Lauren Schudde
Biographic Data
| ID | 300154 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lauren Schudde |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lauren |
| FAMILY NAME | Schudde |
| SIGNATURE | SCHUDDE L |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3851-1343 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Institutional Transfer Logics Among Community College and University Stakeholders
Using interviews with transfer personnel at five community colleges and seven public universities, we examine competing institutional logics—or belief systems—for how personnel approach vertical transfer and implement statewide reforms that call for transparency in programs’ recommended course sequences. Personnel who relied more on developmental logic viewed degree plans as customizable to individual needs, whereas those who relied more on funct…
New Insights on Sources of Credit Loss
Many students who transfer between postsecondary institutions lose credits, which may sap academic momentum and increase college costs. Despite anecdotal evidence of major credit loss (MCL), where students cannot apply transferred credits toward their major, data limitations have hindered analyses of its magnitude or causes. Using novel administrative data in Texas, we measure MCL for a statewide sample of 2020–2022 vertical transfer students, co…
Toward a Comprehensive Model Predicting Credit Loss in Vertical Transfer
A growing body of research has documented extensive credit loss among transfer students. However, the field lacks theoretically driven and empirically supported frameworks that can guide credit loss research and reforms. We developed and tested a novel framework designed to address this gap using unique administrative credit loss data from Texas. Our results demonstrate how the likelihood of credit loss varies across course characteristics, major…
Variation in English Learners’ Programmatic Experiences and Postsecondary Trajectories
The transient nature of K–12 English Learner (EL) status and services makes it difficult for researchers to follow their educational pipeline. ELs’ backgrounds and experiences vary considerably, with differences in grade of entry into U.S. schooling, duration in EL status, and, for some, waiving out of English language development services. We use longitudinal administrative data with repeated measures of EL status to examine K–12 EL-programmatic…
Moving the needle for ever-ELs
STEM preparation – especially high school math course-taking – is a key predictor of college entrance. Previous research suggests that high school English learners (ELs) not only take fewer advanced math courses but also enroll in college at much lower rates than non-ELs – a group that includes former ELs. In the present study, we alter the analytic lens to examine whether ever-EL status, i.e. ever being identified for and receiving EL services, …
Immigrant Optimism and Ever-English Learners’ Journeys from Kindergarten to College in Texas
Purpose: Immigrant-origin English learners (ELs) are the fastest-growing population in US schools. Most EL research examines the college-going outcomes of this population by focusing on those who are EL-identified in high school; here, we capture both current and former EL-identified students, or “ever-ELs.” A subset of bilingual, immigrant-origin students, ever-ELs may theoretically benefit from the high expectations of their foreign-born parent…
Framing Corequisite Reform
States and colleges nationwide are adopting corequisite reforms, where students assessed as not meeting college-readiness standards concurrently enroll in developmental and college-level coursework. Leveraging frame analysis—an approach drawn from collective action research—and interviews with 49 actors at 16 community colleges implementing a statewide corequisite mandate, we examine how institutional actors construct meaning of the status quo an…
Dually Noted
Dual enrollment (DE)—where students earn college credits during high school—is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of those structures remain a black box. Using statewide administrative data from Texas, we describe DE cou…
Predictors and Consequences of Math Course Repetition
Money matters
Higher education is increasingly expensive, and access disparities by race and social class exist. Yet, we lack nuance in the scholarly literature about students’ understandings of how they finance their college education. We examine how class-based differences influence how students finance college education. We draw on concepts from economic sociology and sensemaking to examine how class backgrounds shape students’ meaning-making of finance and…
Getting to the Core of Credit Transfer
The majority of community college entrants aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree; yet fewer than a third do. States use several strategies to support community college’s transfer function, including a transferrable core curriculum, a block of pre-major coursework universally accepted at public postsecondary institutions. In this study, we used statewide administrative data from Texas—a state with a transferable core—to examine pre-transfer credit ac…
Heterogeneity in the Returns to Credits for Public Two-Year College Entrants
Public two-year colleges offer an entry point to postsecondary education for many Americans who might otherwise forgo college. Most students leave college without a credential. A growing body of research examines the returns to higher education among two-year college entrants but primarily focuses on returns to credentials. This study examines the returns to different types of credits, including academic, technical, and developmental credits. In …
The Age of Satisficing? Juggling Work, Education, and Competing Priorities during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to shape individuals’ decisions about employment and postsecondary education. The authors leverage data from a longitudinal qualitative study of educational trajectories to examine how individuals responded to the shifting landscape of work and education. In the final wave of interviews with 56 individuals who started their postsecondary education at a community college 6 years ago, the authors foun…
Bridges or Barriers? How Interactions between Individuals and Institutions Condition Community College Transfer
