As seniors throughout the nation prepare to graduate this spring, they are cramming for finals, finishing theses, and saying goodbye to friends. At many colleges, they are also looking forward to participating in graduation rituals--and scrambling to complete lists of things they must do before they leave their campuses behind. These rites of…

Describes how the stakes are high for the few seniors at the University of Southern California's film school who are chosen to direct a movie as their final project. (EV)

In this article, the author discusses the findings of the study entitled, "The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education's Failure to Teach America's History and Institutions," by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a Delaware think tank. In the study, a 60-question, multiple-choice test was administered to 14,000 freshmen and seniors at…

A Pennsylvania college arranges a series of receptions in several cities to encourage seniors to meet alumni with similar career interests and to help students develop the social skills to make further contacts. (MSE)

Senior seminars established at St. Mary's College (Maryland) as capstone courses for majors are intended to offer an interdisciplinary perspective and enable students to demonstrate mastery of skills. Assignments typically include writing a major paper, conducting a research project, or leading a class discussion. (MSE)

At a conference on the senior year experience, participants described "capstone" courses that pull together the themes of a student's major and investigate ethics and civic responsibility. Employers said many college graduates were unprepared to work in teams and unwilling to pay their dues by starting in entry-level positions. (MLW)

An Association of American Colleges report recommends changes to strengthen undergraduate instruction, urging academic departments to (1) consider how courses in a major relate to each other and to outside courses and (2) structure majors so students can build on their knowledge, tying it together in a final senior experience. (MSE)

Students from 15 colleges compare their expectations of college with their experiences. (MSE)

Curriculum reform in higher education is focusing on enhancement of undergraduate education in a variety of ways, including multicultural education, specialized courses for freshmen and seniors, improved calculus instruction, and development of thinking and writing skills. Strengthened general education requirements are a major target in many…