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.

Since 2012, many Title IV institutions of higher education have sent their students debt letters to inform them of their outstanding loan amounts, estimated or real monthly payments, and other loan-related information. However, no extant research has analyzed whether these letters are written at an appropriate level for college students, nor has research articulated what complex jargon is used in these letters (e.g., "subsidized," "consolidated") and what content is contained in these letters (e.g., interest rates, loan types). Subsequently, this study analyzes a sample of 24 letters gathered from institutions of higher education across the country to fill these research gaps. Results suggest most debt letters are not comprehensible by the average first-or second-year college student, jargon differs between sectors (e.g., public, private), and debt letters share many common elements, such as aggregate loan totals and interest rates, but many do not include contact information or any multimedia, even though letters were written to be delivered digitally. Implications for research, practice, and financial aid communication are addressed.

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.

This study assessed prospective first-generation college students' knowledge of federal student aid. The research team surveyed 752 prospective first-generation college students to assess what financial aid jargon terms were unfamiliar. Students often reported "FAFSA," "master promissory note," "entrance counseling," "data retrieval tool," and "non-filer's" statement as unfamiliar. Controlling for demographics, non-binary conforming first-generation college students reported financial aid jargon terms at a higher rate than peers (p=0.05, t=2.42). Implications for student affairs and financial aid praxis are addressed.

For the first time, international student enrollment in U.S. institutions of higher education declined for a second straight year in 2017-2018. As a result, we sought to understand which institutional characteristics predict international student enrollment, informing the international education community regarding possible institutional factors responsible for the decline in international student enrollment by using five-year panel data from 2013 Fall to 2017 Fall. Results from institutional fixed effects models revealed positive relationships between first-time international undergraduate enrollment and different variables such as institutional grant aid in bachelor's institutions and student services expenses at private non-profit institutions in suburban settings. Contrary to earlier research, this study's findings revealed that there is no relationship between state appropriations and first-time international undergraduate enrollment. We address implications for research, practice, and international student choice.

In an era of billions of dollars in outstanding student loan debt, researchers have posited that the U.S. News & World Report rankings continue to be an influential source of information for prospective students, yet these rankings do not include college affordability metrics in their ranking algorithm. As a result, this study performed a series of college affordability experiments by integrating affordability metrics into the U.S. News ranking algorithm to explore whether any affordability metric predicts overall ranking. Results suggest better ranked institutions enrolled lower percentages of Pell grant receiving students (p < 0.00), while the percentage of undergraduates receiving state aid predicted better rankings only at Regional Midwest and Regional West Universities (p < 0.05). These results suggest many college affordability metrics are not predictive of ranking among the best-ranked, elite institutions. Implications for theory, practice, and college student choice are addressed.

Although not a universal practice, many U.S. postsecondary mentoring programs employ paid student mentors as part of a structured student-to-student (peer) mentoring model. Limited research has explored how student mentees view paid mentorship and if mentees can detect whether their mentor is paid or unpaid through mentor behavior. This qualitative study focused on in-depth interviews conducted with 13 first-year, first-generation mentees of Color attending a predominantly White institution in the U.S. South to learn how these student mentees view paid mentorship in relation to unpaid, volunteer mentorship. Findings suggest that student mentees feel mentors should be paid and that paid mentoring is a financial benefit in contributing to financing a peer's education. Student mentees also indicated they could detect paid mentors through mentor behavior. Student mentees also thought that a mentor's paid status might influence how they, mentees, interacted with the mentor, making a distinction between volunteer mentors who are seen as more caring and compassionate than paid mentors, who are viewed as merely performing mandatory duties, displaying what mentees felt was inauthentic behavior. This paper will address implications for research, practice, and paid and unpaid mentoring praxis.

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.

As technology has advanced, faculty members have many ways to connect with current and prospective students. Yet, no extant research has examined online faculty profiles on institutional (.edu) websites. To inform graduate student choice literature, we examined a random sample of 1,500 online faculty profiles across 500 U.S. graduate programs. Findings suggest assistant and associate professors publish the most informative online profiles, whereas private for-profit professors and lecturers publish the least informative profiles. In addition, zero faculty members self-identified their pronouns, race and ethnicity, or their first-generation college student status in their biographical statement. Implications for research and practice in U.S. and international contexts are addressed.

As the number of international students attending U.S. higher education institutions has declined 2 consecutive years (Saul, 2018), several institutions are exploring ways to increase international student interest. In Texas, the sociopolitical climate has become increasingly anti-immigrant (Watkins, 2017), leading many international students to question whether study in the US is feasible and safe. As institutional websites have been found to be important sources of international student information (Huang & Bilal, 2017; Taylor & Bicak, 2018), this study examines international student information on all public, 4-year institution websites in Texas. Findings suggest international student materials are difficult to read, are rarely translated, and lack basic information such as cost and housing information. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.

