Search

For the first time in U.S. higher education history, new international student enrollment at four-year U.S. institutions declined for the second consecutive academic year in 2017-2018. Many studies have investigated why international students choose to pursue U.S. higher education. However, scant research has explored how U.S. politics affects the number of new international students studying in the U.S. We explore whether there was a "red effect" (Republican counties) or a "blue effect" (Democratic counties) experiencing declines in international student enrollment. Using institutional-level fixed effects approaches, new international student enrollment declined at many institutions in Republican-voting counties, while new international student enrollment remained steady or increased at institutions in Democratic-voting counties. Implications for research, practice, and international education are addressed.

As campus carry policies are implemented at colleges and universities across the country, the concern for the safety of students, faculty members, and campus community members has heightened. In the state of Texas, broad sweeping campus carry policies were recently enacted by Texas State Legislature that allows individuals to conceal carry firearms within educational spaces on campus. Within these educational spaces, faculty members are often relied upon to deliver educational content without having their Second Amendment speech rights chilled by the prospect of loaded firearms within a classroom. Given this tension, this study fills an important gap in the research and explains how faculty members view campus carry as it relates to their personal safety and professional work. This study employed a mixed methods design (survey and qualitative) to expound upon the attitudes toward campus carry of 226 faculty and staff members working in a large research-intensive university within the state of Texas. Results suggest strong gender differences between how faculty members view campus carry policies and their safety on campus, with women often reporting feeling less safe and less able to perform their job duties under the pressure and anxiety of campus carry policies. Ultimately, this study's results imply that women faculty members may more less safe, more marginalized, and further victimized by campus carry laws than men faculty members, transgressing gender equity progress in the professoriate, as women have been traditionally underrepresented on college faculties.

This survey explores attitudes of 245 currently enrolled college students with disabilities regarding their comfort taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Results suggest most college students with disabilities are willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine if their institution requires it to return to campus in subsequent semesters. However, many students with disabilities would not feel comfortable with a vaccine mandate mid-semester and would consider withdrawing, especially among older students with disabilities and first generation college students with disabilities. Implications for postsecondary policy and leadership are addressed.

As districts nationwide transitioned online to deliver remote or hybrid instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet has become an increasingly important space for K-12 students, teachers, and many other stakeholders. This brief discusses the utility of Internet metrics to measure K-12 district websites and its usefulness for exploring the digital nature of K-12 schools. We close this brief by discussing the necessity to explore K-12 Internet metrics, as the Internet has become an important data source for many diverse stakeholders.

Prior research has analyzed the purpose and composition of athletic mission statements, but no prior work has moved beyond athletic mission statements and toward athletic diversity mission statements. Specifically, this study sought to understand the prevalence of both athletic mission and diversity mission statements and how National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs address diversity in both types of statements. Through a content analysis of 250 NCAA websites from both public and private institutions, this study found 62% of institutions published an athletics mission statement on their institutional website, while only 11.6% published diversity mission statements. Linguistic analyses suggest mission statements largely focus on students and speak of diversity in terms of women and gender, while diversity mission statements focus on both students and coaches and speak of diversity in terms of women, gender, race, and sexual orientation. Implications for research, practice, and equity and diversity in NCAA programs is addressed.

