An official website of the United States government
The Effects of the Expansion of For-Profit Colleges on Student Enrollments and Outcomes at Community Colleges
- Award ID(s):
- 1749275
- PAR ID:
- 10184887
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
- Volume:
- 40
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0162-3737
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 631 to 652
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
ASSETS - Academic Intervention, Social Supports, and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Students is an NSF sponsored program at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga designed to help engineering transfer students overcome known academic and social barriers that impede retention or prolong graduation time following transfer from two-year community colleges into four year colleges. ASSETS is now in its fourth year of implementation. Several focus groups conducted among these scholars have consistently ranked the scholarship received as the number one contributing factor to their success. Other secondary but important factors have also emerged, suggesting that these students perceive the four-year institutions as lukewarm at best and hostile at worst to their ability to acclimate. These secondary factors indicate that these institutions need to become more welcoming by adopting strategies that are intentional in addressing the needs of these students, given current situational needs placing all the burden on them to adapt to their new environment. We conducted attitudinal surveys among students and faculty to gauge how pervasive these negative perceptions are among engineering transfer students. The survey analysis revealed that many faculty members do not differentiate between transfer students and traditional students and may therefore not be sensitive to their unique needs. However, faculty members associated with the ASSETS scholars, through serving as faculty mentors, were found to be aware of these differences and are already implementing measures that reflect a shift in mindset benefiting transfer students. This paper presents the findings of the surveys and the outcomes of the new mindset toward providing support to and enhancing the success of engineering transfer students.more » « less
-
This paper will highlight a small subsection of a larger scale project that focuses on increasing the use of active learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms. Our overall project goals seek to expand the adoption of active learning in STEM classrooms. Active learning has been shown to improve student grades, retention rates, and overall understanding of course material. We define active learning as any time an instructor goes beyond lecturing to their students (e.g., think-pair-shares, class discussions). Research has shown adoption of active learning in STEM courses has been slow with one common cited reason for not implementing active learning in their courses is the fear of student resistance. Student resistance can be defined as any negative student reaction to active learning (e.g., distracting others, giving lower course evaluations, or refusing to participate in the activity). For this study, we recruited instructors from across the nation in the Summer of 2021 and collected data from instructors and students from Fall 2021-Winter 2022. During recruitment, we paid particular attention on ensuring we were recruiting instructors from a broad swath of institution types, including doctoral granting institutions, community colleges, and everything in between. While much of the research on active learning has focused on 4-year schools, this research aims to elucidate what active learning looks like in community colleges, as well as community college student perspectives on these activities. Additional data will share common strategies used for implementing active learning that differ between community college and four-year settings. This paper focuses on how instructors teaching at community colleges are using active learning in their classrooms and their attitudes towards active learning. Additionally, we will explore the instructor’s self-efficacy towards using active learning in the hopes of having a better overall understanding of what is occurring in STEM community college classrooms and where potential improvements can be made in terms of faculty development.more » « less
-
Objective: The community college sector plays a vital role in broadening access to education and helping states meet their workforce needs. An emerging trend and potential lever to better achieve these goals is the community college baccalaureate or CCB. Yet, opponents wonder whether CCBs may lead community colleges to abandon their traditional logics. This study attempts to help address this question. Methods: Using institution-level panel data, I employ various difference-in-difference approaches to estimate the impact of CCB adoption on overall enrollment levels, as well as the enrollment of historically underrepresented student populations. Results: I find that CCB adoption leads to significant increases in overall student enrollment; these results are robust to alternative specifications and control groups. Yet, enrollment-related impacts vary by selected student populations. I find no consistent evidence that CCB adoption shifts community colleges away from their commitment to underrepresented students, though there may be a tipping point not yet reached by current levels of CCB adoption. Contributions: These findings have important implications for policy and practice as institutional leaders and policy makers continue to debate, adopt, and implement baccalaureate programing at the community college level.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718795053
