Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
12-1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Educational Leadership
First Advisor
Marie Simonsson
Second Advisor
George Padilla
Third Advisor
Leslie Jones
Abstract
Institutions of higher education continue to grapple with budget challenges while navigating stagnant or decreasing college undergraduate degree completion rates. Assessing the impacts of programs aimed at retaining students and facilitating degree completion is critical to effective allocation of limited institutional resources. Likewise, consideration for other factors that influence retention and degree completion aids in understanding which student populations may require more support. From among many such factors, this research focuses on students’ college readiness status at the time of matriculation based on standardized testing, possession of prior college hours, eligibility for financial aid in the form of Pell Grant, and participation in a collaborative learning program. This research accounts for all these variables and, taken together with data on persistence through continued enrollment of completion of an undergraduate degree, findings support collaborative learning efforts while shedding light on the relationships between students' persistence and degree completion relative to their college preparation, economic status, and participation in collaborative learning.
Quantitative methods were employed in this study of 800 undergraduate students at a four-year public institution representing two different entering freshman cohorts. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to ascertain whether the independent or predictor variables studied relate to the dependent variable, degree completion measured in years. An independent-samples case t-test was subsequently used as a method of statistical analysis of PLTL participation and persistence to describe undergraduate students’ persistence as measured by the number of fall and spring terms subsequently enrolled in.
Recommended Citation
Almeda, S. C. (2025). Exploring Relationships Between Persistence and Degree Completion Across Collaborative Learning, Prior College Hours, College Readiness, and Pell Grant Eligibility at a Four-Year Public Institution of Higher Education [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley]. ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/1811
Comments
Copyright 2025 Sofia C. Almeda. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3292420547