Britain's university that broadcasts its courses over the air is discussed. (CK)

Discusses the British experiment with use of multimedia for instruction. (JF)

Discusses open admissions in Britain: the need for alternatives at different levels, interinstitutional cooperation on structure and syllabi, transferability of credit, and student mobility. (PG)

This paper presents an outline of Great Britain's Open University from its ideological inception through its ultimate development and present functioning. The objectives of the University appear in the charter as follows: "The objects of the University shall be the advancement and dissemination of learning and knowledge by teaching and…

The new British University began teaching in January, 1971, is financed by the Department of Education and Science, is open to all 21 and over, has no academic entry requirements. Using multimedia, having no restrictions on time used to build course credits toward degrees, it will build to an undergraduate population of over 40,000 part time…

The history of the American system of community colleges is chronicled. It is praised as a potential alternative to traditional postsecondary education in Great Britain for its combination of comprehensiveness of scope, flexibility of scheduling and offerings, accessibility, and the heterogeneity of the student body. (MSE)

A report from Britain's Open University that teaches students in their spare time through a mixture of television and radio, correspondence courses, summer schools and evening classes. (Editor/PG)

An alternative technique, cost-effectiveness analysis, is proposed as a more appropriate way of evaluating the Open University. A rudimentary application of the technique to the cost structure of OU indicates that it could result in a substantial reduction in OU's costs. (Author/LBH)

One faculty member's selective, subjective, and partial perceptions of counselling adult students in the Open University are offered. Consideration is given to problems of the counselee, skills, role conflicts, motivation, emotional adjustment, identity and personal development, and implications for the advisory service. (LBH)

An analysis of developments at the Open University since 1973 indicates that there has been little reduction in average cost in real terms and that no improvement is likely on known developments to 1979. Reasons for this are explored, and suggestions for improving the situation are offered. (Editor/LBH)

The Open University is playing a significant part in "compensatory" education by providing degree-level courses for large numbers of adults who for one reason or another did not go on to degree-level education after leaving school. It has attracted a large number of students from working-class backgrounds. (Author/LBH)

An experimental program at Sheffield University, Britain, was designed to attract more "minimally qualified" students into the Open University and to test group admission to undergraduate studies. Most of the students would not normally have considered applying to the Open University. Ten of the 11 students passed. (SW)

A regional program of pre-university courses in northwestern England open to adults with no entry qualifications is discussed. It uses some distance learning techniques but is investigating expansion to technical education through distance learning. The complexities and potential costs of such a substantial directional change are examined. (MSE)

To help public schools experience free-market competition, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander and President Bush propose parental choice among private, parochial, and public schools, supported by public financing for program design and tuition grants. Sidebars highlight church/state separation concerns and school choice experiments in…