The recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions "Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College" (2023) and "Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al." (2023), hereafter collectively referred to as "SFFA v. Harvard," have garnered attention, especially among…

The school counseling profession has gone through tremendous growth and change since the early 1900s. New England can be proud of school counselors who are working differently from those in the past to support all students achieving their fullest potential. The school counselor of today wears many hats but most importantly serves all students, not…

Four-year public colleges may play an important role in supporting intergenerational mobility by providing an accessible path to a bachelor's degree and increasing students' earnings. Leveraging a midsize state's GPA- and SAT-based admissions thresholds for the four-year public sector, I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect…

Experts say colleges and universities should do more of to give prospective students a more authentic experience as opposed to just presenting them with brochures filled with pictures of happy-looking students. Experts also say now--amid the spirited discussions and debates about race, privilege, and inequality on campus--is a good time for…

This dissertation consists of three essays at the intersection of higher education and inequality within the field of economics of education. The first essay estimates the effects of adopting an instructional approach blending online and in-person elements called the emporium model in remedial college courses. Under this model, students complete…

UMass' flagship Amherst campus has become increasingly prestigious over the last decade and a half. The growing prominence of UMass Amherst has made the school competitive with the nation's most elite public universities. However, the policies that have largely driven the school's standings have controversial implications for Massachusetts…

Author Alexis Brooke Redding is an advanced doctoral student and instructor in education at Harvard University. In the spring of 2015 she spent six weeks interviewing administrators and students about the myriad pathways that bring students to Hampshire College. More than simply understanding the nature of this singular campus, her study focused…

Since the 1920, colleges and universities have leveraged standardized testing as a way to determine worthiness of access to higher education. Nearly 100 years since its first appearance, the use of standardized testing has become commonplace despite the growing evidence of the socioeconomic and racial disparities among test takers. While some high…

This article uses philosophical analysis to clarify the arguments and claims about racial discrimination brought forward in the recent legal challenges to affirmative action in higher education admissions. Affirmative action opponents have argued that elite institutions of higher education are using negative action against Asian American…

A barrier that students and mid-career professionals often face in attempts to advance their education level is that the coursework completed and credits earned in one institution of higher education (IHE) may not transfer to another. To address this issue, states have developed a variety of articulation policies and agreements to facilitate the…

This volume contains the technical appendices for "Higher Education Articulation Agreements: A Study of State Policies Covering the Early Care and Education Workforce." The study provides an in-depth examination of how six states and their institution of higher educations (IHEs) have implemented articulation policies that include…

A barrier that students and mid-career professionals often face in attempts to advance their education level is that the coursework completed and credits earned in one institution of higher education (IHE) may not transfer to another. To address this issue, states have developed a variety of articulation policies and agreements to facilitate the…

Though counseling is one commonly pursued intervention to improve college enrollment and completion for disadvantaged students, there is relatively little causal evidence on its efficacy. We use a regression discontinuity design to study the impact of intensive college counseling provided by a Massachusetts program to college-seeking, low-income…

This paper outlines current trends, progress, and possibilities for fostering more authentic ways to assess students' competencies and mastery of skills needed for college, work, and civic life in the 21st century. It provides an introduction to performance assessments and their value. The authors highlight efforts to develop such assessments in…

The report on which this brief is based describes performance assessments and their value for guiding and evaluating high school students' learning, as well as informing colleges and universities about what students know and can do. It explores state and local policies that support the use of such assessments, along with emerging higher education…