four Seasons/Duke CMMI Demonstration

ContextPalliative care improves patient and family outcomes and may reduce the cost of care, but this service is underutilized among Medicare beneficiaries. ObjectivesTo describe enrollment patterns and outcomes associated with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation expansion of a multisetting community palliative care program in North and South Carolina. MethodsThis observational study characterizes the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation cohort's care and cost trajectories after enrollment. Program participants were age-eligible Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries living in Western North Carolina and South Carolina who enrolled in a palliative care program from September 1, 2014, to August 31, 2017. End-of-life costs were compared between enrolled and nonenrolled decedents. Program administrative data and 100% Medicare claims data were used. ResultsA total of 5243 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the program from community (19%), facility (21%), small hospital (27%), or large hospital (33%) settings. Changes in Medicare expenditures in the 30 days after enrollment varied by setting. Adjusted odds of hospice use were 60% higher (OR = 1.60; CI = 1.47, 1.75) for enrolled decedents relative to nonenrolled decedents. Participants discharged to hospice vs. participants not had 17% (OR = 0.83 CI = 0.72, 0.94) lower costs. Among enrolled decedents those enrolled for at least 30 days vs. <30 days had 42% (OR = 0.58, CI = 0.49, 0.69) lower costs in the last 30 days of life. ConclusionsExpansion of community palliative care programs into multiple enrollment settings is feasible. It may improve hospice utilization among enrollees. Heterogeneous program participation by program setting pose challenges to a standardizing reimbursement policy.

Doctoral Students’ Perspectives on Their Doctoral Programs and Departments

ABSTRACTIn this article, we examined Kinesiology Doctoral Students’ (DS) perspectives on their doctoral programs and departments. Using the Kinesiology Doctoral Student (KDS) survey, 121 current and past DS provided information on 10 different aspects related to teacher training. Specifically, the items consisted of measures of DS perceptions on: (a) enrollment pattern, (b) requirements—(e.g., master’s degree, comprehensive exam, etc.), (c) hurdles (qualifiers, prelims, orals, etc.), (d) flexibility of doctoral program, (e) annual review, (f) whether DS have active role in decisions, (g) competition for faculty attention, (h) being part of a supportive community, (i) understanding of time to completion, (j) selection of a different advisor, (k) selection of a different university, and (l) not going to graduate school. Descriptive data analyses of: (a) enrollment pattern revealed that 87% of DS were enrolled full-time and (b) many requirements were a part of the DS program. This topic was viewed through three lenses: (a) status (past and current DS), (b) gender, and (c) subdisciplines (SBS and HS). When t-tests were applied, three significant differences emerged: (a) current participants viewed exams and other program benchmarks as arbitrary obstacles when compared to past participants, (b) males viewed exams and other program benchmarks as arbitrary obstacles when compared to females, and (c) past participants had a clearer understanding of how long he/she would be a DS compared to current participants.