Education Commons^™

Is Tuition Free College The Golden Ticket? A Time Series Analysis Of Germany’S Higher Education Policy, 1990-2017, Hannah Wolfram

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Countries which have been able to offer free tertiary education are being applauded while the United States tries to find a way to rectify its high tertiary education costs. Germany has accomplished a system of subsidized higher education since the 1950s, making it seem highly successful. In order to investigate the potential benefits of subsidized higher education, this study uses a time series regression analysis to investigate the relationship between tertiary unemployment rate and public spending as a share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Germany over the period 1990-2017. The regression analysis corrected for multi-collinearity and serial correlation, …

Have You Counted The Ingredients On Your Child's Lunch Tray?: An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Initiatives Within The School Lunch Program, Vanessa R. Scalora

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, establishing a monetary incentive for schools that served meals following a more rigorous nutritional requirement than standard guidelines. This act is a step in the right direction towards placing more importance on school lunches, however America’s lunchroom practices continue to be environmentally unsustainable, and students absorb this message. The production and transportation of processed cafeteria food contributes to climate change, its packaging is polluting, and its consumption contributes to obesity. The use of premade foods and sales from vending machines increase as lunch times grow ever shorter. In addition, …

Characteristics Of Stem Success: A Survival Analysis Model Of Factors Influencing Time To Graduation Among Undergraduate Stem Majors, Riley K. Acton

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Producing more graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), as well as ensuring students complete college in a timely manner are both areas of national public policy interest. In order to improve these two outcomes, it is imperative to understand what factors lead undergraduate students to persist in, and ultimately graduate with STEM degrees. This paper uses data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, provided by The National Center of Education Statistics, to model the time to baccalaureate degree among STEM majors using a Cox proportional hazard model.

Connecting The Dots: An Economic Study Of Parental Factors Shaping Early Childhood Cognitive Development, Bryn Alexandra O'Neill

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This study investigates how maternal and paternal employment status and educational attainment, coupled with parental time and educational inputs such as toys, books, etc. devoted to children, have impacted young children's cognitive development in the U.S. Cognitive development comprises the intellectual and conscious thinking growth that begins in infancy. It involves problem solving, reasoning and memory aptitudes and is tested for throughout each year of childhood in various ways. The impact of the use of external childcare in lieu of parental time on development is also evaluated. This paper will outline reviewed literature, a theoretical model, data discussion, model construction …

Gender-Separate Education: The Effects On Student Achievement & Self-Esteem On Economically Disadvantaged Public Middle School Students In Philadelphia, Heather M. O'Neill, Allison Guerin

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

In 2003, three Philadelphia middle schools with similar demographics and failing student achievement levels were taken over by an educational management organization. Two were transformed into distinct single-sex academies within the original school buildings and a third remained coeducational. Students did not have the option where to attend, eliminating selection bias. Through funding from a Spencer Foundation grant, data was collected on 1,000 students for 2002-03 through 2004-05 to examine impacts of gender-segregation. We find students in single sex schools witness greater improvements in standardized test scores, with boys gaining the most, and no differences on Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale.

Does Quality Matter? An Hedonic Analysis Of College Tuition Price, Joshua Delano

Business and Economics Honors Papers

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that ultimately make up the concept of quality in college institutions. Using several proxies to measure this concept of quality, this paper will seek to determine what effect the qualities of institutions have on tuition prices. By assessing this relationship, conclusions will be drawn about colleges' tuition prices as they pertain to the calculated value of the education being received. Before exploring these factors the paper will first set out to discuss the current trends involved with college tuition, specifically those trends involved in four-year private institutions.

The Right To Learn Across The Tracks: An Analysis Of School Funding And Integration In Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago And Washington, D.C., Erin M. Pollard

Politics Honors Papers

Through examining the levels of integration in public and private schools across the United States, it is clear that the spirit of Brown v. Board of Education was never fulfilled. Students are still learning in an overwhelmingly homogeneous environment. Even in diverse neighborhoods there is a difference: the poor and minority children attend the public schools and the wealthy children attend private school. Thus, the urban public schools remain overwhelmingly minority, while private schools are overwhelmingly white. There is a clear discrepancy between black and white students in terms of size of school and quality of education.

To determine whether …

Who Owns Our Values? Back To School, John Strassburger

Publications

This is the sixth in a series of occasional papers about the challenges confronting students and what Ursinus is doing to help them enter adult life.

First Year Versus Second Year Retention Of College Students: A Case Study, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

Students and their families expend much time, effort and money researching which colleges or universities will best suit the students' needs. Simultaneously, institutions desire to find the cohort of students who will succeed at their schools. Recently, faced with more stringent economic constraints, schools are not only seeking students likely to succeed, but are more aware of the financial burden placed on schools if attrition is high. Since the cost of recruiting a class has risen over the years, the cost of losing students has increased. As a result, institutions are more interested in engaging in student retention studies to …

Education For Self-Reliance, Responsibility And Hope, John Strassburger

Publications

This is the first in a series of occasional papers about the challenges confronting students and what Ursinus is doing to help them enter adult life.

Financing Elementary And Secondary Education, Jeanmarie Grubb

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This 40 page thesis examines the funding of elementary and secondary education in the United States.

A Measurement Of The Economic And Social Impact Of Ursinus College, Jan M. Smith

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This 31 page thesis examines factors involved in estimating the impact of Ursinus College on the boroughs of Collegeville and Trappe.