Dr. Lauren Schudde

Texas Transfer Project

The Texas Transfer project encompasses several projects related to postsecondary transfer in Texas. The primary project is a collaborative research study run by Dr. Huriya Jabbar and Dr. Lauren Schudde, which follows 100 transfer-intending community college students throughout their academic journey (including navigating the community college, choice of transfer destination, changes in educational aspirations, and post-transfer experiences). In related work, Dr. Schudde uses state administrative data from the Texas Educational Research Center (ERC) to examine transfer patterns and the role of state transfer policies in predicting bachelor’s degree attainment among community college transfer students. Dr. Jabbar uses the ERC data to examine student application patterns and college choice.

This work is funded by the Greater Texas Foundation to Dr. Schudde and Dr. Jabbar, along with a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to Dr. Schudde by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation to do quantitative analyses on transfer pathways using the ERC.

Returns to Educational Attainment

In her interest in the stratifying effects of postsecondary education, Schudde also explores variation in the returns to educational attainment. Her recent research examines how educational attainment predicts nonwage employment outcomes (Schudde & Bernell, 2019). This work was funded by the Institute for Education Sciences through a subcontract from the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment. She also studies variation in the returns to credits, rather than degree attainment, among community college entrants, with a focus on the per credit returns experience by non-completers (Schudde & Shea, 2021).

Developmental Education Reforms

In an evaluation of the Dana Center’s Mathematics Pathway (DCMP) model, Schudde assessed the impact of reformed developmental education at community colleges in Texas, examining how accelerating dev-ed coursework impacts student attainment of early college milestones (Schudde & Keisler, 2019; Schudde & Meiselman, 2019a). Schudde’s work evaluating DCMP is part of her role as a research faculty affiliate at the Charles A. Dana Center. 

In related research, she examines the role of data quality and institutional reporting in researchers’ ability to evaluate developmental math reforms (Schudde & Meiselman, 2019b). Schudde is also currently working to examine the effects of corequisite mathematics coursework (where students who test as not college ready are placed enrolled in dev-ed and college-level coursework within the same academic term) on college student outcomes (Meiselman & Schudde, 2020). Her research on corequisite math in Texas is funded by the National Science Foundation.

In collaboration with colleagues at Research for Action, Schudde is evaluating the implementation and impact of developmental education reforms and equitable placement at California Community Colleges as part of Assembly Bill 705. The research for “The Implementation, Impact, and Cost-Effectiveness of Developmental Education Curricular Reform in California Community Colleges” is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences.

Dual Enrollment Equity Pathways

Schudde currently co-leads the implementation and metrics studies for a project led by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University. The collaborative project focuses on efforts by community colleges and their K-12 partners in Florida and Texas to extend equity-focused guided pathways practices for dual enrollment students from underserved groups. They are calling this approach “dual enrollment equity pathways” (DEEP). Through DEEP, colleges and their K-12 partners leverage dual enrollment to expand college and career opportunities.

In partnership with the Florida Student Success Center at the Florida Department of Education and the Texas Success Center at the Texas Association of Community Colleges, Schudde works with colleagues at CCRC to help develop practitioner-oriented guidance materials and tools in three areas to support scaling of DEEP practices by colleges and schools in these and other states: implementation models; metrics for planning and evaluation; and costs, funding and policy incentives.

This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.