Over the past several decades, affirmative action has become a widely-debated issue in higher education. According to research, race-sensitive admissions policies engender significant advantages for students of all racial backgrounds, yet critics claim that these benefits are matched by significant costs--particularly in terms of minority student…

This study develops a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding the evolution of the class divide in postsecondary education. I conceptualize three prototypes of class inequality--effectively maintained, declining, and expanding--and associate their emergence with the level of competition in college admissions. I also unearth the twin…

The vast majority of high school students plan to attend college, but little is known about the postsecondary enrollment of students who exit high school with certificates of completion or individualized diplomas. With as many as 10% of all high school completers in some states earning documentation other than the high school diploma, it is…

Community colleges are increasingly using the Internet for admissions and financial aid applications. The use of online processes has serious implications for students with disabilities, such as visual and learning problems, who may encounter difficulties with the Web sites if they are not designed in an accessible and usable way. A survey of…

This report updates the status of bills that the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) is tracking. It has positions as adopted by the Commission at its June 14, 2011 and earlier meetings. A matrix of bills tracked by CPEC staff is included.

The dreaded personal essay used to be the toughest part of the college-admissions process for the applicant. These days it's admissions officers who fret about student writing--and not just because they fall asleep reading endless takes on "overcoming adversity." They've got weightier concerns--plagiarized essays, students who receive…

In this article, the author describes how she helped low-income high-school seniors draft application essays to selective colleges and ponders about an ethical quandary that has troubled her throughout the process. Directing a college-access program, the author stresses writing skills, a crucial component of success in college and a key to gaining…

This report is prepared pursuant to T.C.A. (Tennessee Code Annotated) Section 49-7-210. As specified, this report provides information as required for public four-year institutions, public two-year institutions, and public technology centers. (Contains 18 tables.)

This article presents an annotated bibliography of recent research related to academic advising. It includes 13 research papers that focus on advising.

After three decades of decline, the amount of time spent by parents on childcare in the U.S. began to rise dramatically in the mid-1990s. Moreover, the rise in childcare time was particularly pronounced among college-educated parents. Why would highly educated parents increase the amount of time they allocate to childcare at the same time that…

As a follow up to the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) national studies of how well elementary teachers are prepared to teach reading and mathematics, NCTQ looked at preparation in both subjects in all undergraduate teacher preparation programs in Utah. This study evaluated Utah's nine undergraduate elementary teacher preparation…

Against the backdrop of today's increasingly multicultural society, are America's elite colleges admitting and successfully educating a diverse student body? "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal" pulls back the curtain on the selective college experience and takes a rigorous and comprehensive look at how race and social class impact each stage--from…

By adding student perceptions of the curriculum, we enhance the current history of American higher education over 5 decades. We draw from memoirs, short stories, notebooks, and legends to animate the story of students and the curriculum. The episodes depict historical events and cases that have shaped colleges, curricula, and students. The study…

Accreditation bodies, state departments of education, learned societies, and critics of educational leadership programs have emphasized the need for such programs to recruit and select the candidates who have the greatest potential of becoming effective school leaders. To meet this challenge, most university principal preparation programs have…

A University of California faculty committee, the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), has recommended eliminating achievement tests and requiring only the "New SAT" for admission to the UC system. The proposal to endorse the New SAT has thus far drawn relatively little notice, as it is part of a broader and more…