College Completion Rates Research Articles

The Evolution of Regional Representativeness in the Administrative Cadre Service of Bangladesh

The regional diversity in civil service may foster more equitable distribution of public resources and an increase in innovative service delivery. Before 2018, the government of Bangladesh relied on the districts’ share of population as a tool to ensure regional variation in the civil service. There is no systematic research in the existing literature exploring the effects of different types of quotas on the representativeness of bureaucracy in Bangladesh. In this study, we attempt to address this gap in the literature and explore to what extent the population share based quota system contributes to improving the representation of underserved regions of the country. It is found that the districts’ share of population and share of freedom fighters play a major role in determining the regional representativeness in the BCS administration cadre. Among the socio-economic factors, university completion rates of the districts are found to be positively correlated with the districts’ share of officials, while the sign of the coefficient on the poverty rates of the districts changes from positive to negative. Social Science Review, Vol. 41(1), June 2024, Page 237-259.

Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education: The Learning Assistant Model and Student Retention and Graduation Rates

BackgroundEvidence-based and student-centered instructional methods hold the promise of transforming undergraduate STEM education and simultaneously solving the dual challenge of STEM workforce needs and inequities within STEM. The Learning Assistant (LA) Model was created to reform curriculum, recruit teachers, and inform discipline-based education research. Numerous studies have shown positive impacts on students and Learning Assistants (LAs) in terms of retention and pass rates, learning outcomes, attitudinal shifts, and emotional support. Several studies have explored demographic differences and found that LAs help close the gap in retention rates for women and first-generation students. While short-term effects have been well documented, the long-term effects on students’ college retention and completion rates have not been widely studied. We gathered information about LA-adopting institutions identified on the Learning Assistant Alliance website and from individual higher education institutions’ websites. Combining this information with the College Scorecard Database for four-year U.S. institutions allows us to examine student retention and graduation rates after these institutions have adopted the LA model and look for differences in both the student and university characteristics included in the dataset. We are interested in determining if there is a difference between LA-adopting and non-LA-adopting institutions in terms of their student outcomes.ResultsThese LA-adopting institutions have larger enrollments and are more likely to award graduate degrees. Students in LA-adopting institutions are more likely to be younger with lower percentages of females, first generation, and Black students. No significant differences in the percentages of Hispanic students or in the average costs per student were observed in our study. Using regression analysis, we find LA-adopting institutions have significantly higher retention and completion rates.ConclusionsSince LA-adopting institutions have different characteristics than non-LA institutions, these differences should be considered in future studies examining the impact of the LA model. After controlling for these differences in our study, we find that institutions with the LA model have 4 to 15 percentage points higher college completion rate and they have better outcomes for Hispanic and Black students. These findings suggest that increasing the adoption of the LA model may contribute to reducing inequity in STEM.

Getting across the finish line: how to boost completion rates for underrepresented student groups

ABSTRACT There remains a gap in college completion rates for Black and Hispanic students. Universities have focused on creating a diverse student body (peer effects), a diverse faculty (role model effects) and on providing resources to boost completion rates. This paper tests these effects in a panel data set of 9800 observations from 1493 universities over 2011–2018. Regression results show peer effects disappear when role model effects are included suggesting that previous literature testing only peer effects could be suffering from omitted variable bias. Faculty salaries and the percentage of full-time faculty are also highly significant in helping close the gap.

Higher Education Success Factor Model: A Means to Explore Factors Influencing Indigenous Australian Completion Rates

The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled at universities continues to increase; however, completion rates have not. In this study, we sought to understand what contributes to university completion rates by Indigenous Australian students. We employed a mixed-method approach, utilising the higher education success factor (HESF) model to investigate the factors that influence completion. In total, we surveyed 308 Indigenous Australians who had graduated between 2018 to 2022. We found that the social environment, economic conditions, and individual characteristics were identified as three factors influencing the completion of Indigenous university graduates. We report that this model has worked well to provide a means to identify factors influencing Indigenous Australian success in higher education. Academic institutions can now use this model to identify how they can best support Indigenous Australian students by examining the three factors we have identified to see where their weaknesses may lie and where improvement can be made.

