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To increase equitable postsecondary access and success outcomes it is critical to address the college preparedness gap. While Florida International University (FIU) continues to improve retention and graduation gaps for currently enrolled students, it became evident that the university could play a larger role in preparing high school students for college and university. In 2017, FIU developed a dual enrollment version of a currently offered course, SLS1510: Strategies for Success, to address this gap. The purpose of this article is to describe the context in which this decision occurred, the philosophy used to drive development of the course, and the steps taken to pilot the course. This article highlights the successes of the course, including enrollment of over 2,000 students over 4 semesters, along with areas of improvement for future iterations. The findings of the pilot can help to inform colleges and universities who are interested in addressing college preparedness in the k-12 pipeline.

All rights reserved. iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my loved ones. To my mother and father, thank you for demonstrating what hard work and perseverance look like. To my sister, thank you for showing me how important it is to live your passion. To my husband, thank you for your unwavering support and love during this process. And most of all, to my daughter, you are my inspiration. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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This study leverages human capital theory to identify the correlates of expected returns on investment in higher education at the level of institutions. We leverage estimates of average ROI in post-secondary education among more than 400 baccalaureate degree conferring colleges and universities to understand the correlates of a relatively new metric of institutional ROI. Results indicate that a diverse undergraduate student body, high graduation rate, and public university status are strong, positive, and robustly associated with institutional ROI. The model accounts for more than 70% of inter-university variation in ROI, suggesting that the factors we have identified are among the most important correlates of institutional ROI. We discuss the policy implications of these findings for institutions of higher education in the context of institutional rankings and a rapidly evolving education landscape, giving special attention to student body characteristics colleges Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 25 No. 110 2 and universities. Keywords: higher education; return on investment; university characteristics; human capital; educational policy Contabilización de la variación institucional en los retornos esperados a la educación superior Resumen: Este estudio aprovecha la teoría del capital humano para identificar los correlatos de los rendimientos esperados de la inversión en educación superior a nivel de las instituciones. Aprovechamos las estimaciones del retorno de la inversión (ROI) promedio en la educación post-secundaria entre más de 400 títulos de bachillerato que otorgan a facultades y universidades la comprensión de los correlatos de una métrica relativamente nueva del ROI institucional. Los resultados indican que un cuerpo diverso de estudiantes de pregrado, una alta tasa de graduación y el estatus de universidad pública son sólidos, positivos y están robustos asociados con el ROI institucional. El modelo representa más del 70% de la variación interuniversitaria en el ROI, lo que sugiere que los factores que hemos identificado se encuentran entre los correlatos más importantes del ROI institucional. Discutimos las implicaciones de política de estos hallazgos para las instituciones de educación superior en el contexto de las clasificaciones institucionales y un panorama educativo en rápida evolución, prestando especial atención a las características del cuerpo estudiantil de los colegios y universidades. Palabras-clave: educación superior; retorno de la inversión; características de la universidad; capital humano; política educativa Contabilização da variação institucional em retornos esperados à educação superior Resumo: Este estudo aprovou a teoria do capital humano para identificar os correlatos de rendimentos esperados da cultura de investimento em educação superior. Aprovechamos as estimativas do retorno da inversão (ROI) na educação pós-secundária entre mais de 400 títulos de bachillerato que otorgam faculdades e universidades a comprensão dos correlatos de uma métrica relativamente...