Education Economics Commons^™

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

Analyzing Advanced Placement (Ap): Making The Nation's Most Prominent College Preparatory Program More Equitable, David Naff, Mitchell Parry, Tomika Ferguson, Virginia Palencia, Jenna Lenhardt, Elisa Tedona, Antionette Stroter, Theodore Stripling, Zoey Lu, Elizabeth Baber

MERC Publications

This report from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) explores research related to Advanced Placement (AP) courses through an equity lens. It answers five questions: 1) What are AP classes? 2) Who enrolls and succeeds in AP classes? 3) Why do disparities in AP matter? 4) What factors contribute to disparities in AP participation and performance? 5) What policies and practices help to address disparities in AP access, enrollment, and performance? The report comes from the MERC Equitable Access and Support for Advanced Coursework study.

Pay No Attention To The Regulation Behind The Curtain: The Implications Of The Return To Title Iv (R2t4) Federal Aid Policy On Time To Degree, Apri Medina

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Federal aid programs and their effect on student persistence, stopout, and completion have long been studied, but current literature does not fully capture the temporal nature of these programs due to insufficient methods, imprecise data, or both. Using event history methodologies, I leverage a unique level of access to data at a public four-year, research intensive university to explore how the Return to Title IV federal aid withdrawal policy, one of the most prominent yet understudied aspects of federal financial aid policies, influences time to degree. The treatment of this policy is associated with a 58.6% reduced risk (reduced conditional …

Age Discrimination And Academic Labor Markets, Sam Allgood

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

In a sample of Canadian Ph.D.’s, Warman and Worswick (2010) report that forty-two percent obtained their degree at thirty-four years of age or older. One implication is that those starting their academic career vary in age. As a result, academic labor markets provide a somewhat unique way to investigate the outcomes of workers of different age with similar work experience. This study uses a national sample of over 9,000 faculty to look at the relationship between age at the time a person earns their degree and income. Older individuals are less likely to attend graduate programs in Carnegie Research I …

Expectations And Incentives: Parental Financial Support For College During The Transition To Young Adulthood, Allyson Flaster

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study provides new insight into enrollment disparities by examining how the financial support adolescents expect to receive from parents as they transition to young adulthood differs by parent and family characteristics and whether they attend college. I do this by estimating expectations of cash and in-kind co-residency support in the year after high school completion using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The results indicate that children whose parents are highly educated, who have high solidarity with their parents, and whose parents hold norms of adolescent financial dependency have particularly large financial incentives to attend college—particularly a …

Turning Around Small, Private, Tuition Dependent Colleges: How Boards Of Trustees Impact Decline And Turnaround, Michael Bills

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic, higher education has been facing unprecedented threats to existing business models. Small, private colleges heavily dependent on tuition revenue are particularly at risk. These at-risk small, private colleges need to make significant changes if they are to stave off decline and turn themselves around. Most of the literature on turnarounds of colleges and universities is focused primarily on the president, and is largely the reminiscences of former presidents. The board of trustees, however, is the ultimate governing authority of a college/university. If an at-risk institution needs to change in order to survive, the board must …

Social Dimensions Of Student Debt: A Data Mining Analysis, Dirk Witteveen, Paul Attewell

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Media commentary on undergraduates' loan debt portrays a crisis in which many students are unable to pay back their loans, having borrowed large sums and lacking sufficient post-college income to repay. Several scholars have questioned the media accounts, noting that indebtedness is highest among students from high income families, while defaults predominate among low debt students. Using a data mining technique known as CART, we analyze national data on the indebtedness of recent baccalaureate graduates, to uncover combinations of social characteristics that are associated with loan pressure: the ratio of indebtedness to post-college earnings. We find that students from lower …

Take It, Or Leave It? Analyzing How Unsubsidized Federal Loans Affect Six-Year Degree Attainment Across Income Groups, Ray Franke

