Colleges and universities spend billions of dollars each year to enroll a shrinking population of college-bound students. However, relatively little is known about the high-ability, high achieving students whose enrollment decisions can have positive effects on retention, graduation, faculty satisfaction, alumni giving, and overall institutional…

Dual credit is changing the landscape of education in Idaho and most states in this country. The desire to keep high school students engaged academically throughout the entirety of their high school careers coupled with a desire by parents, state education policy makers, and funders to accelerate degree and certificate attainment makes dual credit…

Across the nation, K-12 systems increasingly use performance assessments to demonstrate and evaluate student learning. These assessments are also a promising source of information to support college access and success. But using K-12 performance assessments at the postsecondary level will require changes across the K-12 and postsecondary sectors,…

The American College Test (ACT) serves as the most utilized college admissions test in the United States. With disparities existing in the scores of Black males on the ACT exam compared to their peers, it is imperative to explore how these students are perceiving and experiencing the ACT. This study explored how Black male students experience the…

The academic progress and success of males of color have begun to capture the attention locally and nationally. Over the past several years research examining males of color and their k-12 to college, pathways have been the subject of conversation and focus of scholars and practitioners alike. This study examines the transition of successful…

U.S. Census Bureau Report (2020c) showed Hispanic students constituted 18.5% of the U.S. population, 36% attended higher education and only 14% completed postsecondary education. Research has shown Hispanic, specifically Latinx, students faced barriers in accessing higher education's hidden curriculum, compounded by deficit beliefs about their…

The number of jobs across the United States requiring postsecondary education continues to grow. Concerns expressed by business leaders, policymakers, and the public include too few students enrolling in higher education, the affordability of college, and decreasing levels of college completion. One solution to address these issues has been to…

The use of college entrance exams for facilitating admission decisions become controversial, and the central argument is around the fairness of test scores. The Kuwait University English Aptitude Test (KUEAT) is a high-stakes test, but very few studies have examined the psychometric quality of the scores for this national-level assessment. This…

When do students start the college planning process? How many plan to take the SAT or ACT? How much do they value a college degree? RNL and Halda surveyed more than 2,200 high school students to answer these and many other key questions. Read our 32-page college planning report and discover a wealth of findings on: (1) when students start to…

Relying on a multitude of studies from the college choice literature, I propose an updated model of college going and choice that draws on four conceptual, theoretical, and analytic approaches. With guidance from the economic, sociological, information processing, and combined theories of college choice, I situate my proposed framework within this…

In Tunisia, calculus is a fundamental component of mathematics curriculum in high school and a major requirement at the advanced level in the mathematics bachelor's degree and in engineering. Yet, paving the way for a passage between high school calculus and university calculus remains a challenge for both mathematics education researchers and…

Much of the research on first-generation college students (FGS) tends to focus on comparing this population of students to its continuing-generation peers and focuses on in-college experiences. This research looks to answer: (1) are there demographic and pre-college characteristic differences between full-time, FGS at different institutional…

Dual credit programs have become important gateway programs between universities and school districts across the nation. The ability for high school students to take academically rigorous college courses while still in high school creates a situation that can be beneficial to students, parents, districts, and higher education partners. Morehead…

While there are many calls for enhancing support of Black and Latinx students on college campuses, much of the existing literature promotes deficit thinking and assumes monolithic experiences. Drawing upon Yosso's model of community cultural wealth, we used a qualitative case study approach to examine the assets 13 rural Black and Latinx students…

Though Latinx students are going to college at an increasing rate, these students are still more likely to attend community college and less prestigious 4-year institutions than other groups. In an effort to understand this pattern, our study investigates how Latinx students prepare for college while in high school. We use nationally…