The importance that is placed on graduation rates as a measure of the success of institutions of higher education warrant the ongoing research into understanding the determinants of these educational outcomes. This study examines the role of institutional factors in determining graduation rates at doctoral universities. While controlling for student characteristics, we find that institutional characteristics are an important determinant of four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates. Student-faculty ratios, percentage of faculty that are full time, total expenditures and tuition and fees all play a significant role in explaining graduation rates at the universities in our sample.
/ GOENNER AND SNAITH
Writing across the curriculum (WAC) has become a guiding principle at many institutions of higher education. Unfortunately for many students of economics and business the standard vehicles of WAC do not adequately prepare them for the type of writing appropriate for the audience they are expected to address upon graduation. We describe a method of implementing writing into the introductory statistics courses that are required by many programs in economics and business. This method addresses the shortcomings of the standard vehicles of WAC while at the same time providing instructors with a feasible solution to do so in light of the multiple constraints faced by many instructors of this type of course. (JEL A22)
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