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study examined the effects of unsubsidized federal Stafford loans on six-year degree attainment at 4-year colleges and universities in the U.S., and how these differentially impact students across income groups. For this, nationally representative data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS:04/09) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) was merged to analyze N=6,561 students attending n=651 four-year institutions. To account for possible selection bias in loan borrowing and the nested data structure, this study employs a propensity score matching, multilevel modeling approach. In addition to financial aid measures, the analytic model draws from the heterogeneous research approach and …

The Impact Of Performance Funding On Community College Degree Completion, Certificate Completion, And Transfer Rate: A Difference-In-Differences Approach, Matthew J. Okerblom

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Historically, state funding of higher education institutions has been allocated through enrollment, but there has been a recent trend towards a different model, performance funding. Performance funding is a model based on the attainment of designated metrics with the intent on improving student outcomes. The metrics used for these programs have often not aligned with the mission and characteristics of different institutions, especially that of community colleges. Although, several past performance funding models failed to improve student outcomes, much has been learned regarding program improvement. Texas implemented a performance funding model in 2013 which included a focus on community colleges …

Reassessing The Role Of Federal Aid Policy In Financing 21st Century Higher Education For Underserved Groups: Recent Trends, Contemporary Problems, And New Proposals, Gabriel R. Serna

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This review explores the expanding role of federal aid policy considered from a contemporary and social justice perspective. It highlights recent trends in aid policy as well as difficulties that arise from the current system. Next, the review takes up an analysis of current aid policy that carefully considers equity and efficiency as primary criteria for funding public higher education. Through a meticulous review of the most up-to-date literature and data it then moves on to new proposals to increase equity, efficiency, and effectiveness with an eye toward increasing access and attainment. Indeed, a general takeaway from this review is …

A Case Study Of Undergraduate Debt, Repayment Plans, And Postbaccalaureate Decision-Making Among Black Students At Hbcus, Dominique J. Baker

Journal of Student Financial Aid

High payments and default on undergraduate debt have consequences; they are of national concern if aversion to debt deters students from making optimal postbaccalaureate decisions on postbaccalaureate educational aspirations, enrollment, and early-career occupation. I conducted two semi-structured interviews, near graduation and six months later, with six recent graduates of an HBCU who borrowed at some point in their undergraduate career and were required to complete federal exit counseling. I found that the relationship between undergraduate debt and postbaccalaureate decision-making is partially explained by the themes of timing and structure of information, family as a source of knowledge, comfort with the …

A Case Study: Clery Act Policy And Implementation Strategies, Sara Beverage

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The Clery Act was created as a consumer protection law to inform prospective students and their families about the safety of the campuses they consider. The law requires that post–secondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial assistance programs remain compliant with Clery Act regulations to maintain the ability to offer financial aid funds to students. Noncompliance with the Clery Act can result in disqualification from Title IV programming and damaging institutional fines. These consequences warrant a deeper examination of the law and ways that Clery Act facilitators effectively implement compliance strategies and affect campus safety. This intrinsic case study …

Lynn Steen's Imprint On Demographic Change And The Demand For Higher Education, Nathan D. Grawe

Numeracy

Nathan D. Grawe. 2018. Demographic Change and the Demand for Higher Education (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press) 192 pp. ISBN 978-1421424132.

This essay introduces and excerpts my Demographic Change and the Demand for Higher Education, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book reflects Lynn Steen's vision of quantitative reasoning as more to do with the quality of thought than the impressiveness of the mathematical tools involved. The excerpt lays out the basic demographic challenge facing higher education and how a refinement of simple headcount forecasts can support institutions of higher education as they make preparations.

