Education Commons^™

School Characteristics: Impact On A Student's Post-Graduation Decision, Andrew Kidd

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Graduating high school seniors have several choices to make as they begin their transition to adulthood. Some of the most popular and studied choices are to attend college, enter the work force, or join the military. Past research is focused on the effects of demographic, socioeconomic status, or gender characteristics, but little is known about the effect that specific school characteristics have on a student’s post-graduation choice.

The purpose of this analysis is to answer the question “do school characteristics affect a high school student’s post-graduation choice?” In this analysis I use Kentucky school level data and a simple regression …

Does Kentucky’S Merit-Based Scholarship Program, Kees, Improve College Completion?, Alex E. Combs

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

College completion is a complex process involving numerous socioeconomic factors at the individual, institutional, and governmental levels. One important factor is the way in which financial aid is disbursed so that affordability does not serve as a barrier to completion. Awarding scholarships on the basis of merit is one aspect of financial aid structure that has grown in popularity over recent decades, in turn, receiving considerable attention from policy researchers with the intent to assess how they affect an array of postsecondary education outcomes. To date, research of merit-based aid’s effect on college completion has been relatively sparse, yielding contradictory …

An Analysis Of Bachelor's Degree Production By Kentucky Public 4-Year Universities: Before And After The Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act Of 1997, Jonathan Pruitt

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

With the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, Governor Paul Patton and the Kentucky General Assembly sought to improve the standard of living and quality of life in the state through increasing the educational attainment of its citizens. The production of bachelor’s degrees by the state’s public four-year universities is a key driver in increasing educational attainment and, therefore, meeting the goals of the legislation. This paper uses interrupted time series regression analysis to evaluate whether Kentucky public four-year universities have increased the rate at which bachelor’s degrees are produced in the period of time since the …

Factors Affecting The Success Of Robinson Scholars, Amanda Michele Dunn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Robinson Scholars Program was created by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees as an effort to combat historically high rates of poverty and low rates of educational attainment in Kentucky’s Appalachian region. The first class was selected in 1997 and was part of a broader effort to improve community and economic development in eastern Kentucky.

The Robinson Scholars Program provides financial and academic support for potential first-generation college students from the program’s 29-county service area. Scholars are selected in the eighth grade and are provided with enrichment opportunities and college preparation activities throughout their high school careers. Once …

An Analysis Of Employing The Circuit Breaker As An Alternative Approach For Targeting Aid To Low-Income Students In Kentucky, William Walton

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Affordability is an essential element of college opportunity. The federal government and the states have acknowledged this belief by adopting policies to ensure that no academically qualified student who desires an education is limited access due to a lack of financial resources. But, many lower-income families today are having trouble paying for college due to a unique set of circumstances. First, the cost of higher education as a percentage of income has been increasing for over a decade, causing families to spend increasingly larger proportions of their incomes to afford postsecondary education. Second, the federal government has shifted its emphasis …