Canaan Main, Mitchell Zapka, and Olivia Gulotty
What Is Student Success?
Student success is a broad topic and as such, it is vital to define it. In this chapter the primary measurement of student success is defined by the rate at which students complete their educations; we will be investigating the effect certain variables have on this rate, including common demographic factors such as race, religion, gender, and income level, as well as more nuanced aspects such as the quality of instruction, geographic location, instructional modality, and the observed and predictable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is an abundance of data that proves that a higher income is correlated with better life outcomes, and given this information, it is unsurprising that many associate success and even happiness with income. The problem with using income as a measure of success is the subjective utility that income offers on an individual basis. Income is an objective and measurable variable, but the happiness associated with that income is not. In fact, it seems that for many, income only matters on a relative scale, or in other words people feel successful if they are earning more than their peers, not simply more (D’Ambrosio & Frick, 2007). Utilizing the college completion rates instead should allow for a more accurate representation of student success, assuming that students are self-selecting into the fields that they feel they will be able to achieve the most success in, measuring if students are in fact maximizing their subjective success could be an interesting topic for future research, but that is beyond the scope of this chapter.
Furthermore, the reasoning behind using the rate of college completion as our measure of student success revolves around usability and availability. Since college completion is a more binary system (you either finish the degree or you don’t) than income, for example, it should be easier to observe the impact that changing conditions has on that rate. This leaves us with easier-to-digest information that makes cause-and-effect relationships more evident. Furthermore, it is clear that policy changes can lead to improved student outcomes if they are properly designed with data in mind (Elliot & Beverly, 2011), and there is a is clear benefit for society as a whole if student success rates increase— a more educated population is preferable to a less educated one due to the effects it has on growth and overall productivity (Krueger & Lindahl, 2001).
What Impacts College Completion?
When obtaining higher education, college acceptance and completion can be a challenge for many. Observing the different personal factors that influence the completion of college and the different characteristics of college that can potentially determine a person’s educational outcome, can enable us to further understand how people succeed in college. There are many positive and negative factors in a person’s life that could impact their motivation to