• Student engagement in educationally purposeful activities is positively related to academic outcomes as represented by first-year student grades and by student persistence into the second year.

Despite several limitations of the study, the findings further the idea that increased academic intensity does causally impact transfer rates. Specifically, the findings reveal that taking 12 or more credit hours increases the probabilit...

The diversion effect (community colleges divert students from attaining a bachelors degree) is much smaller than was previously estimated. Traditional-age students who arrive at 4-year colleges through community colleges are not at a dis...

• There is little evidence to date to suggest that statewide articulation policies are effective in facilitating transfer or baccalaureate degree attainment, but that may be less a reflection of the policies themselves and more a refl...

• Growth in student service expenditures of $500 per student, on average, would increase an institution's six-year graduation rate by 0.7%.

• Reallocation of $500 per student away from instructional expenditures and tow...

Challenges to overcome

• The overall level of educational attainment in the United States today is both too low and stagnant.

• The U.S. Educational system harbors huge ...

The findings show that 8-year college completion rates declined nationally from 50.5% to 45.9%. The decline is most pronounced among men who begin college at less-selective public 4-year schools and among students who begin college at a ...

The results suggest that there is a disadvantage to students, in terms of degree completion, credit accumulation and the risk for dropping out, to initially entering postsecondary study through community colleges. Moreover, this "pe...

• Almost 20% of students who entered community college with poor academic preparation transferred to a four-year institution within 15 terms (5 years), but lagged behind their more academically prepared counterparts, 34% of whom trans...

Completion

For the three career clusters studied (Business, IT and Marketing), and for all types of students, associate degree completion rates are very low, particularly for male students, non-White students, and,...