Higher education has been a favorite news topic for months. President Obama and the first lady have entered the national conversation, particularly around issues of cost and graduation rates for low-income students--addressing education in the State of the Union, at White House events, and in speeches across the nation. In the midst of these…

The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) believes that the most effective way to advance the actuarial profession is to work in partnership with universities. The CAS stands ready to assist universities in creating or enhancing courses and curricula associated with property/casualty actuarial science. CAS resources for university actuarial science…

Following World War II, North Carolina created public junior colleges and industrial education centers to meet the educational demands of veterans and expand the technical skills of the state's workforce. Despite the creation of these campuses, in the early 1960s North Carolina ranked 47th in the number of citizens in college, and 66 counties in…

The annual number of certificates (non-degree awards that typically require less time to complete than degrees) awarded by community colleges has increased dramatically since 2000, but relatively little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of certificates in the labor market. Based on detailed student-level information from matched…

The Blended Learning Toolkit supports the course redesign approach, and interest in its openly available clearinghouse of online tools, strategies, curricula, and other materials to support the adoption of blended learning continues to grow. When the resource originally launched in July 2011, 20 AASCU [American Association of State Colleges and…

The majority of US university students studying foreign languages are enrolled in introductory courses that are typically part of a coordinated curriculum. Such courses conventionally include the assessment of second language (L2) writing skills. However, given that these assessments can be broadly conceived and vary by program, their design and…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to uncover how high-achieving university Spanish instructors engage in the core practice of building a classroom discourse community at a doctoral-level university in the southwestern United States. The second goal of this study was to determine whether student performance on reading and writing…

Every year, around 120 students of French at the University of Manchester (UoM) prepare to go on their compulsory Year Abroad (YA). They are free to choose between different options: studying in France and the French-speaking world, working in diverse sectors throughout the French-speaking world, or becoming a language assistant. This wealth of…

While monetary benefits from higher education are extensive, there appears to be an absence of empirical evidence on how higher education contributes to civic engagement behavior after college. This study investigated the relationship between college characteristics of students completing a bachelor's degree, such as academic programs and…

How can an academic library most effectively participate and expand its contributions to program reviews at the institutional level? By becoming involved in undergraduate reviews, college and university libraries can articulate new and enhanced roles for themselves on campus. Academic libraries have always contributed to a variety of institutional…

Today's students are the leaders of tomorrow, and their ability to lead in the 21st century will be critical to the sustainability of life, and the nation's ability to prosper will depend on the quality of leadership demonstrated at all levels of society. Student leadership development in institutions of higher education has never been more vital…

Given the increased enrollment in pre-K programs coupled with a lack of teacher education that consistently links to child development, this study examines a new course developed to support early childhood professionals in implementing effective teacher-child interactions. Findings suggest that an effective course can be scaled-up and used in…

This study investigated the impact participating in S.T.R.I.P.E.S., an extended orientation program, had on student satisfaction and retention. Student satisfaction was determined through a calculated total score on the College Student Satisfaction Evaluation. Retention was determined based on a student's enrollment status beginning with their…

In the present study I examine meaning-making as an integral aspect of successful writing assignments in political science. Results of a semester-long quasi-experimental pilot study show that meaning-making writing tasks help students in Introduction to American Politics courses become more politically engaged through the inculcation of civic…

Despite an emphasis in government strategy on the provision of later life learning, little is known about the experiences of older people in their pursuit of such opportunities. This paper explores the extent to which middle-class retirees' learning needs are catered for in Northern Ireland. Data from semi-structured interviews suggest that the…