Beginning January 18, 2018, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act required all U.S. postsecondary institutions receiving Title IV funds to publish accessible websites, adherent to Level AA Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. This case study examines the web accessibility of all postsecondary institutions in Texas immediately after the January 18, 2018 deadline. Findings suggest the average institutional website read at the 11th-grade English comprehension level, public institutions published more readable websites than private peers, 96% of the websites provided English-only content, and 0% of institutions were entirely Level AA web accessible by the January 18th deadline. This study concludes by providing suggestions for future research and offering practitioners simple, cost effective, and practical solutions to render online content accessible, equitable, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant for a wide audience.

Although a wealth of research has explained how postsecondary institutions can support students with disabilities, no studies have articulated which postsecondary institutions are best suited to enroll students with disabilities through quantitative measures over long periods of time. Given the contentious history of special education in Texas, it is critical to investigate how Texas postsecondary institutions support students with disabilities and which institutional characteristics best predict the enrollment of these students. This study explored which Texas postsecondary institutions have enrolled students with disabilities over a five-year period (2013-2017), ultimately informing how Texas education policies could be changed to support greater postsecondary access for this population. Data suggest institutions of lower research intensity and private non-profit postsecondary institutions in Texas have enrolled greater percentages of students with disabilities from 2013 to 2017. Additionally, instructional expenses and institutional grant aid positively predicted enrollment from 2013 to 2017, suggesting Texas postsecondary institutions could strategically spend funds to increase postsecondary access for students with disabilities. Implications for research, practice, and policy are addressed.

Cross-cultural mentoring can be loosely defined as a reciprocal mentoring relationship where the mentor and mentee do not share any one of many personal identities. In this study, personal narratives convey what a White scholar learned about cross-cultural mentoring from a Black academic, focusing on two events. Critical findings and reflections include the necessity for White allies in cross-cultural mentoring relationships to anticipate difference rather than discomfort, to commit to paying analytic and holistic attention to their mentor, and to seek opportunities to mitigate any cultural taxation that people of color may pay inside and outside of the relationship.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that all Title IV-participating institutions of higher education publish web accessible websites for students with disabilities. This study sought to evaluate the web accessibility of Hispanic-Serving Institutional (HSI) websites (n = 217). Results suggest that the average HSI website landing page included 447 errors, violating ADA. Most errors were related to font size, color contrast, and hyperlinks and pictures. Implications for research, practice, and support for Hispanic students with disabilities are addressed.

Predominantly White institutions (PWIs) have prioritized the recruitment of underrepresented faculty of color. For these faculty, initial excitement about a new position may give way to concerns about workload, support, and the presence of communities of color at the locale. Navigating promotion, campus politics, and negotiating welcoming spaces in the community are challenging for faculty and their loved ones. This study of mid-tenure-track faculty at a PWI conveys narratives of their institutional satisfaction 1 to 5 years after hiring. Participants shared general satisfaction with the community and departmental experiences, though African American participants reported less satisfaction in the community. All presented concerns about cultural taxation, the steadily rising bar for tenure, and a lack of clarity about promotion standards.

This practice brief addresses the financial insecurity faced by many community college students and provides recommendations for community college practitioners on how to use incentivized savings accounts to teach financial literacy and prepare students for financial challenges that may impact their educational future. Despite reactive attempts at creating on-campus food pantries, financial emergency funds, and financial literacy interventions, little research has addressed how community colleges can be proactive and help students avoid a financial crisis before it begins. This paper details how a large, urban community college took a proactive approach to these concerns and developed and implemented an incentivized student savings account program. The savings program encourages students to complete financial literacy tasks in exchange for account deposits, which could be used for future unanticipated expenses. Implications for program development, financial services practice, and future research are addressed.

Although case management in higher education is a relatively new phenomenon, the challenges presented by COVID-19 have forced many institutions to deliver emergency services in an extremely rapid fashion and adopt case management strategies to serve students in crisis. This case study shares how one large community college system developed a one-to-one (1-1) case management protocol prior to COVID to allow students to self-assess their needs to distribute emergency aid and resources in a personalized, contextualized, and resource-sensitive fashion. This study will introduce the case management protocol and student self-assessment as well as provide community college practitioners with the opportunity to adapt the model and the assessment to individual institutional contexts. Implications for research, practice, and policy will be addressed, in addition to providing practitioners resources for case management systems development.

