Research Update: March 8, 2012

NACAC Research

One More Week to Complete 2011 Admission Trends Survey and Enter Conference Registration Giveaway

NACAC is providing a second opportunity to complete the 2011 Admission Trends Survey. An email invitation was sent to Principal Representatives at member four-year institutions on February 14. All respondents that complete the survey before the deadline next Wednesday, March 14 will be entered into a drawing to win one free registration for NACAC’s National Conference in Denver (CO). If you have any questions about the survey or are unsure whether your institution has already participated, please contact Melissa Clinedinst, NACAC’s assistant director of research.

Latest College Admission Research

New Study Examines Transfer Trends among College Students
In the second publication of the “Signature Report” series, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center analyzed student-level enrollment data regarding transfer behaviors, over five years, of nearly all students who began postsecondary education in the U.S. in Fall 2006. The study found that about one-third of all college students changed institutions at some point before earning a degree. This rate of transfer was similar across all types of institutions (except in the for-profit sector where the transfer rate was lower). Of all students who transferred at some point in their postsecondary careers:
  • 37 percent transferred in the second year and 22 percent did so in the fourth or fifth year
  • 25 percent transferred more than once
  • 27 percent transferred across state lines
  • 43 percent transferred to a public two-year college
This report indicates that postsecondary pathways vary greatly with many points of entry and mobility. Student planning and support professionals can use this information to promote postsecondary success for a student population with varied educational histories. The full report includes more detailed statistics about recent transfer and mobility patterns.
Data from the Department of Education Reveal Racial Disparities in College and Career Readiness
The U.S. Department of Education released new data from the Civil Rights Data Collection -- an on-going project that tracks educational trends of K-12 students of different races, genders, disabilities and English-speaking skills -- for the purpose of enforcing civil rights laws. The new data were collected during the 2009-10 school year from 6,835 school districts enrolling about 85 percent of all U.S. students. Analysis of these data revealed that significant racial disparities exist in college and career readiness factors like teacher quality, retention and access to rigorous coursework. In schools with the highest black and Hispanic enrollment, 15 percent of instructors were first or second year teachers, but this less-experienced group accounted for only eight percent of faculty in schools with the lowest minority enrollment. In a related finding, teachers in high-minority schools were paid on average $2,251 less per year than colleagues at low-minority schools in the same district. Black students represented 18 percent of all the students studied, but accounted for 46 percent of students who were suspended more than once, 39 percent of those expelled and 42 percent of those middle school students who had to repeat a grade. According to the data, only 29 percent of high-minority high schools offered calculus, compared to 55 percent of schools with the lowest minority enrollment, and disproportionately low numbers of black seventh and eighth graders took Algebra 1. These findings, consistent with previous research regarding resource disparities and achievement gaps, illustrate the continued trend of inequity in the U.S. education system. For more statistics, visit the Civil Rights Data Collection Web site which provides searchable data by school and district.    

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