Background: Despite historical efforts (Ellwood & Kane, 2000; Daun-Barnett, 2013; Perna, 2006; Kane, 1999), persisting inequities in higher education access underscore the need for innovative research approaches. Previous studies utilizing geospatial approaches often overlook critical dimensions like college readiness and financial aid while…

The process and results of defining neighborhoods may look different depending on the purpose. In this brief, the authors focused on how neighborhoods in Chicago are defined. The initial goal of this work was to answer questions about how access to and enrollment in school-based pre-kindergarten (pre-k) may have varied by neighborhood…

Study of four-year broad access institutions (BAIs) is important given their influence on postsecondary educational opportunities and the continued importance of the bachelor's degree in earnings premiums and critical social and civic outcomes. Descriptive results add to current understanding regarding heterogeneity of four-year BAIs by…

This literature review on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) included articles from January 1984 through June 2014. We (a) investigated the UDL educational framework without the inclusion of other major K-12 educational frameworks in learning environments, (b) reported researchers' scope and depth of use of the UDL principles, and (c) focused our…

Compared to urban/suburban secondary school students, traditionally underrepresented students in rural areas often do not enroll or attend 4-year colleges and universities because of limited high school resources. To address this problem, higher education experts have suggested that high school faculty may serve as catalysts to encourage increased…

Career academies have been effective in reducing the high school dropout rates and increasing academic course taking and course credit accumulation among students (Kemple & Willner, 2008; Kemple & Snipes, 2000). However, not all students have access to career academy programs as they are not universally implemented across the state of…

Race-inclusive admissions policies are important tools for attaining equitable access to selective colleges and universities. However, access to such institutions does not begin at the point of admissions. Rather, it depends on an interaction between the K-12 system and university admissions policies that may either mitigate inequalities or…

The effectiveness and equality of the admissions process of the 1988-89 New York City cluster program is evaluated in this report. The cluster program consisted of 13 separate school clusters that offered career-related curricula, each headed by a different principal and facilitator. Program goals were: (1) to ensure equitable student access to…