This study sought to understand the relationship between undergraduate yield and an institution's internet presence. Data were collected from 2018 "U.S. News & World Report" national university rankings, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Database (IPEDS), and summer 2018 (June-August) SEMrush data, a web metrics database housing institutional (.edu) search and traffic information. Results demonstrate, when controlling for institutional characteristics, organic keywords/ search-engine optimization (p < 0.001) predicts undergraduate yield as well as overall number of undergraduate applications (p < 0.001) and better than undergraduate admission rate (p < 0.05). Implications for research and practice are addressed, in addition to implications for theory regarding online academic capitalism and summer melt.

"The Eyes of Texas," the official song of The University of Texas at Austin (UT), was written during the Jim Crow era, was first performed at a 1903 minstrel show, and was inspired by Robert E. Lee. This legacy and the enduring institutional racism at UT bring into question the purpose and propriety of the song in a post-truth era, where observable and documented facts may not be as influential in shaping public sentiment than subjective perceptions. This conceptual essay urges institutional leadership in higher education and academia writ large to practice "intellectual reconstruction," or an education--not a celebration--of minoritizing institutional anachronisms in order to (re)purpose and (re)appropriate these anachronisms, many of which may be crucial to an institution's identity, history, people, and place.

While academic capitalism pervades many facets of US higher education, this study analyzes paid adwords as a method of academic capitalism in the online marketplace. This article presents findings from a five-month quantitative analysis of paid adwords of the 2018 top "US News & World Report" top 100 national universities. Capturing the Fall 2017 application season, this study investigated how many, when, and what adwords institutions purchase and how cost efficient these adwords were by words-per-click and price-per-click. Data indicate private institutions buy more adwords and pay a greater amount than public institutions but do not generate more traffic from these adwords. Regression analyses find better-ranked institutions generate more traffic from adwords than lower-ranked peers, but similar analyses predicting adwords and cost were not statistically significant. These findings suggest a stratified Internet marketplace, with better-ranked institutions practicing academic capitalism to drive web traffic toward their websites during application season.

This study analyzes the length and readability of admissions and financial aid application instructions at a random sample of 341 four-year higher education institutions in the United States. Linguistic analyses indicate that financial aid application instructions are longer and more difficult to read than are admissions materials at the same institution. Paired t-tests indicate that the length (p=0.05) and readability level (p=0.000) of financial aid application instructions compared to those of admissions materials are statistically significant. Implications for research and practice are addressed.

University ranking systems influence a wide range of educational stakeholders, including students, faculty members, and campus administrators. Of these ranking systems, the "U.S. News & World Report" ranking of colleges and universities has been the subject of much research. However, little research has examined specific "U.S. News" disciplinary rankings (such as graduate education) and whether Internet characteristics--such as the popularity of an institutional website--contributes to such a ranking. This study examines relationships between Internet characteristics, institutional characteristics, and the ranking of 69 of the top graduate education programs per "U.S. News & World Report" 2018 rankings. This examination sought to understand which "U.S. News" criteria best predicts ranking and whether Internet and institutional characteristics are better predictors of ranking. Regarding "U.S. News" ranking criteria, results suggest peer assessment best predicts graduate education program ranking. Regarding Internet and institutional characteristics, results suggest institutions with larger endowments (p = 0.01) and smaller websites (p = 0.05) enjoy better rankings. Considering all "U.S. News" criteria alongside Internet and institutional characteristics, doctoral admission rates (t = 3.30, p = 0.00) and funded research per faculty member (t = - 4.89, p = 0.00) best predict ranking, but the size (t = 2.61, p = 0.01) and popularity (t = - 2.88, p = 0.00) of an institution's website also strongly predicts ranking. Implications for theory and future research are addressed.

Research suggests that L2 students (English-language learners) do not access postsecondary education as the same level as L1 (native English-speaking) peers. Using a computational linguistics approach, this study analyzes financial aid application instructions from 341 randomly selected four-year, Title IV-participating U.S. institutions. Results suggest that L2 readability is more difficult than L1 readability with statistical significance (t = 12.35, p = 0.000). These findings could help explain the L2 postsecondary achievement gap in the United States. Implications for praxis are addressed.

On January 18th, 2018, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required all federal aid-receiving institutions of higher education (Title IV) to publish web accessible websites for people with disabilities. To be compliant with federal law, Title IV institutions must now adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards at the Level-A and Level-AA threshold. This study examined the web accessibility of a random sample of 325 two-year Title IV institutions in the United States and found all institutions had at least one Level-A error on their homepage, potentially violating new ADA guidelines. This study also found private, for-profit institutions published the least web accessible websites, while public institutions published the most web accessible websites. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.

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]