Background/Context: Today we have moved from the debate of student opportunity to postsecondary educational setting to 100% access. That is, today's high school settings have been charged with preparing "college ready" graduates. Educational policy has leveraged mandates and sanctions as a mechanism to improve college placement rates, especially…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

The purpose of the current study was to examine the academic consequences of attending an institution that is not considered an "academic fit" for a student. The results from the current study show that more able students perform better in college in terms of first-year GPA and retention to their second year regardless of the institution they…

Although the recognition of learners' experiential learning toward postsecondary credentials holds the promise of increased flexibility and opportunity for many, especially in the current climate of labour shortage, Canadian universities have been slow to adopt recognition of prior learning (RPL) systems. This case study of one Canadian…

The intention to introduce a form of post qualification application (PQA) for entry to UK universities has provoked considerable interest, debate and controversy, not least over its impact on diversifying the intake of undergraduates gaining entry to the allegedly most prestigious universities and courses. We review the arguments and evidence…

Today's fast-paced and Internet-driven society provides a lot of opportunities for innovation in the college financial aid world. As tuition costs continue to rise faster than average incomes, more students are turning to private lenders and other third-party organizations to finance their educations. While the power of online micro-giving has…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

In recent years, students and parents have seen tuition costs at colleges and universities rise, to the extent that many low-income families may feel a college education for their child is out of their financial reach. However, this sky-high tuition is often partially, or even largely, subsidized by various forms of financial aid. For families to…

Educational attainment is increasingly necessary for individual mobility and national economic development at the same time that the racial and ethnic makeup of the population continues to diversify, signaling a need to improve degree attainments across racial/ethnic groups. Latinos are the largest minority group in the country and the group with…

The world of higher education is a world of sorting, selecting, and ranking--on both sides of the market. Colleges select students to recruit and then to admit; students choose where to apply and which offer to accept. The sorting process that gets the most attention is in the higher reaches of the market, where it is not too much to say that…

Obtaining diversity among admitted applicants is often a challenging task for most post secondary institutions. As a proposed solution to this challenge, Applications Quest (AQ) was created. AQ addresses the dilemma of how to achieve diversity while still upholding institutional academic standards and objectives while adhering to the law. A steady…

Hispanic seniors who were on track to graduate in May 2006 were invited to participate in a program to help them make a successful transition from high school to college. Data indicated that this group might benefit from direct assistance in the college application process. The goal of the intervention was to work with the identified students…

Homegrown musicians from all over Africa gather at auditions for scholarships to the Berklee College of Music. The Africa Scholars Program, as the scholarship is called, offers a four-year, full scholarship, to begin in 2009. It was established by Berklee's president, Roger H. Brown, and his wife, Linda Mason, both of whom have worked extensively…

Jeff Rickey is a numbers guy. But three years ago, a colleague asked him about something he'd never counted: applicants who came out of nowhere. The question intrigued Mr. Rickey, dean of admissions and financial aid at Earlham College in Indiana. He found that 17 percent of the college's applicants that year had not called, taken a tour, or…

International student mobility is a rapidly growing and evolving phenomenon. During the 2008/09 academic year, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by 8% to a record high of 671,616 students with about 15% from mainland China. The model of college choice for Chinese students who are considering…