The four articles in this journal issue examine the pros and cons of the proposition that credit card rates are too high. In "How Congress and Consumers Will Crack the Credit Card Market," Congressman Charles E. Schumer argues that banks can get away with their excessive rates because of consumer misinformation and the unfair competitive edge held…

Dual enrollment programs allow high school students to take college-level courses and receive credit at both institutions toward the completion of a college degree. Such programs are also referred to as concurrent enrollment, joint enrollment, or dual credit. This brief discusses the advantages and drawbacks of dual enrollment programs. Currently,…

Recent Australian and New Zealand studies on college student workload are reviewed. Most of the studies have viewed workload questions in the broader context of arrangements for teaching, learning, and assessment. A Monash University, Australia, study assessed the total amount of work done by students, the distribution of study time between…

Many states are beginning to notice discontinuities in policy between the K-12 and higher education systems. One approach to easing the high school to college transition is to establish postsecondary enrollment options (PSEO) programs. Currently, 32 states have laws or recently have passed legislation to establish and govern PSEO programs. The…

Papers in this volume are the first working papers produced by the Council of Ontario Universities. Issue 1, "The Role and State of Ontario Graduate Education" by Dennis Forcese, advocates the reinforcement of graduate education in Ontario institutions to maintain the overall quality of the institutions and to secure the future. The paper outlines…

This inaugural issue of the Journal of the National Institute on the Assessment of Experiential Learning begins with the article, "Semantic and Conceptual Ambiguities in Prior Learning Assessment" (Richard J. Hamilton). It is the basis for a session presented at the National Institute on the Assessment of Experiential Learning in June…

The amount of state legislation dealing with child care issues has significantly increased in the last 5 years. This report focuses on state strategies for expanding and improving the child care system through incentives and support for employers and providers. State policymakers are exploring partnerships of public and private resources for…

Issues concerning new tuition savings plans are considered, along with illustrations from four plans. A prepayment model plan and an update on federal legislation affecting savings plans are also presented. Financial issues for families, tax issues, and financial issues for colleges are covered. The idea behind parental savings plans is to allow…

This annual publication contains 66 presentations, poster sessions, papers, and panel and workshop sessions. Invited and refereed papers are as follows: "View from the States" (Humphrey); "Consumer Policy Perspectives" (Byrne); "Consumers' Response to Credit Card Solicitations" (Hogarth, Shue); "Welfare Impact of…

The following articles appear in this document devoted to debating whether credit privacy laws should be revised: "Who's Looking at Your Credit Report?" (Holstein); "Credit Reporting System Doesn't Need Fixing" (Ulrich); "The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA); A Remarkable Success" (Kurth); and "Revisit Law To…

Private-school choice or voucher programs allow parents to put tax dollars toward a private education--for example, in the form of a subsidy to the chosen school. The dollar value of a voucher is usually equal to, but may be less than, the state average per-pupil expenditure, and may cover the partial or full cost of a private-school tuition. This…

This series of short articles discusses two separate educational policy issues: the federal role in education for the handicapped and tuition tax credits. Concerning the first issue, the document discusses the background of P.L. 94-142 and its first 5 years, concluding that, although accomplishments are impressive, there are still difficulties in…

Four groups of students were compared on cumulative grade point average, total credit hours attempted, and differences between predicted and actual grade point average (GPA). The four groups of students were formed by the semester in which they declared a major: students declaring in the third semester made up one group, those declaring in the…

More and more programs are being developed to strengthen the academic preparation of incoming community college students, reduce overlap between college and high school curricula, and facilitate the transition between secondary and postsecondary education. This paper highlights various programs devoted to these goals. First, efforts to strengthen…

This document, which was written for adult educators in Georgia, offers instructional plans and practical strategies for helping students in adult literacy, adult basic education (ABE), General Educational Development, and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) programs understand the credit traps that can hurt them. The document begins with a…