Perna, Laura W
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Publication Éire Higher Education: What American Can Learn from Ireland(2012-12-01) Finney, Joni E; Perna, Laura WIn July 2012, the executive doctoral class of 2013 from the University of Pennsylvania’s Higher Education Management Program in the Graduate School of Education conducted an in-depth comparative study of higher education in Ireland. The international study, an important component of the executive doctoral program, was structured to model research that we completed on the relationship between public policy and performance in five U.S. states: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Texas and Washington (http://www.gse.upenn.edu/irhe/srp). This research provided the foundation for the students’ research. Students examined four performance areas related to Irish higher education: 1) preparation and participation for post-secondary education; 2) completion of certificates and degrees; 3) affordability for students and families; and 4) research. Students were divided into teams to collect and analyze data on these performance areas within the broader historical, political, economic, and social context of Ireland. After an intense period of preparation, students spent a week interviewing higher education administrators and faculty at seven Irish universities and Institutes of Technology. These interviews were supplemented with interviews with the Higher Education Authority and a review of relevant documents and data related to Irish higher education. To better understand the context of Irish higher education, students also attended lectures entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Celtic Tiger, the Irish Potato Famine, and Teaching and Learning in Ireland. Teams of doctoral students were organized according to the performance areas. Each team conducted research and presented a final report based on its data collection and analysis to Irish leaders and delegations from the five U.S. states at an Irish/U.S. Higher Education Roundtable. Students also presented their findings to the Minister of Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn. This report reflects the lessons learned from the student research and the Roundtable discussion.Publication The Role of College Counseling in Shaping College Opportunity: Variations Across High Schools(2008-01-01) Perna, Laura WThis study draws on data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, three in each of five states. The findings highlight constraints in the availability of college counseling, differences in the availability of college counseling across schools, and the influence of schools, districts, higher education institutions, and states on the availability and nature of college counseling. The study suggests that, in the context of limited fiscal and other resources, changes in federal and state financial aid policies, district policies pertaining to counseling, and relationships with higher education institutions will help ensure that all students receive sufficient college counseling.Publication Is a College Promise Program an Effective Use of Resources? Understanding the Implications of Program Design and Resource Investments for Equity and Efficiency(2020-10-19) Perna, Laura W; Wright-Kim, Jeremy; Leigh, Elaine W.Also known as “free tuition,” college promise programs are emerging across the United States as a potential mechanism for improving college access and affordability, Whether these initiatives are an effective use of resources depends on whether programs advance societal goals for equity and efficiency. Although some emerging research explores the role of program design, few studies have probed how program design and resource investments influence program outcomes, efficiency, and equity. To address this knowledge gap, this study draws on case studies of programs that offer free tuition to attend four community colleges. Findings illustrate how program outcomes, efficiency, and equity may be influenced by the criteria used to determine program eligibility and the resources invested in the financial award and other program components. We hope the findings are useful to policymakers and institutional leaders, as they strive to allocate resources to advance both efficiency and equity.Publication Promoting College Access for All Students(2014-03-31) Perna, Laura WPublication Letters to the Editor: More to the Story(2005-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Milem, Jeffrey; Williams, JohnEditor-We are writing to comment on your article, "A Mixed Blessing? Critics object to Mississippi's settlement of a 1975 anti-segregation lawsuit involving the state's 'historically black universities' " (National CrossTalk, Summer 2004). While shedding light on the "desegregation" of the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Mississippi, the article could also mislead readers about the extent to which colleges and universities in the 19 southern and southern-border states are providing equal educational opportunity to blacks.Publication Exploring the College Enrollment of Parents: A Descriptive Analysis(2010-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Walsh, Erin J.; Fester, RachelDespite the substantial size of the population, relativelty little research has focused on the status and experiences of undergraduate parents. Using descriptive analyses of data from the NPSAS:04, this study provides a starting point for campus administrators, public policymakers, and educational researchers who seek to identify ways to better understand the characteristics of this population.Publication Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Ten Ways to Ensure that Higher Education Research Continues to Matter(2016-01-01) Perna, Laura WImagine what a keynote address at the very first meeting of what has become the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) would have forecast about ASHE in the year 2015. Would the conveners of the first ASHE conference have guessed that: ∙ The number of ASHE members would grow sevenfold, rising from 300 in 1977 (Kellams, 1977) to more than 2,200 in 2015? ∙ The conference would no longer be held over two days in March, immediately preceding or following the annual American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) meeting, but instead would be a standalone conference held over four days and with seven pre-conferences? ∙ The general conference would have not six research paper sessions with 19 papers (as in 1978) but 129 research paper sessions with 352 papers (as in 2015)?Publication A Typology of Federal and State Programs Designed to Promote College Enrollment(2008-05-01) Perna, Laura W.; Rowan-Kenyon, Heather; Bell, Angela; Thomas, Scott; Li, ChunyanOver the past four decades, policymakers have developed numerous policies and programs with the goal of increasing college enrollment. A simple Google search of the phrase "college access program" generates 226,000,000 hits. Entering the same terms into the search engine on the U.S. Department of Education's Web site generates 500 hits. Despite the apparent plentitude of policies and programs, however, college access and choice for recent high school graduates remain stratified by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity (Thomas & Perna, 2004). Young people from low-income families and whose parents have not attended college, as well as those of African American and Hispanic descent, are less likely than other young people to enroll in college. When they do enroll, these students find themselves concentrated in lower-priced institutions, such as public two-year colleges and less-selective four-year colleges and universities (Baum & Payea, 2004; Ellwood & Kane, 2000; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2003, 2004; Thomas & Perna, 2004).Publication The Role and Contribution of Academic Researchers in Congressional Hearings: A Critical Discourse Analysis(2019-02-01) Perna, Laura W; Orosz, Kata; Kent, Daniel C.This study uses critical discourse analysis to explain how legislators determine the role and contributions of academic researchers in Congressional legislative hearings. The discursive practices that legislators use serve to construct the social identity of academic witnesses, characterize witnesses’ qualifications, solicit information from witnesses, frame comments from witnesses, and amplify and mitigate witness testimony. The findings make visible the ways that legislators use the power of their positions to depict academic witnesses as both experts who offer independent knowledge and experts who validate or confirm a legislator’s preferences and priorities. The results have implications for academics who seek to improve connections between research and policy, and academics who seek to further advance the production of knowledge of federal policymaking processes.Publication Understanding Differences in the Choice of College Attended: The Role of State Public Policies(2004-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Titus, Marvin ATwo recent reports by the Institute for Higher Education Policy describe the increasing “economic stratification” of the nation’s higher education system. In The Tuition Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together, the Institute (1999) concluded, based on its review of prior research, that decreasing shares of students from middle- and upper-income families are enrolling in public two-year institutions, while increasing shares of students from upper-income families are enrolling in public and private universities. In The Policy of Choice: Expanding Student Options in Higher Education, the Institute (2002) concluded that choice is “declining” for some groups of students, particularly dependent undergraduates with the lowest family incomes. The findings in Unequal Opportunity, a report released by the Lumina Foundation for Education (Kipp, Price, & Wohlford, 2002), suggest that state public policies are one source of economic stratification and that the extent to which college choice is restricted for low-income students varies across the 50 states in part because of variations in state public policies. For example, the report shows that all public four-year colleges are “affordable” for low-income, dependent students, even with borrowing, in only five of the 50 states (Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Wyoming). This study addresses the observation by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (1999) that data is needed on the causes of higher education’s economic stratification. Using multilevel modeling, we empirically test the suggestion that state public policies influence the type of college or university that high school graduates attend, after taking into account student level predictors of enrollment.