Institutional practices and conditions at community colleges can improve rates of transfer, as can access to transfer student capital. However, we know little about how institutions attempt to build students' transfer capital, or about students' experiences within community colleges as they accumulate transfer capital. In this paper, we examine how students' institutional experiences, particularly their engagement with student supports at communi…
Students’ Sense Making of Higher Education Policies During the Vertical Transfer Process
More than a third of students enter higher education at a community college; most aim to earn a baccalaureate. Drawing on sense-making theory and longitudinal qualitative data, we examined how community college students interpret state transfer policies and how their interpretations influence subsequent behavior. Data from 3 years of interviews revealed how students adjudicate between multiple intersecting policies. The higher education context, …
How Political and Ecological Contexts Shape Community College Transfer
Broad higher education contexts shape how community college students and postsecondary personnel approach transfer from community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions. We leverage the concept of strategic action fields, an organizational theory illuminating processes that play out as actors determine 'who gets what' in an existing power structure, to understand the role of political-ecological contexts in 'vertical' transfer. Drawing o…
Understanding Variation in Estimates of Diversionary Effects of Community College Entrance
Decades of research have estimated the effect of entering a community college on bachelor’s degree attainment. In this study, we examined the influence of methodological choices, including sample restrictions and identification strategies, on estimated effects from studies published between 1970 and 2017. After systematically reviewing the literature, we leveraged meta-analysis to assess average estimates and examine the role of moderators. In ou…
How Political and Ecological Contexts Shape Community College Transfer
Broad higher education contexts shape how community college students and postsecondary personnel approach transfer from community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions. We leverage the concept of strategic action fields, an organizational theory illuminating processes that play out as actors determine 'who gets what' in an existing power structure, to understand the role of political-ecological contexts in 'vertical' transfer. Drawing o…
Bridges or Barriers? How Interactions between Individuals and Institutions Condition Community College Transfer
Institutional practices and conditions at community colleges can improve rates of transfer, as can access to transfer student capital. However, we know little about how institutions attempt to build students' transfer capital, or about students' experiences within community colleges as they accumulate transfer capital. In this paper, we examine how students' institutional experiences, particularly their engagement with student supports at communi…
Students’ Sense Making of Higher Education Policies During the Vertical Transfer Process
More than a third of students enter higher education at a community college; most aim to earn a baccalaureate. Drawing on sense-making theory and longitudinal qualitative data, we examined how community college students interpret state transfer policies and how their interpretations influence subsequent behavior. Data from 3 years of interviews revealed how students adjudicate between multiple intersecting policies. The higher education context, …
The Age of Satisficing? Juggling Work, Education, and Competing Priorities during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to shape individuals’ decisions about employment and postsecondary education. The authors leverage data from a longitudinal qualitative study of educational trajectories to examine how individuals responded to the shifting landscape of work and education. In the final wave of interviews with 56 individuals who started their postsecondary education at a community college 6 years ago, the authors foun…
Dually Noted
Dual enrollment (DE)—where students earn college credits during high school—is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of those structures remain a black box. Using statewide administrative data from Texas, we describe DE cou…
Understanding Variation in Estimates of Diversionary Effects of Community College Entrance
Decades of research have estimated the effect of entering a community college on bachelor’s degree attainment. In this study, we examined the influence of methodological choices, including sample restrictions and identification strategies, on estimated effects from studies published between 1970 and 2017. After systematically reviewing the literature, we leveraged meta-analysis to assess average estimates and examine the role of moderators. In ou…
Bridges or Barriers? How Interactions between Individuals and Institutions Condition Community College Transfer
Institutional practices and conditions at community colleges can improve rates of transfer, as can access to transfer student capital. However, we know little about how institutions attempt to build students' transfer capital, or about students' experiences within community colleges as they accumulate transfer capital. In this paper, we examine how students' institutional experiences, particularly their engagement with student supports at communi…
Students’ Sense Making of Higher Education Policies During the Vertical Transfer Process
More than a third of students enter higher education at a community college; most aim to earn a baccalaureate. Drawing on sense-making theory and longitudinal qualitative data, we examined how community college students interpret state transfer policies and how their interpretations influence subsequent behavior. Data from 3 years of interviews revealed how students adjudicate between multiple intersecting policies. The higher education context, …
How Political and Ecological Contexts Shape Community College Transfer
Broad higher education contexts shape how community college students and postsecondary personnel approach transfer from community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions. We leverage the concept of strategic action fields, an organizational theory illuminating processes that play out as actors determine 'who gets what' in an existing power structure, to understand the role of political-ecological contexts in 'vertical' transfer. Drawing o…