Tennessee Promise: Impact On College Choice In Upper Northeast Tennessee, Jennifer R. Barber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between the new statewide two-year financial aid program, Tennessee Promise, and college choice among high school seniors in four counties in upper Northeast Tennessee. Independent variables included GPA, concern about ability to pay for college, and plans to attend a two-year or four-year institution. The dependent variables were scored on three dimensions: cost factors, social factors, and academic factors relating to college choice. Additionally, respondents reported perceptions of Tennessee Promise related to college choice. A 22-item survey was administered to high school seniors from four counties in upper Northeast …

How Federal Work-Study Affects The College Student Experience, Cole William Kallio-Crotteau

Masters Theses

By creating a quantitative assessment and using one on one interviews, participants were asked to describe their collegiate experience as it has changed and evolved while enrolled in the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program. To achieve the greatest amount of data, four participants were individually interviewed who currently held FWS-funded positions and determined the affects the program had on their time at the Midwestern institution. All participants perceived college experiences were impacted in some way positively, citing multiple examples of growth and development throughout their time involved.

Student Financial Aid Processes And Borrowing Perspectives, Carol Pierson Milhous

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is a rising level of debt associated with attending college. Educational investment decisions, knowledge of financial management, attitudes and practices of student borrowing can have a significant impact on students’ futures. Student loan debt has been linked to adverse effects post-graduation in terms of employment, savings and making major purchases. Financial aid and money management skills of federal student loans are needed to help students achieve a quality life as working adults (Wolber, 2012). Approaches toward basic financial aid literacy and managing student debt should be addressed on college campuses.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to …

Exploring Postsecondary Market And Discipline Influences On Faculty Role Performance, Wendiann R. Sethi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Prior research has shown that the type of institution, disciplines, and characteristics of the faculty influence the structure and character of academic work. Zemsky and Shaman (1997) and others have suggested that differentiation among institutions, which has historically been structured along level of degree offerings and size/complexity, is now becoming increasingly structured along the lines of market segments – with many non-selective four-year institutions increasingly resembling two-year “convenience” institutions in terms of their academic organization. The purpose of this study was to test the extent to which academic work is increasingly organized by institutional market segment rather than traditional categories …

Problem-Solving Tips For School Business Officials, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

School business officials must be able to analyze problems and develop effective solutions. Arriving at solutions involves identifying the relative importance of the problem, what is known additional information is required, who is involved, what’s at risk, and the ultimate goal.

Most problems are easily resolved based on policy, experience, and knowledge of school business. However, some problems are more complex. School business officials don’t always have all the information they need, aren’t familiar with the personnel involved, or are faced with conflicting priorities.

A handbook on data-based decision making (Kowalski 2009) offers a basic format involving three steps:

1. …

Brandishing Our Air, Space, And Cyber Swords: Recommendations For Deterrence And Beyond, Mark Reith

Faculty Publications

This article examines how the nation could better prepare to deter aggressive action in space and cyberspace, and if necessary, prevail should deterrence fail. The key themes throughout this article include a strong need for space and cyber situational awareness, the need for an international attribution and escalation framework, and a national investment in space and cyber education, along with an updated national strategy and military doctrine. Although related, this article focuses on deterrence and avoids the topic of cyber coercion.

School Crisis Plans: Are You Prepared?, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The majority of states have statutes requiring school districts to develop school safety plans focused on preventing and responding to crisis situations. Plans may include protocols for disseminating school safety plans to appropriate personnel; mandatory fire, tornado, or active drills; and community involvement.

Although the degree of comprehensiveness of those plans depends on state legislation, all should include the basic elements offered here, focused on creating secure school environments.

Beyond Behavior, Craig C. Laupheimer

Scholarship and Engagement in Education

Teaching to engage students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can inspire the whole classroom and make teaching and learning engaging and exciting. Although teachers and students alike face a challenging educational landscape, much can be done to empower students with special needs. Teaching with the whole classroom in mind with an emphasis on hands on, explorative and inspirational learning experiences to accommodate for these students strengthens and causes student engagement and agency. This article highlights the challenges and potential breakthroughs possible for classroom instruction specifically where the ADHD student is concerned and looks towards teaching mindfulness and empowerment as …

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …

Sbos As Leaders Of Change, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Federal and state education mandates have prompted more changes in PreK–12 education in the past several years than during any other time in American education history. The sheer volume of changes and their complexity have put school business officials to the test as never before.

