Psychometric problems and potential design flaws must be considered as institutions attempt to document the influence of the college experience on student development. Problems related to conceptual issues, psychometric questions, or research designs are analyzed. (MLW)

Indices and manifestations of quality in undergraduate education are considered and a four-part framework is developed. Context indices represent institutional characteristics that remain relatively stable over time (e.g., expenditures per student and size of student body), while input indices reflect characteristics of entering students (e.g.,…

In an examination of the meaning and measurement of quality in the undergraduate experience, quality is compared with the conceptually similar but distinct concepts of adequacy and excellence. Most of the conceptual frameworks available for assessing quality are essentially unidimensional assessment strategies that rely almost exclusively on…

The impact of liberal arts and professional programs on student outcomes variables was studied. Data were gathered from the 1975 entering freshman cohort at the University of Colorado at Boulder through a 1975 Freshman Questionnaire and a 1979 Graduating Students Survey. Program impact was measured using a model developed by Astin. Type of program…

This annual bibliography includes works of the greatest interest and value to the generalist and practitioner in higher education. Selections are provided in 34 topic areas and over 100 subtopic areas. The annotations describe content with an emphasis on observations, findings, and recommendations. The subject areas fall into five categories: (1)…