Lead news stories on intercollegiate athletics in newspapers and on television are increasingly common. If the media are to report accurately on college sports, campus leaders must be willing and prepared to share information on the related educational and fiscal issues, including graduation rates, admissions information, and program financial…

One challenge faced by colleges and universities is fluctuation in traditional enrollment pools. Qualified applicants with learning disabilities represent a potential resource. Professional guidelines regarding admission practices and applicants with disabilities are available but underused. The profession can develop and validate common admission…

Areas in which the priorities and concerns of the college admissions officer and the college faculty often conflict are examined, including development of a well-rounded student body, statistical comparisons of student characteristics among institutions, and the image projected by the admissions office in its marketing. (MSE)

A small liberal arts college's program of home visits for recruitment and admissions was evaluated. Forty students and several parents receiving home visits were classified by grades and eventual enrollment in the college, then surveyed. Results indicate the visits were the reason most applied. However, other factors were more strongly related to…

Investigated extent to which public flagship universities use weighted or unweighted standards in admission decision process. Findings from 91 universities indicated that nearly one-half of the flagship universities used exclusively unweighted standards in decision process for most entering freshmen, suggesting that recognition of honors courses…

Draws on 20 years of experience as College Board staff member to discuss the traditional role of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), test bias, a new and emerging role for the SAT, and the SAT's interaction with other testing methods. (NB)

As the shrinking pool of applicants forces colleges to adapt new approaches to recruiting, media campaigns are emerging as an effective way to send key messages to target audiences. Media relations can lend credibility (news coverage is considered more credible than advertising); save money; reach targeted areas; and communicate key themes. (MLW)

Redirection of resources is an effective means of replying to institutional decline and managing conditions for growth. Ohio Wesleyan University used admissions spending and emphasis to increase student revenue, build reserves, and achieve specific objectives. Successful gift solicitation and issuance of debt can provide funds for other goals.…

The effects of relaxed college admission standards vary across students. A relaxed standard may raise the number of graduates but reduces nongraduates' productivity. The effect on the graduation rate is ambiguous, since "marginal" college attendees are less likely to graduate. A lower admission standard reduces performance among students exceeding…

Many colleges have summer academic programs for high school students; some design special courses, while others admit the students to regular college courses. Some target gifted students. While participation in the programs, which are easy to get into, does not assure later entry to the institution, many parents have that expectation. The programs…

A 1997 Texas law requires universities to admit the top 10% percent of seniors from each Texas high school, opening a door for many Hispanic and Black seniors in schools with high minority populations. Observers are concerned some students may be underprepared for university work. Elite public universities around the country are watching to see if…

The University of California's governing board has agreed to accept the top 4% of graduates from each high school in the state, the most significant expansion of the system's entrance criteria in two decades. The new policy will yield about 3,600 additional eligible students and improve racial/ethnic diversity, which is welcome after a ban on…

Argues for adopting the concept of colleges and universities as "total institutions," noting the importance of such characteristics as isolation, activities, location, unity of focused goals, and opportunities for student development. Implications of these considerations and characteristics for student recruitment, admissions, student orientation,…

Discusses a workshop designed to help middle and high school counselors and teachers learn about the complexities of the college admission process. Information about variables related to success in college provided a discussion about how middle and high schools can change their counseling programs to address more psychosocial concerns. (MKA)

W. Bowen and D. Bok analyze new data from the Mellon Foundation on the question of racial preferences in college admissions. Bowen and Bok assert that the institutions should decide admissions policy, that the autonomy of the college is one of the virtues of U.S. higher education. (SLD)