Decades of research have found African Americans to be unfairly marginalized by healthcare systems. As U.S. colleges released their plans to re-open for in-person classes for the Fall 2021 semester and beyond, research is needed into how African American students view vaccine mandates, such as the one levied in March 2021 by Rutgers University and many other institutions. Subsequently, the purpose of this study is to explore how African American students feel regarding vaccine mandates and a return to in-person learning. In all, this survey study engaged with 180 African American college students currently enrolled in postsecondary education in the United States. Results suggest Black women are more comfortable with COVID-19 vaccinations than Black men, and Black women are more willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine to return to in-person learning on campus. Implications of this work outline how Black women may return to in-person higher education at greater numbers than Black men, perhaps further marginalizing Black men from higher education. Students with disabilities and students attending 4-year institutions also expressed the most discomfort and least likelihood to take a COVID-19 vaccine if it were mandated. Implications for equity and campus safety are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, no quantitative studies have explored what types of institutions of higher education enroll college students who document a disability (SWDs) over extended periods of time. This study leverages five years of institutionally reported (IPEDS) data related to the enrollment patterns of SWDs. This data suggests urban, public, and bachelor's-level institutions have enrolled more students with documented disabilities than other institution types over time. Additionally, we find that enrollment of SWDs in U.S. higher education has steadily increased since 2013. Implications for research and practice are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature about the history and impact of federal financial aid is robust, however, financial aid eligibility and its connection to persistence for continuing students is an area less understood. As a result, this study describes how at-promise students articulate their knowledge of federal financial aid policy during COVID-19. We interviewed 14 students who were on financial aid warning, a status defined by federal financial aid policy regulations, to examine what students understand about their financial aid standing and the criteria to keep their funding. Findings suggest students were often confused about financial aid eligibility criteria, even though they confidently expressed incorrect information about financial aid policies. Moreover, students were uncertain about how to connect with institutional financial aid resources and did not understand that financial aid advising extended beyond their first semester. This study fills multiple gaps in the literature and articulates how institutions can improve students' understanding of financial aid policy through multiple modes of communication, intentional interventions, and clearer policies. Implications such as the inclusion of Financial Aid counselors and departments in retention support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, there has been a concentrated effort on expanding K–12 pathways, experiences, and access in computer science education (CSEd). Computer science (CS) is a multifaceted discipline within education, and the current emphasis in education policy has focused on how to expand access for K–12 students in CSEd that will lead to increased innovation and bring new participants into the United States labor economy. Industry partners have advocated for policies and incentives to increase pathways to CS opportunities. This chapter interrogates the side effects of CSEd and offers a framework for considering how side effects impact CS teaching and learning. We highlight the barriers that exist within CS and CSEd and how broadening participation in computing efforts could address longstanding equity and disparity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One major issue with improving college student financial wellness is that nearly all financial wellness programming is voluntary. Moreover, many college students do not participate in financial wellness programming, even if it is free and on-campus. Filling a critical research gap, this study sought to understand why community college students participate in voluntary financial education programming. Employing a phenomenological approach through in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 14 community college students, results suggest community college students are strongly motivated by both relational (friendly staff, accommodating scheduling) and external (cash incentives, building banking history) factors when participating in financial education programs. These results suggest practitioners need to adopt different approaches when marketing and recruiting for financial education programs, especially for working adult students and parents, while strategically partnering with financial institutions to lower the participation bar. Implications for re- search, policy, and practice are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies of education engage with large datasets to attempt to solve educational problems. However, no studies have provided a systematic overview of how large datasets could be compiled with an eye toward solving educational problems related to equity, especially as it relates to racial, gender, and socioeconomic equity. This study provides a synthesis of literature and recommendations for how developing nations can learn from peers and collect, disaggregate, and analyze data in ways that promote equity, thus improving schools, school districts, and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As George Floyd's murder in May 2020 catalyzed a global protest against systemic racism and police brutality, many executive leaders of institutions of higher education issued public statements on the tragedy. What the research has not made clear is how leaders of faith-based institutions address instances of systemic racism and police brutality, specifically analyzing which audiences are addressed, what institutional values are extolled, and how the institution plans to contribute to social justice initiatives in their community or nation. Conceptualizing the data using Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence and Lieblich et al.'s narrative theory, this study analyzed 254 statements made by leaders of faith-based institutions of higher education to investigate their commentary on the George Floyd murder and their institutions' possible orientation toward social justice. Results suggest many faith-based institutions "say his name" and explicitly mention George Floyd, but many shied away from describing his death as a "murder," while institutions were more likely to extoll religious beliefs than support Black Lives Matter or mention oppression experienced by Black and African American people. Implications for research, policy, and practice are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although academic freedom is defined in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, its purview can be ambiguous and confusing. A recent illustration of this is the University of Texas at Austin’s decision-making regarding the GoKAR! (Kids against Racism) Project, an institutionally funded effort incorporating elements of research, service, and teaching that was temporarily halted by UT’s administration following complaints of racial discrimination. In this case study, we argue that GoKAR! is innovative and exceeds the scope of the AAUP’s 1940 Statement and many commonly held definitions of “research” and “human subjects.” Such definitions should be revisited and redefined for our evolving twenty-first-century society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]