Three major goals that are consistent and mutually reinforcing are identified: quality education, student development, and retention of students. The factors that encourage persistence in college also increase the benefits of a college education. (MLW)

This review of the literature considers three issues: how out-of-class experiences of undergraduates contribute to the goals of higher education and valued outcomes; the institutional conditions that encourage students to use out-of-class time in educationally purposeful ways; and the role of all members of the campus community to foster such…

Concerns about noncompletion and the quality of the 1st-year student experience have been linked to recent changes in higher education such as modularisation, increased class sizes, greater diversity in the student intake and reduced resources. Improving formative assessment and feedback processes is seen as one way of addressing academic failure,…