Patricia Somers

WITHIN-YEAR PERSISTENCE OF STUDENTS AT TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

Two previous studies have used the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey ( NPSAS ) to examine the persistence of two-year college students. We used NPSAS:96 and found that tuition had a small negative effect on within-year persistence. Debtload was significant and negatively associated with persistence at low and middle levels of debt, but significant and positively associated with persistence at high levels of debt. We explored the implications of these findings and compared our research to the previous studies. This study used NPSAS:96 to research the persistence of two-year college students. We found that, while background and college experience variables influenced persistence, students were 0.18% less likely to persist for each

Immigrant DREAMs: English Learners, the Texas 10% Admissions Plan, and College Academic Success

100increase intuition, more likely to persist if they received subsidies, and 15.96% more likely to persist for every

Brazil’s Radical Approach to Expanding Access for Underrepresented College Students

1,000 in student loan debt outstanding.

Internationalizing a Community College: A View From the Top

English learners (ELs) are facing unique issues in higher education that remain largely unexplored. This research focuses on college choice, enrollment, and graduation among high-achieving ELs who were eligible for automatic admission to any public higher education institution in Texas by having graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. We found that large enrollment gains for ELs were not observed until revised Texas DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) legislation stipulated that immigrant students fulfilling reformulated residency requirements were entitled to in-state tuition rates. The majority of top 10% ELs enrolled at border institutions, were largely first-generation college students, and experienced generally higher cohort graduation rates at Texas flagship universities.

Affirmative Action in the Quality of Higher Education: The Voices of Graduates of the University for All Program

The development of postsecondary education in Brazil has had a different trajectory than that of Latin American countries. Because of its status as an “exploitive” colony of Portugal,1 the educational system has historically been rudimentary. In Spanish Latin America, universities were founded in the 16th century (Cunha, 2000); in contrast, the first Brazilian university was officially chartered in the early 20th century.

A Comparison of the Influence of Debtload on the Persistence of Students at Public and Private Colleges.

ABSTRACT Using definitions of the American Council on Education (2012) and Knight (2015) as guides, this article explores the internationalization of one urban community college. Twelve interviews–the president, board, and administrators–were held. While all acknowledged that the college had made progress toward the goal of internationalization, they identified various issues that may affect all community colleges in their quest to internationalize. We discuss these issues and provide recommendation for practitioners.

The Helicopter Parent: Research toward a Typology (Part I).

This article is an overview of a doctoral dissertation which presents statements from graduates of the University for All Program (PROUNI) from a non-profit Brazilian university, who were admitted to university through this program. The methodology used was qualitative with a focus on textual analysis. The objective is to identify the outcomes brought about by the PROUNI graduates and to determine the importance of student engagement to improved learning and overcoming difficulties. The results are established in the dimensions of the quality of higher education: admission, process and result. In the admission dimension, the possibility of access to university education is highlighted through the affirmative action program PROUNI. In the process dimension, there is student engagement, the difficulties faced along the way and the retention of this student profile in the teaching institution. In the result dimension, the impacts on society are pointed out — namely, inclusion and the impacts on higher education institutions. The impacts on institutions are related to their social responsibility regarding social inclusion and to student performance, among other aspects. The impacts on society are in the context of employability, satisfaction and the motivational effect that the graduates have on the people around them.