Among the more challenging issues for school business officials are the budgetary implications of the Affordable Care Act, special-education regulations, new food-service mandates, and safety and environmental regulations.

School business officials and other education leaders must lead the district and the community through the changes brought on by those mandates. How do they do that …

Book Review: The Student Loan Mess: How Good Intentions Created A Trillion-Dollar Problem, Justin Chase Brown

Journal of Student Financial Aid

N/A

White Paper On Research Opportunities And Cuny Library Faculty: The Need For Annual Leave Parity, Psc Cuny Library Faculty Committee (2014-­2015), Jay H. Bernstein, Jill Cirasella, John A. Drobnicki, Francine Egger-Sider, Lisa Ellis, Robert Farrell, William Gargan, Bonnie Nelson, Mariana Regalado, Sharon Swacker, Tess Tobin

Publications and Research

This White Paper provides an exposition and analysis of how annual leave disparity has arisen for Library Faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) as compared to other CUNY faculty, its effects on librarians, and what a positive solution to the problem would look like.

Then And Now: An Analysis Of Broad-Based Merit Aid Initial Eligibility Policies After Twenty Years, William K. Ingle, Jason R. Ratliff

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

Using Hall’s framework of policy changes, we sought to document and classify changes in initial eligibility and award provisions of broad-based merit aid scholarship programs at inception and present day. Our analysis revealed five first-order changes, two second-order changes, and only one third order change. Although the policy settings, instruments, and goals remained static in five states, the scholarship dollars in four of them have not kept up with increases in overall cost of attendance.

From Ivory To Babel To A New Foundation, Richard Boris

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

During my 12 years at the NationalCenter for Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, I observed with increasing frustration the inability of administration and faculty leaders—union and governance—to fully grasp, analyze, and find pathways out of public higher education’s current existential crisis.

My many years of observing leaders of public higher education lead me to the inescapable conclusion that together the leaders share a culture that shorts strategic planning, thinking, and boldness and instead favors ad-hoc, incremental acceptance of the ever-changing, slimmed-down state of affairs. The rarified bubbles of presidential cabinets and union boards symbiotically promote policies that, …

“Warming Up” In The Developmental Sequence? Upward Transfer Conditional On Dependency Status, Cody Davidson, Kristin B. Wilson

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

The purpose of this study was to determine predictor factors of upward transfer for Kentucky community college students enrolled in a developmental algebra course. For independent students, a mother with a college degree, a declared major, a federal work-study position, greater adjusted gross income, and a higher grade point average was positively correlated with upward transfer. For dependent students, a father with a college degree, a declared major, and a higher grade point average was positively correlated with upward transfer.

Ceo Impact On Superintendents, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Noting that collaboration between business executives and superintendents was wide but not deep, a Harvard Business School monograph, "Partial Credit: How America's School Superintendents See Business as a Partner," identified positive findings regarding access. Nearly two-thirds of 1,117 responding superintendents said they had access to business leaders to whom they could turn for advice and support. In urban districts, the figure was 84 percent. However, responses to a question on the AASA's decennial survey suggested otherwise.

Institutional Merit-Based Aid And Student Departure: A Longitudinal Analysis, Jacob P. K. Gross, Don Hossler, Mary B. Ziskin, Matthew S. Berry

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The use of merit criteria in awarding institutional aid has grown considerably and, some argue, is supplanting need as the central factor in awarding aid. Concurrently, the accountability movement in higher education has placed greater emphasis on retention and graduation as indicators of institutional success and quality. In this context, this study explores the relationship between institutional merit aid and student departure from a statewide system of higher education. We found that, once we account for self-selection to the extent possible, there was no significant relationship. By contrast, need-based aid was consistently related to decreased odds of departure.