Education Commons^™

More Than A Score: The Test-Optional Movement In Higher Education, Lisa M. Montgomery

Ed.D. Policy, Planning, & Administration Student Work

"Test optional", "test flexible" and "no tests required" are buzzwords surrounding the college admissions' process today. Getting into a college or university may require a student to submit several sets of grades and scores from either the SAT or ACT, write essays, prepare for interviews and/or complete other admission requirements. As of 2018, there are at least 1,000 accredited, bachelor-degree-granting colleges and universities that altered their admissions policy to either eliminate consideration of standardized testing scores or have moved to test-optional or text-flexible admissions policies (Safier, 2017).

This qualitative mixed methods study investigated why higher education institutions are implementing test-optional …

Re-Storying The Cost Of Higher Education: A Narrative Approach To Addressing The Racial Disparities In Student Loan Debt, Sarah Yaskowski

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis investigates educational debt as a racialized construct resulting from deeply entrenched disparities expounded by the current marketization of higher education. Once hailed as a pathway to the American Dream, pursuing a college education meant access to the middle class which promised greater social capital and socioeconomic mobility. Yet for many students, specifically minority students of color who carry disproportionate amounts of educational debt fueled by this false promise, the realities of this pursuit are far direr. By framing the discussion through the theoretical lens of Critical Race Theory, this research attempts a more critical review of the discriminatory …

Study Abroad And Liminality: Examining U.S. American Collegiate Undergraduate Student Engagement In Risky Behaviors Betwixt And Between Borders, Jill L. Creighton

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

One of the most niche sub-arenas of public administration, higher education administration, involves preparing future leaders and scholars for global perspectives. This original research examined whether collegiate, traditionally-aged, undergraduate student risky behavioral choices rose during the study abroad experience as compared to when in the home collegiate environment. After investigating the literature an opportunity to connect the phenomena of domestic risky behavior, collegiate study abroad, and tourism materialized. The anthropological concept of liminality served as the theoretical perspective that anchored the construction of this research. This study was conducted using a post-positivist epistemology, a non-experimental design, and an original survey …

New State Of Mind: A Living Learning Community For Out-Of-State Students, Molly Rorick

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The term out-of-state resonates with any person who does not permanently live in a particular state but has visited from across state lines multiple times. In this case it is in relation to students who have decided to pursue their education at an institution that is located in a different state. This thesis examines the lack of resources for OOS students living within the university's walls using the lens of transition theory. With the lack of resources, this creates a barrier between the student and their potential for their success. New State of Mind is a proposed intervention, which opens …

Name, Image, And Likeness Rights As A Means To Student-Athlete Self-Authorship, Wesley Hamilton

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Today, the common discourse surrounding student-athletes’ Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Rights is evolving from an archaic sense of paternalism and conservative protectionism to various forms of redistribution such as salaries and endorsement rights. Although I have found the NCAA’s protectionist stance on amateurism to be outdated, I do not find the salarying of student-athletes to be tenable for the majority of higher education institutions. The NCAA should roll back their codes (2.9, 2.13, 12.4.4, 15.1, in particular) restricting student-athlete NIL rights in order to maximize these students’ potential for self-authorship. To support student-athletes bfore, during, and after this legislative …

Accessibility For Student With Disabilities, Amanda Martin

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Accessibility for students with disabilities on university campuses is important to our field as student affairs professionals because students with disabilities make a growing population of the student body on university and college campuses (Burgstahler, & Moore, 2009). I believe that it takes someone who passionately cares to make a difference in the higher education community. A value that is significant to understand me would be my fierce belief that all people deserve a chance to earn a higher education regardless of their background, socioeconomic status, and ability levels. I believe a chance at higher education is not only growth …

Queering The University: Implementing A Systematic & Organizational Approach To Equity, Brian Moore

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Too often higher education educators take a lackadaisical approach to solutions surrounding negative queer and trans student experiences; however, educators hold an obligation to foster student success, retention, catalyze identity development, and maximize the human potential of queer and trans students. This master’s thesis develops a systematic and organizational approach to achieving an equitable campus for queer and trans student experience through a critical action research proposal. Utilizing my perspective as queer and trans educator and/or student, I will primarily use the philosophical lens of Friere, hooks, Foucault, and queer theory to support my philosophy of education. Theoretical frameworks from …