Chapter 2 Will Contain Student Participation Levels In

Higher education in America is facing many challenges, i.e., low retention, low graduation rates and less funding. Postsecondary institutions are scrambling to remain a competitive entity within society. In order to do so, students must remain in school (Talbert, 2012). The Office of the White House states (2014), educational attainment is critical to our county’s economic success. In essence, the work force is creating more jobs requiring more education and a higher level of skill than was previously achieved. Individuals with only a high school diploma will not make into the middle class sector because of

A college degree is a valuable asset that could ultimately lead to a productive life in society due to the received education, but people without a college degree do turn out more than adequate in regards to societal success. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the forecasted 30 fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate 's degree, six require a bachelor 's degree, and six require graduate degrees to get the jobs (College). In an article called “College Education” by ProCon.org,

Recent high school students are debating whether to or not attend college, should consider the benefits of attaining a college degree. For many low or middle income students, this a route to gain opportunities to improve their economic circumstances. An article, “Pathways to Prosperity,” states in 2008, workers with bachelor's degree make about 65 percent higher than high school graduates and workers with associate's degree make about 73 percent more than high school dropouts.. This is evidence obtaining a college degree can be an opportunity to have earnings higher and significantly increase one's income.

This chapter presents the statistical results of the correlational study of the relationship between students and college persistence who were enrolled from partnering high schools (Clay County, Corbin, McCreary County, North Laurel, South Laurel, and Whitley County) and the dual credit program. The study theorized that the provision of dual credit programs to participating high schools would affect the students’ choice to attend an institution of higher education or not based upon participation levels in dual credit classes. Furthermore, the study assumed that a relationship will exist in the grade point average earned and dual credit participation. The study was designed to test the assumptions

Many college students choose to also get more than one degree while attending college to earn more income and further their education. College graduates have the choice of get higher level degrees and training resulting in earn even more income based on the different higher level degrees earned and training received (this means the more degrees and training you have the more income you may receive). People with higher level degrees and training earn more money that those without degrees. In 1996, for example, workers with bachelor's degrees had median annual earnings of about $36,000, while college graduates with more advanced degrees earned around $40,000 (Mittelhauser 3). This is a four-thousand dollar difference in income; this is only one of several examples of how people who graduate college make more money than the average high school graduate and that of people with lower-level degrees. The median annual wage for a bachelor’s degree in 2010 was $63,430. While the median annual wage for a person with a doctoral or professional degree in 2010 was $87,500 ("Employment by Education and Training Assignment, 2010 and Projected 2020"). This is almost a twenty-four thousand difference income just based off of median annual wage of different degrees. The income difference from college graduates than to those of high school graduates is great. College graduates are getting better wages and job openings than those of high school graduates (“President’s Perspective:

RQ3. Which, if any, college policies and/or processes do students believe hinder their goals to persist to degree attainment at community colleges?

According to Kaplan (2013), students’ motivation levels are easily influenced through extrinsic forces in schools. Such forces can be attributed to simple events such as prom and graduate night. It is imperative to think of various solutions to this motivational issue because students who are planning on attending a four-year postsecondary institution might be at risk on losing their admission. Furthermore, losing their admission at this stage can signify no other option than attending a community college. It is important to note that though there are plenty of benefits in attending a community college this paper will focus only on students who plan on attending a four-year postsecondary

We intentionally focus on students who are underrepresented and successfully and not successfully completing college but research shows that students who enroll in school that did their academic credentials they are more likely to complete college. After this the

When it comes to continuing education either in postsecondary education or as adult learners, there are several options that students can choose from. Students can go to a public or private school. They can attend a 4 year institution or they may decide to attend a community college. Most students who attend a community college go there to obtain an associate degree, to complete some type of certification, or before they matriculate to a 4 year institution. The cost of attendance to a community college is cheaper than the attendance to a 4 year institution. Research states that African-American students’ graduation rates are less than any other group of students. Since this is an issue at 4 year institutions, I wanted to review this perception at the community college level. In this article, I will review and discuss the content of an article entitled, Calling Out the Elephant: An Examination of African American Male Achievement in Community Colleges by Edward C. Bush and Lawson Bush, V. that was published in the Journal of African American Males in Education in 2010.