Employment and the Structure of Colleges as Barriers to College Match and Degree Completion for Latinx First-Generation College Students

ABSTRACT Undermatching, or students attending less selective colleges than they are academically qualified to attend, is seen as a contributing factor to the lagging college completion rate of low-income and first-generation college students. Addressing the mismatch has been mainly limited to the individual level. Through analysis of interview and longitudinal school administrative data with aspiring first-generation college low-income Latinx youth who started preparing to attend college in middle school, we find that the need to work, which students started doing in high school, was a major factor in students’ undermatching. We show how employment collides with the structure of colleges as racialized organizations (Ray, 2019), especially matching colleges with high graduation rates. Selective colleges did not provide the support students needed to address their financial situations, and students attending schools to which they undermatched required more assistance navigating work and schools to stop them from dropping out. We also discuss program and policy solutions to address the low college completion rates of Latinx first-generation college students more fully as well as how to better support their need to work.

Four-Year College Completion Rates: What Accounts for the Variation?

Higher education has been touted as critical to social mobility, even greater longevity; however, these benefits accrue with degree completion, and many students who begin college never earn a degree. Using the most recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we sought to understand variation in college completion rates and test hypotheses related to a set of institutional factors potentially associated with higher completion rates. Our findings suggest that greater attention to low-resource institutions is paramount if higher education is to fulfill the aspiration of promoting social mobility and equity. Several policy interventions could be used to combat ongoing disparities.

The Impact of Education Abroad Participation on College Student Success Among First-Generation Students

ABSTRACT This study utilized the large-scale, multi-institutional CASSIE dataset to examine the impact of education abroad participation on academic outcomes for first-generation college students. Using robust multivariate matching methodology that effectively minimized self-selection bias, results showed the magnitude of benefit offered by studying abroad was greater for first-generation students than for continuing-generation students. Even after matching on a variety of background and prior achievement variables, first-generation students who studied abroad had higher 4- and 6-year graduation rates, had higher cumulative GPA scores, and took less time to graduate—relative to first-generation students who did not study abroad. These findings suggest that education abroad programming can be leveraged as a high-impact educational practice to promote college completion rates among first-generation students.

Fidelity initiative takes aim at college completion rates

Corporate Philanthropy ReportVolume 38, Issue 3 p. 1-12 News Fidelity initiative takes aim at college completion rates First published: 08 February 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/cprt.31523Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume38, Issue3March 2023Pages 1-12 RelatedInformation

Latina/o Postsecondary Education: Trends in Racial/Ethnic Education Gaps and the Role of Citizenship in Access to Higher Education.

Black-Latina/o and White-Latina/o bachelor's degree gaps persist in the United States despite substantial increases in Latina/o educational attainment since the late 1950s. The Latina/o population has grown rapidly in recent decades and currently comprises more than 20% of the U.S. population; however, barriers to citizenship have grown in tandem and have limited access to higher education. Using data from the U.S. Census (1950-2010) and the American Community Survey (2015-2017), we examine trends in Black-Latina/o and White-Latina/o college completion gaps and factors that may explain them. We find that college enrollment differences explain the majority of the bachelor's degree gaps. We then decompose enrollment gaps by differences in enrollment by citizenship and find that if the Latina/o population had the same citizenship rate as the White and Black populations, the Black-Latina/o enrollment gaps would effectively disappear and the White-Latina/o enrollment gaps would be reduced by up to 75%. Our findings indicate that the Latina/o population's relatively low college completion rates are partially explained by restricted access to citizenship. The high proportion of Latina/o noncitizens has also masked the considerable educational progress Latina/o citizens have made in recent decades.

