The United States is becoming less globally competitive as other nations move aggressively to educate their populations. To lead the world once again in educational attainment--President Obama's goal by 2020--more Americans will need to enter college. But the biggest challenge isn't college going; it is college completion. Around the country,…

Four papers discuss the use of management information systems (MIS) in institutions for further education (that is, adult education) in England. A brief introduction notes the problems of initiating MIS during a time of declining financial support. The first paper presents arguments for the use of MIS at the technical college level, suggests areas…

The first statewide followup study of occupational/career education students in Illinois community colleges was developed through the efforts of the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) Research Advisory Council and the special Occupational Followup Subcommittee. The Phase 1 data for the followup study consisted of reporting student…

An assessment was conducted to determine accurately the true cost of education at different types of institutions and to identify the degree of government support. The article discusses procedures for updating the data, cost components, data sources, indirect tax expenditures for postsecondary education, and how to obtain additional information.…

Three papers focusing on various aspects of nontraditional postsecondary education, are presented in this volume. The first paper by Cross and Zusman explores the issue of nontraditional population needs and associated program responses. The second paper, by Bowen, Edelstein, and Medsker, focuses on the kinds of information that decisionmakers in…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…