For decades, colleges and universities have been grappling with the task of closing the readiness gap for underprepared writers entering the higher education system. Traditional developmental education models are costly and inefficient at best, and detrimental to the matriculation of students at worst. Bridge programs have had moderate success,…

This study focuses on students who are registered for the University of Pretoria's academic development programme, the Four-year Programme (FYP). The programme was introduced as a gateway for students who are under-prepared but have the potential to succeed. This programme helps them to then continue their studies in mainstream science programmes.…

Western Michigan University is building an innovative program to make welcome those students who were raised in foster care and to help them earn their diplomas without having to shoplift or trespass over the holidays. Many of the students have comfortable apartments on the campus, and a hall was kept open over the holiday break for dorm residents…

More than 32,000 young people in the United States exit the foster care system in a typical year by aging out to independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Despite available financial support for post-secondary education through the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, only 20% of college-qualified foster youth attend college and…

The CollegeKeys Compact[TM] is a national call to action to school districts, colleges and universities, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to identify, share and expand programs and practices that address the needs and challenges of low-income students and help them get ready for, get into and get through college. The College…

An evaluation was conducted of the Chance Program at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. The Chance Program is a postsecondary intervention program that addresses pronunciation, spelling, and reading comprehension deficits among learning-disabled students. In a quasi-experiment, test scores of college students (N=93) who participated in the Chance…

The question of whether basic skills courses belong in higher education is examined through a review of the literature. The following issues are discussed in terms of opposing and supporting positions: (1) economic concerns (recruitment of a wider pool of students necessitate basic skills courses but preserve enrollment levels); (2) academic…

The Tennessee State University and Community College System is focusing special attention on a particular population of nontraditional students--academically underprepared adults. In 1985, the State Board of Regents implemented the Academic Assessment and Placement Program (AAPP) at the system's universities and two-year colleges. The entry-level…

This paper describes Project ABLE (Academic Bridges to Learning Effectiveness), a program of the Longview Community College in Kansas City, Missouri, to provide college students with learning disabilities or brain injuries with the skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace. Each student in the program takes a basic core of classes…

The Cortland College Skills Center at the State University of New York, Cortland, helps students learn how they learn best, providing assistance in reading, writing, researching, listening, speaking, vocabulary, study skills, math, and standardized test preparation. Services are offered for learning disabled (LD) and handicapped students, and the…