The "2018 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities" data published by "Boston" magazine in association with the New England Board of Higher Education provided the author the opportunity to examine the schools' "prices," defined as "tuition plus fees," as a function of several independent factors. By…

Senior Economist Jonathan Rothwell of Gallup, presents data on employment outcomes for college graduates from different types of colleges. He also provides findings from the Gallup-USA Funds Associate Degree Graduates Survey which shows there are a number of student experiences that are highly predictive of overall life-evaluation. He cites the…

Reducing the economic and social burden associated with poor academic achievement represents an urgent concern in South Africa. Increasingly research suggests that child characteristics in kindergarten play an important role in charting courses towards academic success and educational attainment by early adulthood. Although math and reading skills…

Today's school business officials are more aware than ever of the importance of making every dollar count. As they scour their budgets for possible savings, they may be tempted to reduce investment in school infrastructure, perhaps by deferring maintenance, renovations, and replacement of outdated facilities. However, school business officials…

Econometric cost functions have begun to appear in education adequacy cases with greater frequency. Cost functions are superficially attractive because they give the impression of objectivity, holding out the promise of scientifically estimating the cost of achieving specified levels of performance from actual data on spending. By contrast, the…

Clearly, changing postsecondary finance without a lot of new money to grease the skids will be difficult. The status quo is always easier than change, particularly change that will be objectionable to those who benefited most in the previous system. But political objections aren't the only barrier to changing funding in higher education; a…

Students in majors with higher average quantitative graduate records exam (GRE) scores are less likely to attend graduate school whereas students in majors with higher average verbal GRE scores are more likely to attend graduate school. This sorting effect means that students whose cognitive skills are associated with lower earnings at the…

About 40 years since the first controlled study, screening and brief intervention (SBI) are being disseminated into practice. But many unanswered questions remain. Studies in this special issue address what we know and don't know about alcohol and drug SBI, cost-effectiveness, patient preferences, education for clinicians, quality performance…

Maintains that the equal marginal value principle may not be optimal in the analysis of the cost-effectiveness of policies to reduce auto emissions, the economics of garbage disposal, and the economics of pollution abatement. Argues that examining these exceptions can help students understand the equal marginal value principle. (MJP)

This paper provides a case example of simple regression analysis, a forecasting procedure used to isolate the effects of training from an identified extraneous variable. This case example focuses on results of a three-day sales training program to improve bank loan officers' knowledge, skill-level, and attitude regarding solicitation and sale of…

Describes class exercises where undergraduates construct and test mathematical models using data and issues related to social security. The students collect data and forecast economic and demographic variables that determine future tax rates. They then discuss government policies that are derived from their models. (MJP)

Developed for application in Air Force weapons systems training programs, a research project investigated the methods, procedures, and data available for conducting cost and training effectiveness analyses (CTEA). The primary objective of the project was to develop a user-oriented procedure for early formulation of training programs that can be…

This "In Brief" edition provides highlights from the "Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide for Parents, Educators, and Community Leaders, Second Edition." It presents the updated prevention principles, an overview of program planning, and critical first steps for those learning about prevention. Thus, this…

The development of a number of error-prone models to select Pell Grant recipients for validation is discussed. The 1983-1984 Pell Grant validation strategy consists of a two-stage approach: selection using Pre-Established Criteria (PEC) followed by selection using Error Prone Modeling (EPM). The database used for model development consists of a…