Heterogeneity in the Returns to Credits for Public Two-Year College Entrants
Public two-year colleges offer an entry point to postsecondary education for many Americans who might otherwise forgo college. Most students leave college without a credential. A growing body of research examines the returns to higher education among two-year college entrants but primarily focuses on returns to credentials. This study examines the returns to different types of credits, including academic, technical, and developmental credits. In …
The Age of Satisficing? Juggling Work, Education, and Competing Priorities during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to shape individuals’ decisions about employment and postsecondary education. The authors leverage data from a longitudinal qualitative study of educational trajectories to examine how individuals responded to the shifting landscape of work and education. In the final wave of interviews with 56 individuals who started their postsecondary education at a community college 6 years ago, the authors foun…
Predictors and Consequences of Math Course Repetition
Money matters
Higher education is increasingly expensive, and access disparities by race and social class exist. Yet, we lack nuance in the scholarly literature about students’ understandings of how they finance their college education. We examine how class-based differences influence how students finance college education. We draw on concepts from economic sociology and sensemaking to examine how class backgrounds shape students’ meaning-making of finance and…
Getting to the Core of Credit Transfer
The majority of community college entrants aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree; yet fewer than a third do. States use several strategies to support community college’s transfer function, including a transferrable core curriculum, a block of pre-major coursework universally accepted at public postsecondary institutions. In this study, we used statewide administrative data from Texas—a state with a transferable core—to examine pre-transfer credit ac…
Moving the needle for ever-ELs
STEM preparation – especially high school math course-taking – is a key predictor of college entrance. Previous research suggests that high school English learners (ELs) not only take fewer advanced math courses but also enroll in college at much lower rates than non-ELs – a group that includes former ELs. In the present study, we alter the analytic lens to examine whether ever-EL status, i.e. ever being identified for and receiving EL services, …
Immigrant Optimism and Ever-English Learners’ Journeys from Kindergarten to College in Texas
Purpose: Immigrant-origin English learners (ELs) are the fastest-growing population in US schools. Most EL research examines the college-going outcomes of this population by focusing on those who are EL-identified in high school; here, we capture both current and former EL-identified students, or “ever-ELs.” A subset of bilingual, immigrant-origin students, ever-ELs may theoretically benefit from the high expectations of their foreign-born parent…
Framing Corequisite Reform
States and colleges nationwide are adopting corequisite reforms, where students assessed as not meeting college-readiness standards concurrently enroll in developmental and college-level coursework. Leveraging frame analysis—an approach drawn from collective action research—and interviews with 49 actors at 16 community colleges implementing a statewide corequisite mandate, we examine how institutional actors construct meaning of the status quo an…
Dually Noted
Dual enrollment (DE)—where students earn college credits during high school—is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of those structures remain a black box. Using statewide administrative data from Texas, we describe DE cou…
Variation in English Learners’ Programmatic Experiences and Postsecondary Trajectories
The transient nature of K–12 English Learner (EL) status and services makes it difficult for researchers to follow their educational pipeline. ELs’ backgrounds and experiences vary considerably, with differences in grade of entry into U.S. schooling, duration in EL status, and, for some, waiving out of English language development services. We use longitudinal administrative data with repeated measures of EL status to examine K–12 EL-programmatic…
Institutional Transfer Logics Among Community College and University Stakeholders
Using interviews with transfer personnel at five community colleges and seven public universities, we examine competing institutional logics—or belief systems—for how personnel approach vertical transfer and implement statewide reforms that call for transparency in programs’ recommended course sequences. Personnel who relied more on developmental logic viewed degree plans as customizable to individual needs, whereas those who relied more on funct…
New Insights on Sources of Credit Loss
Many students who transfer between postsecondary institutions lose credits, which may sap academic momentum and increase college costs. Despite anecdotal evidence of major credit loss (MCL), where students cannot apply transferred credits toward their major, data limitations have hindered analyses of its magnitude or causes. Using novel administrative data in Texas, we measure MCL for a statewide sample of 2020–2022 vertical transfer students, co…
Toward a Comprehensive Model Predicting Credit Loss in Vertical Transfer
A growing body of research has documented extensive credit loss among transfer students. However, the field lacks theoretically driven and empirically supported frameworks that can guide credit loss research and reforms. We developed and tested a novel framework designed to address this gap using unique administrative credit loss data from Texas. Our results demonstrate how the likelihood of credit loss varies across course characteristics, major…
Higher Education Research Studies (12 works) · Higher education (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Medical education (7 works) · Mathematics education (6 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Community college (5 works) · Pedagogy (5 works)