This journal article provides a review of causes and policy solutions of two equity problems: (a) Too many college students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the United States do not complete their coursework with any college credential, whereas others earn degrees or certificates with little labor market value; and (b) many of these students also struggle to pay for college, and some incur debts that they have difficulty repaying. Solutions include those focused on both individual students and institutional reform.

This research seeks to understand the financial characteristics of HBCUs that enroll a large proportion of students who come from low-income families and how these characteristics influence student success in STEM. The study used secondary data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine the financial metrics of HBCUs that are associated with the percent of students awarded Pell grants. The sample size consists of 84 four-year HBCUs that submitted financial information to IPEDS. Included in this sample are HBCUs that serve undergraduate students with active grants funded through the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.

AIR’s Dr. Rachel Dinkes joined panelists from academia, policymaking, and the U.S. higher education system to discuss who should foot the bill as postsecondary education expands in the United States.

This journal article investigates the research and policy implications of test optional practices, considering both sides of the debate. Drawing on the expertise of higher education researchers, admissions officers, enrollment managers, and policy professionals, it provides a much-needed evaluation of the use and value of standardized admissions tests in an era of widespread grade inflation.

In a recent virtual event, College Promise hosted a panel featuring top academic voices to discuss this disconnect. The panel heard from CARPE Director, Alexandria Walton Radford, and other experts on top priorities for research in the field, including economic benefits from a national, federal, and state partnership, the future of the workforce, and how this affects postsecondary education and underemployment amongst college graduates.

This journal article examines the impact of interracial and interethnic dialogue, a model of intergroup contact that highlights the salience of racial and ethnic group membership, to improve intergroup relationships on college campuses. A field experiment involving 737 participants demonstrated that participants randomized to enroll in an intergroup dialogue course increased thinking about and understanding of race and racial/ethnic group membership more than the control group participants who were wait-listed for the course.

This journal article discusses findings from a study in which researchers developed a machine learning classifier to predict nontraditional student dropout.

This chapter discusses issues related to testing and evaluation of English language learners (ELLs) in higher education. It explains how to define the ELL population in higher education, followed by a brief treatment of the general issues related to testing and evaluation of ELLs in that context.

This call to action discusses the disproportionate impact from COVID-19 on Black, Latinx and Indigenous students, who have been hardest hit by practices and policies that result in credit loss when they transfer.

This journal article uses student-level data to investigate how the college application behavior of underrepresented minorities (URMs) changed in response to the 1998 end of affirmative action in admissions at the University of California (UC). The results show that all URMs experienced a drop in their probability of admission to at least one UC campus.