The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are among the most prestigious technical institutes in India (and perhaps in the world) for undergraduate engineering education. Admission to an IIT is viewed by many Indians as a passport to success, prosperity, prestige, and possibly moving to Western countries for higher studies and/or jobs. This paper…

In this article, the author relates how a new Guyanese student's concerns about fitting in an elite school had made him recall his own experiences. When the author left for college about fourteen years ago, he had no idea what he was about to get into. He was fortunate enough to be admitted into a strong liberal arts college in upstate New York…

Adolescence is a time of change, transition and development. Students gain new knowledge, experiences and insights, and struggle to make sense of all the new information they accumulate. The self-authorship theory explains how students make meaning out of their worlds as they travel through adolescence. Not surprisingly, the college experience is…

An estimated 1.1 million students were homeschooled in the United States in spring 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (2006). This figure represents a sizeable increase from the homeschooling rate of 1.7 percent--or 850,000 students--in 1999. With the popularity of homeschooling…

Last year the National Association for College Admission Counseling (Nacac) asked William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University, to lead a panel that would examine testing issues and recommend how colleges might better use entrance exams. The dean and his fellow panelists were to present their findings this…

America invests large amounts of money in K-12 education to develop its human capital. As such, K-12 student success is vital to the human capital development and future of America's children and adolescents. There is significant concern for the K-12 students who are predictably at risk of not graduating from high school (e.g., low-income, ethnic…

Electronic transcripts are no longer a concept awaiting definition. They are here to stay. Although paper transcripts remain the standard--at least in terms of volume--an ever-increasing number and eventual majority of students and alumni will expect if not require electronic transcripts. College registrars and admissions officers' obligation to…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda seeking to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal, and administrative policies at the state and institutional levels. While the higher education landscape has been shaped by the CCTA, it is also…

Universities transform lives. Going to university leads to new ways of seeing the world, to new horizons and networks, and to significantly enhanced job opportunities, but not everyone benefits in the same way. Fewer students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds go to university, and when they do they tend not to do as well as…

Internationally, higher education has expanded greatly since the closing decades of the twentieth century. China was no exception. This study is intended to examine the status quo of issues relating to equity and access to higher education in the context of educational expansion and differentiation in China. Two research questions are addressed in…

This study examines the differential effects on student subgroups of using the ACT® College Readiness Assessment Composite (ACTC) score and high school grade point average (HSGPA) for making admission decisions. The subgroup characteristics investigated include race/ethnicity, gender, and income. For each student subgroup, we examine the effect of…

Concerns about rising tuition and how students can afford to finance their major investments in postsecondary education are widespread. Solid insights into these questions require accurate and up-to-date information about prices. "Trends in College Pricing, 2013" reports on the prices charged by colleges and universities in 2013-14, how…

This paper complies with the requirements established in T.C.A. Section 49-1-302(a)(10). The act directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to provide a report to the Governor and General Assembly, all public schools, and institutions of higher learning and their respective boards. This report is to include,…

Background: Many studies have documented the correlation of learning style and academic success for medical students. However, few have investigated the intersection of academic preparedness and students' preference for information processing. This study tested the hypothesis that learning style preference differs among medical students grouped by…

This paper shows that although the top ten percent of colleges are substantially more selective now than they were 5 decades ago, most colleges are not more selective. Moreover, at least 50 percent of colleges are substantially less selective now than they were then. This paper demonstrates that competition for space--the number of students who…