Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
More Often or Longer? The Effects of the Academic Schedule on Postsecondary Academic Outcomes
One of the most common scheduling decisions in higher education is the determination of biweekly or triweekly classes. On the surface, these two formats are equivalent in terms of the number of minutes in a course (75 minutes twice a week or 50 minutes three times a week). However, the two… more →
Ready for What? School and District Responses to State College and Career Readiness Accountability in Tennessee
Tennessee’s K-12 accountability system incorporates three distinct measures of college and career readiness (CCR) for state and federal accountability. Each of these indicators applies its own set of metrics and performance benchmarks, but they all consistently draw upon similar components… more →
Selling Student Success: A Critical Analysis of Predictive Analytics Vendors in Higher Education
As predictive analytics become increasingly embedded in higher education, commercial vendors offering these tools play a growing role in shaping institutional decision making, particularly through identifying students deemed “at risk.” In this qualitative study, we analyzed 161 publicly… more →
Fast Track to Success? A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Condensed Course Formats at Tennessee Community Colleges
As colleges face increasing pressure to improve student outcomes, one solution gaining traction is the adoption of condensed courses (i.e., shortened academic terms). We employ quasi-experimental methods to estimate the effect of enrolling in a condensed course on course- and student-level… more →
Labor Market Strength and Declining Community College Enrollment
Declining U.S. college enrollments have triggered questions about the health of the postsecondary sector. Using institution-level data, we make four points. First, such declines are driven not by the four-year sector but by two-year community colleges, which have apparently shrunk by over 30%… more →
The Long-Term Effects of Rank in Elementary School
We estimate the long-term consequences of math and reading rank within an elementary school on short and long-term outcomes. We find that higher rank leads to better outcomes. Students ranked at the top in grade 7 perform up to 0.33 standard deviations higher on future school exams, are more… more →
Running a Business in High School: Selection into the Virtual Enterprises Program
To better prepare high school students for the workforce, many schools and districts are building career and technical education coursework that provides students with the opportunity to deeply engage in work-based learning. Virtual Enterprises (VE) is a program where students open school-based… more →
Behind the Scenes: Faculty-Staff Collaboration in a Student Success Effort
Interventions to improve postsecondary student success often involve supports that are external to the college classroom, although there is growing evidence that faculty involvement in interventions can improve student outcomes. This paper explores the challenges that arise when faculty and… more →
Does Expanding Access to High Quality Technical Education Induce Participation and Improve Outcomes?
Over the last 15 years, Career and Technical Education (CTE) has been changing as schools have aimed to better meet workforce needs and diversify pathways into higher education and the workforce. This study provides the first known causal evidence on the impact of CTE program expansion in U.S.… more →
Resilience and Transformation: The Pandemic’s Effects on Texas Community Colleges
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education, particularly community colleges serving significant proportions of traditionally disadvantaged students. This mixed methods study examines how Texas community colleges responded to the crisis and the extent to which they institutionalized… more →
The Effect of College Entrance Exam Policies on Test Preparation and Tutoring Services
Multiple studies suggest that policies mandating college entrance exams can have positive impacts on college outcomes, especially for students who would otherwise not sit for the exam. Less understood is how families react to this increased competition for college admissions. Our study estimates… more →
Increasing Applied STEM Curricular Opportunities in High School and Impacts on Early Post-Secondary Outcomes: The Effect of Project Lead the Way
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is an applied STEM Career Technical Education program that has been adopted widely across the country. Using data from Missouri, we investigate the impact of PLTW course expansion on program participation and early post-secondary outcomes. Our identification… more →
Political Views and College Choices in a Polarized America
We examine the role of students’ political views in shaping college enrollment decisions in the United States. We hypothesize that students derive utility from attending institutions aligned with their political identities, which could reinforce demographic and regional disparities in… more →
The Many Paths to College Enrollment: Re-Conceptualizing the Transition to College
Traditional college choice models often fall short in capturing the complex paths that today’s student population takes to postsecondary enrollment. This paper identifies the limitations of the predominant frameworks, such as Hossler and Gallagher’s (1987) three-phase model, arguing that they… more →
Comparative Cost Analyses of Community College Student Success Initiatives
Limited resources hinder completion and exacerbate inequality in community colleges. Existing research identifies strategies that raise outcomes but leaves policymakers and campus leaders asking, “What do these interventions really cost—and can we afford it?” I answer these questions by… more →
Neighborhood Effects on STEM Major Choice
This paper provides causal evidence that the neighborhoods where students grow up play a significant role in shaping their college major choices, focusing on STEM fields. Using administrative data from Texas and variation in the timing of school moves across counties and districts, we estimate… more →
A Degree of Choice: Educational Decision-Making after College
Despite the growing share of college-educated adults returning to higher education, we know little about how individuals weigh the consequential decision to go to graduate school. In this paper, we ask how individuals decide to pursue a particular graduate program within a field of study. We… more →
Identifying Indicators to Support Educational Attainment for Different Groups of English Learners in High School
This study examines a broad array of potential indicators for early warning and college readiness indicator systems for different subgroups of English Learners in high school. Using data from 2008 through 2021 from the Chicago Public Schools, the study follows cohorts of students from eighth… more →
High School Equivalency Credentialing and Post-Secondary Success: Pre-Registered Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the GED® Test
For the over 24 million American adults who do not hold a traditional high school diploma, high school equivalency (HSE) credentials represent the primary “second-chance” pathway to many careers or educational opportunities. This project uses current, representative data to assess whether, how,… more →
The Net Benefits of Raising Bachelor’s Degree Completion through the City University of New York ACE Program
In 2015, the City University of New York (CUNY) launched a new program— Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE)—aimed at improving college graduation rates. A randomized-control evaluation of the program found a nearly 12 percentage point increase in graduation five years after college entry.… more →