The transition from secondary to postsecondary education can be a daunting experience for students. Over the years, many programs have been implemented at the secondary level to help ease this transition. Dual-credit programs are one of the most effective means of helping high school students prepare for the rigor of college (Taylor, 2015 and Giana, Alexander, & Reyes, 2014). Although the format of dual-credit forms vary greatly from state to state and even school to school, the approach is the same- students concurrently earn high school and college credit in a course before graduating from high school. Many studies have examined the ways in which participation in dual-credit programs can help students matriculate to postsecondary education. These benefits include increased likelihood of enrolling in a postsecondary institution, greater academic preparedness and achievement, and greater persistence throughout college and degree attainment.

To increase the likelihood that students will have the necessary social capital to enroll in college, programs typically take a multi-pronged approach to provide students with the missing supports that will help them develop a college-going mindset. Consistent with those goals, college readiness programs generally offer a series of comprehensive services, such as tutoring, financial literacy classes, coaching, college awareness and exposure, and cultural enrichment. Le et al. (2016), noted that factors associated with limited college participation include: inadequate academic preparation for college, lack of knowledge about financial aid, limited access to information about the college application and limited social support.

Colleges have been changing how they approach education dramatically over the last decade. For many years, the common perception of how colleges were preparing students involved, teachers providing lectures, students doing various homework assignments and then being evaluated. Students either passed or failed. How much time and effort individuals put into their studies became the only way colleges measured student success outcomes. Often, colleges did not find themselves bearing the burden of responsibility for poor student outcome statistics. In recent years, the responsibility for student success has begun to fall more heavily on the schools. As the shift in responsibility switched, colleges have challenged themselves with redefining how they approach educating students. According to Grubb and Associates’ article, From Black Box to Pandora’s Box. Evaluating Remedial/Developmental Education, “Accepting this responsibility means identifying and then correcting the many possible reasons for non-completion or failure to learn- in short, providing remedial/developmental education, tutoring, counseling, and other forms of student services” (4). Within college education, there are two main types of schools. Students either enroll in a four-year university or a two-year community college. Where they are able to gain acceptance, often, depends on their level of preparedness. Two- year colleges have less demanding admission requirements. Christopher Shults article,

Allen and Dadgar (2012) utilized data on 22, 962 incoming college freshmen who were part of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) College Now program and had enrolled in a CUNY campus within 15 months after high school graduation. This data was merged with data from the New York City (NYC) Department of Education which included all high school students who had been peers of the students in the College Now dual enrollment program. The NYC Department of Education data included extensive demographic information and test score data as well information on institutional differences between high schools. This rich data set enabled comparison between students who had participated in dual enrollment and comparable peers who had not participated. In order to control for preexisting differences that were not reflected in the data set this study used a quasi-experimental analysis called the difference in differences. The results of this study confirm the work of other recent quantitative analyses which have shown higher GPA’s and reduced time to graduation for dual enrollment students as compared to their peers. The authors suggest that this study confirms the importance of academic momentum by demonstrating that students who are able to gain credits before starting college also earn more credits once they are enrolled in college. This study adds to the evidence that dual enrollment has a positive impact on postsecondary GPA and time to graduation.

This is a review of the dissertation A Comparative Study of Traditional and Nontraditional Characteristics Predicting Retention among First Time in College Students researched by C. Joseph (2015). This dissertation looks closely at the retention and completion of first time college students and their persistence to obtain their educational goals. The dissertation also looks at programs and services that support and assist students’ needs and that reduce the risk of stopping-out or dropping-out of college. Joseph’s (2015) research identifies 68% of students coming out of high school enroll into college. These students face immediate challenges of higher education and the curricular demands they encounter. Many institutions put first-time students through orientation programs in an attempt to familiarize the student with all the resources available to them, to help aid in their success. Additionally, these orientation programs usually contain team building components and activities so students have the opportunity to interact and bond with their peers. Students who develop a network of peers feel connected to an institution and utilize the resources available to them. Joseph’s (2015) research states that these students have a much higher success rate persisting through their programs of study and reaching completion.

In this study, there is an overall focus on both freshmen and senior participation in university level courses. Does the seniority of students in universities effect their overall rate of success in one-hundred level courses? Therefore, are seniors less engaged than freshmen in these classes, and what is effecting their success? Throughout this process, participants were observed and later seen in interviews and focus groups to scope out and answer the hypothesis created for this study. Seniors who are taking one-hundred level courses will study less and be less engaged than freshmen, causing them to do poorly in the class. This study was conducted to better understand the different constraints that these two classes experience during their time at a university. Are seniors actually less engaged than freshmen or is it simply an error in judgement?