Original Research

This longitudinal study tracked the college-going behaviors of students that participated in the Migrant Student Leadership Institute, which aims to increase the number of migrant students attending a 4-year college through academic preparation, information about college and critical thinking about sociopolitical conditions. Findings from this study, which included a comparison group, showed that participation in the program had a positive effect on application and enrollment rates for selective California public higher education institutions.

This study evaluates what types of services, programs and providers are needed in Virginia to increase student access to postsecondary education. This report highlights the resources available by examining statistics, maps, figure and case-narratives, areas where progress is being made and college access roadblocks encountered. A detailed illustration which includes technical information is also described.

This study evaluates the EXCEL program, a college access program, which promotes underrepresented youth attending a higher education institution by guaranteeing a scholarship to a sponsoring university and providing various enrichment activities. Eighty-three eighth grade students with a GPA of B and above and standardized test scores at grade level or above were randomly assigned to attend EXCEL or to a control group. Results revealed that students involved in the program were not significantly more likely to attend college than students in the control group.

This study examines the impact of a career workshop which uses the Cognitive Information Processing Approach, which looks at the role of the three stages of memory, in order to promote the career choice readiness of young adolescents. Findings showed that middle school students increased their career planning, career decidedness, and career exploration.

Analyses reported in this study found a positive relationship between SAT taking rates and college enrollment rates. The study also found that free and reduced price lunch and residing more than 60 miles away from a higher education institute were associated with lower rates of college enrollment.

This study calculates high school graduation rates and the percentage of all students who left high school eligible to apply for college from 1991 to 2002. The study finds that during this period the graduation rate went from 72% to 71%, while the college readiness rate increased from 25% to 34%.

This study examines the impact of participation in a dual enrollment program on students in 2 state programs (New York and Florida). A special focus is placed on students enrolled in Career and Technical Education Programs. Data analysis involved the use of two large-scale administrative datasets. The longitudinal nature of the study allowed for the control of some preexisting student characteristics. Subgroup analyses were also performed by gender, achievement and socioeconomic status.

To better predict high school graduate preparedness for college course taking, the authors use Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to analyze ACT English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science test scores to discern the utility of these scores as predictors of success or failure in first year college students taking typical freshman year courses. They found that although the test scores are useful predictors of success in first-year college courses, ACT scores above the cutoffs do not guarantee success.

This study evaluates the performance of students enrolled in the College Board Advanced Placement Program (AP) compared to non-AP students on college outcome measures. Results revealed that AP students outperformed their non-AP counterparts with similar academic ability in all college outcome measures, and concurrent students typically earned more college credit hours in related subjects than other students, yet their GPAs were not higher.