This study investigated the impact of a "chilly campus climate" on women's first-year cognitive outcomes. The sample population of 1,636 women was selected from incoming first-year students at 18 four-year and five two-year colleges and universities located in 16 different states which had participated in the longitudinal National Study…

This paper presents the results of eight analyses based upon data from the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL), a 3-year longitudinal research project begun in 1992 to examine the influence of academic and nonacademic experiences on student learning, student attitudes about learning, student cognitive development, and student persistence.…

This document presents the variable definitions utilized in a study of the impacts of two- and four-year college attendance on learning orientations. The authors identify the specific survey items that compose the four orientations to learning explored in this study (i.e., openness to diversity/challenge, learning for self-understanding, internal…

With statistical controls for confounding influences, including precollege learning orientations, attendance at a two-year versus four-year college had modest but significant positive effects on student growth in first- and second-year Openness to Diversity, second-year Learning for Self-Understanding, and first-year Internal Locus of Attribution…

Investigates the perceptions of first-year, undergraduate women at 23 two- and four-year colleges. Results indicate several negative relationships between perceived chilly climates and women's cognitive growth. Negative relationships were more pronounced for women attending two-year colleges than for their counterparts at four-year institutions.…

Summarizes some of the major findings from the first year of the federally funded National Study of Student Learning. Discusses the implications of those findings for higher education policy and practice.(Author)

Argues for the importance of systematically studying the effects of community colleges on students. Research findings are reported on the following effects: attaining a bachelor's degree, labor market returns, economic returns, and developmental impact. Concludes that community colleges may be fostering student talent with the same degree of…

This study, part of the National Study of Student Learning, sought to determine the extent to which college students' development of internal locus of attribution for academic success during the first year of college was influenced by institutional characteristics, students' academic experiences, and their social/non-academic experiences. The…

Ten popular myths about higher education's effect on students are questioned. Issues include: test scores in assessment of college impact; college effect on student development; institutional resources/prestige and quality; two-year college attendance; educational quality at historically black colleges; teaching methods; faculty research; teaching…