Challenge to Lead sets ambitious goals to help states ask the right questions to improve student access to college through better alignment of the policies that govern the transition from high school to college and careers. To help answer them, this special report provides a one-page summary of each SREB state's policies, programs and requirements…

The Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) conducted a study that captures current institutional policies and practices from the perspective of admissions officers in Illinois' public and private 4-year colleges and universities. The study explored acceptance and…

Dual credit, the approach by which students receive both high school and college credit for the same course, has received enormous attention in recent years. The original intent of dual credit was to provide more challenging curricula to academically prepared high school students. Over the past three decades, the target recipients of the program…

This study examined the effects of using ACT Composite scores and high school averages in making college admission decisions for students from selected racial/ethnic groups. The analyses were based on 2 samples: an African American/Caucasian sample of 262,553 students from 43 postsecondary institutions and a Hispanic/Caucasian American sample of…

The Oregon Proficiency-Based Admission Standards System (PASS) is based on standards that describe the academic skills and knowledge students need to demonstrate for acceptance into any of Oregon's seven public universities. The Oregon University System (OUS) created PASS in 1993 for three reasons: (1) PASS aligns college admission with Oregon's…

Research on several major interrelated dimensions of the Asian Pacific American higher educational experience is reviewed. The interrelated dimensions are (1) the impact of major demographic trends among the Asian Pacific population on its college-going sector; (2) the issues of Asian Pacific American faculty and administrative representation in…

This study examined first-year attrition at a large, urban university in the United Kingdom, demonstrating the application of multilevel modeling to the issue of student attrition. A sample of 2,679 full-time, first-year students studying the 20 most common subject areas was identified. Students were divided into four groups depending on their…

This report discusses how to safeguard affirmative action on college campuses. Section 1, "Threats to Affirmative Action," discusses Congressional action; state actions; and anti-affirmative action studies and reports. Section 2, "Affirmative Action Works," includes research findings; leaders' beliefs about affirmative action…

The essays and commentaries in this volume on racial diversity and higher education are grouped into three parts. The first offers a broad perspective and an historical review of the complex history of the United States' effort to achieve racial diversity; the second notes empirical studies of the extent of racial disparities in academic…

This report summarizes findings of a survey of 684 higher education institutions offering graduate programs in the United States; responses were received from 634 institutions. Chapter 1 presents highlights of the survey, including a profile of fall 1997 graduate enrollment for each of four regional graduate school associations (Southern,…

The college-choice process is complex and affects many high school students, family members and public policy-makers, as well as institutions of higher education. This report provides an overview of the college-choice process for traditional-age students and examines how it has evolved during the last half of the 20th century. Material from the…

Inquiries have been made from time to time with reference to the opportunities open to Chinese students in American colleges and universities. Such inquiries have of late been urgently presented by representatives of the United States in the Chinese Empire, who have taken a deep interest in the progress and influence of American educational ideas…

The most striking characteristic of technological as of other forms of education in the United States from the international standpoint is doubtless its extreme range of variation and the impossibility of framing general statements and definitions which shall be free from numerous exceptions. For the purposes of the present report a technological…

The United States Supreme Judicial Court is currently deliberating the University of Michigan Affirmative Action lawsuits involving three white students who claim they were discriminated against because of race-conscious admissions policies. Organizations, such as the Center for Individual Rights, which sponsored the Michigan plaintiffs, and the…

Suggests guidelines teachers and counselors should follow when writing letters of recommendation for high school students applying for college admission. Focuses on the need to describe students, document their abilities, and provide details to support assertions. (PGD)