This document presents papers prepared for a conference of higher education researchers, policy analysts, practitioners, and administrators. The conference centered around whether a new, broader conceptualization of access to postsecondary education is required, and what such an expanded definition of access would mean in terms of policy,…

Improving high school graduation rates has in recent years become a growing concern to state and local policymakers for a number of reasons: the reduced economic opportunities and increased social costs for individuals without a high school diploma; the economic consequences, such as reduced tax revenues; and the need for more college graduates.…

Educational indicators are a subset of social indicators. They are consistently measurable, conceptually based, policy relevant, and related to the educational process. They can be used to compare educational units, monitor change, test goals, and predict the effects of policy changes. Use of educational indicators requires identification of the…

A study examined the feasibility of performing a national cost-benefit analysis of secondary, postsecondary, and adult vocational education. The study involved three components: a survey of the state of the art of utilizing cost-benefit methodologies to evaluate the returns on investments in vocational education; an overview of the potential…