The purpose of this study is to revisit the widely held assumption that the impact of socioeconomic background declines steadily across educational transitions, particularly at the postsecondary level. Sequential logit modeling, a staple methodological approach for estimating the relative impact of SES across educational stages, is applied to a…

The United States government recently enacted a number of policies designed to increase the number of American born students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), especially among women and racial and ethnic minorities. This study examines how the earnings benefits of choosing a STEM major vary both by…

The purpose of this study was to explore academic and social integration and other outcomes for community college transfer students. The study used Tinto's ("Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition," 1993) "Longitudinal Model of Institutional Departure" and Deil-Amen's ("J Higher…

In educational research and policy circles, college and career readiness is generating great interest. States are adopting various policy initiatives, such as rigorous curricular requirements, to increase students' preparedness for life after high school. Implicit in many of these initiatives is the idea that college readiness and career…

Using data from the 2004-2007 National Study of Living Learning Programs, the only national dataset offering longitudinal information on outcomes associated with living-learning (L/L) program participation, this study investigated the role of L/L programs and other college environments in the professional outcome expectations of women in science,…

Recent legal challenges to race-conscious college admissions processes have called into question what constitutes a sufficient level of diversity on college campuses. Previous research on the educational benefits of diversity has examined the linear relationship between diversity interactions and student outcomes, but multiple theoretical…

Most of the research on the effects of college on students that examines the influences of institutional characteristics--what Pascarella and Terenzini ("How college affects students: Findings and insights from twenty years of research". San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 1991) called "between-college" effects--indicate that the descriptors typically used…

In this study we investigate the underlying relational structure between student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETEs) and achievement of student learning outcomes in 116 business related courses. Utilizing traditional statistical techniques, a neural network analysis and a Bayesian data reduction and classification algorithm, we find…

This research examined the relationships among students' academic majors, levels of engagement, and learning outcomes within the context of Holland's person-environment theory of vocational and educational behavior. The study focused on the role of student engagement as a mediating agent in the relationships between academic majors and student…

Each year, a sizeable percentage of community college students enroll in remedial coursework to address skill deficiencies in math, writing, and/or reading. Unfortunately, the majority of these students do not attain college-level competency in the subjects in which they require remedial assistance. Moreover, students whose point of entry into the…

Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we developed a student typology based on student responses to survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement. We then examined the utility of this typology in understanding direct-assessment learning outcomes, self-reported gains, grade-point…

This study investigated the direct and indirect relationships between participating in a learning community, student engagement, and self-reported learning outcomes. Using a sample of 241 freshmen at a single urban research university who took the "College Student Experiences Questionnaire," the results indicate that after controlling for…

This study addresses methodological problems surrounding existing research on exposure to contingent instructors and student outcomes. By applying non-aggregated and aggregated measures of exposure to contingent instructors to the same data, this analysis demonstrates that effects of commonly used measures of exposure to contingent instructors…

This study examines whether feelings of relatedness constitute a substantial means by which learning communities (cohorts) improve learning outcomes in higher education. It applies Ryan and Deci's Self-Determination Theory to an analysis of the National Survey of Student Engagement. The SDT hypothesizes that environments that support perceptions…

Researchers investigated the impact that a first-year college experience course had on students' first-year grade point averages (GPAs) and retention rates. A sample of 109 first-year students enrolled in the course was compared to a sample of 326 students from the same university who had not taken the course. The goals of the experience course…