This newsletter theme issue focuses on unionization of graduate student assistants at institutions of higher education. The first article, "Graduate Assistants and Unionization" by Frank R. Annunziato, points out that more than 21,000 graduate student assistants at public sector colleges/universities are represented by unions in eight…

The dropout problem in the nation, in the Council of the Great City Schools (GCS) school districts, and in the central cities is reviewed. Annual, single-year, four-year, and status dropout rates are examined. During the decade from 1982 to 1992, the gap in dropout rate between Whites and other ethnic groups has narrowed. The majority of the GCS…

College-bound high school seniors and their parents too often choose their undergraduate institutions not on the basis of teaching caliber, but on the strength of the perceived academic credential. Faculty understand that in higher education, value and prestige attach first to research, second to teaching graduate and advanced professional…

The findings of four independent surveys on various trends in science and engineering (S/E) in the United States are presented in these reports. The first report contains findings obtained from institutions granting a graduate science or engineering degree and/or performing at least $50,000 in separately budgeted research and development (R&D)…

Data collected in the National Science Foundation's Survey of Graduate Science and Engineering (S/E) Students and Postdoctorates, fall 1987 are presented. The survey noted that foreign students account for about one seventh of all students enrolled in graduate S/E programs. Graduate S/E enrollment in all institutions is up 1% from the previous…

Past and current features of the master's degree and planning implications are considered. After outlining the traditional master's degree, five recent trends are addressed: specialization, professionalization, application, decentralization, and depersonalization. The number of special master's degree programs has grown, and many programs lead to…

Four issues of a University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) newsletter by and for teaching assistants (TAs) are presented, with focus on course syllabi, sexism, teacher evaluation, and foreign TAs. Consideration is given to: a positive classroom atmosphere; myths of college instruction; use of classroom tests; lecture methods; the "abused…

This volume focuses on two principal aspects of German studies in the United States: (1) an assessment of the German-teaching profession from primary to graduate school, with attention to its "raison d'etre" in the present academic, social, and cultural situation, as well as its structures, aims, and personnel; and (2) strategies for survival and…

Major British, French, and German industrial companies are increasingly recruiting higher education graduates (HEGs) for middle management posts, traditionally filled through promotion of operatives. This new form of recruitment does not occur on the same scale or at the same rate in all the companies using it, and it is closely tied to the…

This report examines data on degrees conferred in the health professions and the absorption of these professionals into the economy. Overall, the number of degrees awarded in the health professions increased by 10 percent between 1984-85 and 1991-92. However, during the same period, the number of degrees conferred in all other fields increased by…

This report presents the results of a fall 1997 survey of U.S. colleges and universities that offer doctoral, master's, and bachelor's degrees in physics and astronomy, focusing on degree production and current student enrollment. Highlighted are the following: (1) although enrollments in physics degree programs have been declining, the number of…

This report presents the results of a 1994-95 survey of U.S. colleges and universities offering doctorate, masters, and bachelors degrees in physics and astronomy, focusing on degree production and current student enrollment. It found that over the last 3 years, first-year graduate physics enrollments have declined 22 percent at doctorate-granting…

Many Americans share the belief that public education is in crisis; however, a number of researchers have challenged that assumption. This document examines what research reveals about public education in the United States and its students. Further, it distinguishes the areas in which education can affect children from the areas that lie beyond…

This paper describes Swedish higher education, its place in the overall education system, enrollments, standards, graduate education, teachers, and organization. A brief history of the system focuses on reforms since the 1950s that have dramatically changed all of education in Sweden. Data on enrollment show that 35 percent of young people attend…

The numbers of students receiving a high school diploma in New Jersey and differences in graduation rates for males and females and for minority and non-minority students are examined. Conclusions are based on graduation totals reported by the school districts. In the country as a whole, 71% of all students receive a high school diploma by age 18…