This paper summarizes some of the recent literature on unconventional college-level education gained outside the classroom. The first section reviews the major types of off-campus learning for which college credit is received, including correspondence instruction, educational television, military service experiences, and independent study. The…

Discusses the benefits of a "Pass/Revise" grading system. (DD)

In examining the trend toward providing academic credit for informal education through lifelong learning, the author contends that programs of this nature further the efforts of individuals to educate themselves as well as promote the idea of formal education to a larger, better prepared, and more receptive population. (WL)

This article describes several university fund-raising programs that encourage the use of credit cards and electronic fund transfer in alumni giving. Noted are some problems and guidelines on setting up the system, working with the bank, appointing an in-house expert, and maintaining personal contacts with donors. (DB)

There has been considerable debate in community colleges over the last forty years regarding the impact of increased use of part-time faculty (PTF) on student learning. It has been argued that part-time faculty fail to provide the same level of teaching quality as full-time faculty (FTF). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the issues of elementary teacher preparation for teaching literacy and teacher preparation for teaching literacy to diverse populations. This study contrasted primary teachers' literacy preparation and practice in high, middle, and low achieving and high, average, and low need schools in New York State.…

Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough--students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. In practice, developmental…

Voucher options like tuition tax credit-funded scholarship programs have become increasingly popular in recent years. One argument for such school choice policies is that public schools will improve the quality of education they offer when faced with competition for their students. This study examines the effects of private school competition on…

In his February 2009 address to Congress, President Obama called attention to the problems of higher education and promised a policy agenda to restore the U.S. to its leadership role in student access and completion rates. However, a depressed economy, stagnant or falling state funding for public higher education, and public resistance to rising…

There is significant irresolution in many countries concerning the design of student loan schemes. In no country recently has there been more uncertainty as to the form that loans should take than Thailand. The Student Loans Fund (SLF), a conventional approach to financing, was introduced in 1996, discontinued at the end of 2005, and re-introduced…

Virtual schooling is a rapidly growing and, to many, an increasingly troubling phenomenon. In a decade, online education has grown from being a novelty act to an established mode of education, consisting of asynchronous, computer-mediated interaction between a teacher and students over the Internet. Although exact figures are hard to come by,…

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), just over 70 percent of students nationally arrive in high school with reading skills that are below "proficient"--defined as demonstrating competency over challenging subject matter. Of these students, nearly half do not exhibit even partial mastery of the knowledge…

The objective of this study is to describe and map the current state of play of the Bologna Process in the nine countries of the Southern Mediterranean participating in the Tempus programme. For the last twenty years, the Tempus programme has supported the modernisation of higher education systems in countries neighbouring the EU by financing…