Understanding the Relationship between Culturally Engaging Campus Environments and College Students’ Academic Motivation

Low rates of college completion are a major national dilemma, and one way in which college campuses can increase degree attainment rates is by fostering higher levels of academic motivation among students. This study analyzed the relationship between culturally engaging campus environments and growth in college students’ academic motivation. The survey data from a sample of 704 undergraduates enrolled at a public four-year university on the East Coast were analyzed. Bivariate correlations indicate that all nine indicators of culturally engaging campus environments were correlated with stronger academic motivation. When controlling for demographic and high school variables, cultural validation and humanized environments were directly and positively associated with growth in academic motivation. However, post hoc analysis reveals that cultural familiarity, culturally relevant knowledge, cross-cultural engagement, and collectivist orientation were all indirectly associated with motivation gains through cultural validation. The implications of this study for research include the need for research that analyzes these relationships with larger samples from more diverse institutions and utilizes methods that support stronger causal claims. Implications for practice include the importance of maximizing students’ access to culturally engaging environments and ensuring that they are designed with anti-deficit approaches that validate students’ backgrounds and identities to enhance academic motivation.

Family Heterogeneity, Human Capital Investment, and College Attainment

From 1995 to 2015 the aggregate US college completion rate increased almost 50 percent, but completion trends differed markedly by family background. We consider whether changing college preparedness contributed to growth in aggregate completion and differences by family background. We first document parallel empirical trends in precollege investments, college preparedness, and completion. We use these moments to discipline a quantitative model of intergenerational human capital investment with heterogeneous families. Within the model, investment trends generate half of the empirical increase in college completion. The model implies that subsidizing precollege investments increases college completion and lifetime earnings more than college tuition subsidies. (JEL I23, I26, J12, J24, J31)

패널자료를 활용한 대학생 중도탈락 결정요인 분석

Purpose - This paper analyzes the student determinants of college non-completion and estimates the effects of each determinant on college non-completion. Design/methodology/approach – We use student panel data from a large Korean university from 2011 to 2021. Our results are from estimation of fixed-effects logit model. Findings – The results show that grade point average, participation in extracurricular activities, the number of counseling sessions with teachers, and financial aid are the main determinants of college non-completion. Academic probation, which is defined as any person who has a cumulative grade point average below a one point seven five, increases the non-completion rate by 2.6 percentage points and an one-point rise in extracurricular activities index reduces the rate by 0.1 percentage points. The effects of each determinant are heterogeneous across student sub-groups which are separated by gender, nationality, and academic discipline. Research implications or Originality - Tailored support programs for academically discouraged students that incorporate student characteristics and backgrounds are necessary to increase college completion rates and degree attainment.

Educational Attainment through Community Cultural Wealth: Narratives of Latino U.S. Congressmen

ABSTRACT Latinxs, especially Latino males, have lower college completion rates, but studies find that community cultural wealth is prominent in the narratives of those who succeed in higher education. By focusing on current students or recent graduates, the literature has not examined how a college completion experience aided by community cultural wealth impacts Latinxs who have an opportunity to influence education policy. Consequently, this study investigates the role of community cultural wealth in the college completion experience of three Latino U.S. Congressmen: Tony Cárdenas, Henry Cuellar, and Raúl Grijalva. Findings suggest that community cultural wealth had a substantial impact on these Congressmen completing college. These results provide higher education greater insight into how policies and advocacy strategies grounded in community cultural wealth can be successful and improve the higher educational pathways and graduation rates of Latinxs.

Birth order and the decline in college completion among the baby boom generation

We show that changes in birth order during the U.S. baby boom can explain a substantial share of the decline and recovery in college completion among cohorts born between 1946 and 1974. Combining birth order effects estimated using the Health and Retirement Survey and birth order data from Vital Statistics, we estimate that changes in birth order can explain about 20% of the decline in white male college completion rates among the 1946–60 cohorts, and about one third of the rebound among the 1960–74 cohorts.

Why Have College Completion Rates Increased?

We document that college completion rates have increased since the 1990s, after declining in the 1970s and 1980s. We find that most of the increase in graduation rates can be explained by grade inflation and that other factors, such as changing student characteristics and institutional resources, play little or no role. This is because GPA strongly predicts graduation, and GPAs have been rising since the 1990s. This finding holds in national survey data and in records from nine large public universities. We also find that at a public liberal arts college grades increased, holding performance on identical exams fixed. (JEL I23)

Ability signals and rigorous coursework: Evidence from AP Calculus participation

Large racial gaps in rigorous math coursework enrollment are a barrier to improving college completion rates and access to careers in STEM. Perceptions of the math abilities of underrepresented minority students, whether by themselves or their schools, may contribute to such gaps. A regression discontinuity design with data on all Massachusetts public school students shows how receiving a positive ability signal affects subsequent enrollment in advanced high school math coursework. For Black or Hispanic students, particularly those with low reading scores, being labeled as “Advanced” on a 10th grade math test substantially increases the likelihood of later Advanced Placement Calculus course- and exam-taking. White or Asian students and those from higher income high schools show no such effects. Understanding how ability signals affect students’ and schools’ decisions about assignment to coursework may suggest further ways to address gaps in such enrollment.

