Three basic designs for studying college student attrition are described and the comparative assets and liabilities of each are discussed. It is noted that administrators faced with declining enrollments and costs for students not completing degree programs are likely to call for attrition studies, yet methodological inadequacies exist in many…

The rapid growth in the educational usage of television in community and junior colleges has gone on largely unnoticed by a surprising number of faculty and administrators, despite the fact that two-year colleges are more likely candidates for its usage than four-year institutions. This is due to the heavy commitment which community colleges make…

In this paper, research from several traditions is synthesized to discern causes of change in the level of formal educational attainment in the United States for cohorts during the first half of the twentieth century. Two sources of educational growth are considered: (1) changing population composition on family background factors that affect how…

Examinations of costs and acquisition of facilities indicate that an Altair 8800A microcomputer with a program library of parametric, non-parametric, mathematical, and teaching programs can be used effectively for teaching college-level statistics. Statistical packages presently in use require extensive computing knowledge beyond the students' and…

Air traffic controllers no longer able to perform their highly specialized duties must be removed in the interest of aviation safety. Because few employment opportunities exist outside the government for controllers' skills, Congress established a second-career training program in 1972 for controllers so removed by the Federal Aviation…

This study was designed to assess two projects implemented by the Unified Science and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) program. The program is based on the belief that elementary school students learn mathematics, science, social science, and language arts skills quickly by investigating practical problems taken from the local school and…

Characteristics of student financial aid systems are reported and a framework for evaluating student financial aid systems and classifying major data processing designs is presented. The goals of a student financial aid system are discussed, including improved service to students, increased utilization of available funds, compliance with…

In a time of economic crisis, Canadians are questioning their social institutions. Major welfare programs may be dismantled under political pressure. Canadians should be cautious, though, in accepting radical, new ideas. Long-term interests may be damaged by planners' reliance on short-term social indicators. Our perceptions of social phenomena…

A JOINT CONFERENCE OF PERSONNEL CONCERNED WITH EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF MANPOWER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD), OFFICE OF EDUCATION, AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION, WAS CALLED BY THE DOD TO CONSIDER HOW THE THREE ORGANIZATIONS COULD COLLABORATE. THE DOD PROPOSED USING THE ENORMOUS POWER OF ITS PROCUREMENT SYSTEM TO…

Within the context of declining enrollment, this paper considers the questions of economies of scale, cost-quality interrelationships, and rigidities in the Ontario school system. From a survey of the pertinent literature, the author concludes that economies of scale are linked to the level, size, and pupil/teacher ratio of a school and operate…

It is estimated that Utah will need to spend $1.7 billion for new school construction during the next decade, and that this should be concentrated mainly in a few rapidly growing districts. The projection of school construction need represents a six-fold increase during the coming decade; however, assessed valuation (the measure of a school…

As an aid to Maryland community colleges, procedures are outlined for approximating and reporting discipline cost data required for internal decision-making and for the statewide coordination of community college planning. A discussion of the development of costing standards, which are based on a cost analysis model developed by the National…

The involvement of behaviorists in primary prevention for mental health programs has been limited, to date. Using behavioral researchers offers several advantages, including the need to emphasize prediction and a priori control of maladaptive behavior, increased cost effectiveness, and increased monies for research. Common obstacles to the…

The implications of faculty workload and formula budgeting issues on higher education in the 1980s are discussed. Because of declining enrollments and tight resources it is suggested that state legislative committees in the 1980s will accelerate their requests for faculty workload data related to formulas for the allocations of full-time faculty.…

This report addressed to policy making officials in local government deals with the role of federal assistance in future developments of information systems by local governments through an assessment of the Urban Information Systems Inter-Agency Committee (USAC) Program, which, beginning in 1970, provided grants to five municipalities--Charlotte,…