Intersecting the Academic Gender Gap: The Education of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual America

Although gender is central to contemporary accounts of educational stratification, sexuality has been largely invisible as a population-level axis of academic inequality. Taking advantage of major recent data expansions, the current study establishes sexuality as a core dimension of educational stratification in the United States. First, I analyze lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults’ college completion rates: overall, by race/ethnicity, and by birth cohort. Then, using new data from the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009, I analyze LGB students’ performance on a full range of achievement and attainment measures. Across analyses, I reveal two demographic facts. First, women’s rising academic advantages are largely confined to straight women: although lesbian women historically outpaced straight women, in contemporary cohorts, lesbian and bisexual women face significant academic disadvantages. Second, boys’ well-documented underperformance obscures one group with remarkably high levels of school success: gay boys. Given these facts, I propose that marginalization from hegemonic gender norms has important—but asymmetric—impacts on men’s and women’s academic success. To illustrate this point, I apply what I call a “gender predictive” approach, using supervised machine learning methods to uncover patterns of inequality otherwise obscured by the binary sex/gender measures typically available in population research.

Social and Economic Costs of Inequality in the State of Virginia

This study examined selected social and economic costs of inequality in the state of Virginia. We explored the extent of inequality of place across the state, finding significant inequalities between counties on measures such as household income, poverty, college completion, single parenthood, and racial segregation. These inequalities of place were strongly associated with inequalities in the adult outcomes of children raised in different areas of the state, including unequal household income and unequal rates of upward mobility, college completion, incarceration, and marriage in adulthood. When examining the association between homicides and concentrated disadvantage in the capital city of Richmond, our mapping techniques demonstrated a strong association. Finally, we estimated that child poverty results in billions of dollars of economic costs to the state each year.

Institutional Barriers Contribute to Low College Completion Rates

Institutions contribute to low college graduation rates by creating barriers. These are six common ones: degree requirements poorly described, not offering needed courses, unnecessary registration holds, inappropriate placement of transfer credits, financial aid policies that do not benefit the most needy students and not recommending students complete 30 hours a year. All of these barriers can be removed at little or no cost to the institution.

Efforts to Recruit Medical Students From Rural Counties: A Model to Evaluate Recruitment Efforts.

BackgroundOver the past 40 years, the physician supply of North Carolina (NC) grew faster than the total population. However, the distribution of physicians between urban and rural areas increased, with many more physicians in urban areas. In rural counties, access to care and health disparities remain concerning. As a result, the medical school implemented pipeline programs to recruit more rural students. This study investigates the results of these recruitment efforts.MethodologyDescriptive analyses were conducted to compare the number and percentage of rural and urban students from NC who applied, interviewed, and were accepted to the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine (UNC SOM). The likely pool of rural applicants was based on the number of college-educated 18-34-year-olds by county.ResultsRoughly 10.9% of NC’s population of college-educated 18-34-year-olds live in rural counties. Between 2017 and 2019, 9.3% (n = 225) of UNC SOM applicants were from a rural county. An increase of just 14 additional rural applicants annually would bring the proportion of rural UNC SOM applicants in alignment with the potential applicant pool in rural NC counties.ConclusionsOur model of analysis successfully calculated the impact of recruitment efforts to achieve proportional parity in the medical school class with the rural population of the state. Addressing rural physician workforce needs will require multiple strategies that affect different parts of the medical education and healthcare systems, including boosting college completion rates in rural areas. This model of analysis can also be applied to other pipeline programs to document the success of the recruitment efforts.