The topic of distance from home is often discussed when students begin narrowing down colleges they want to apply to; however, there is a scarcity of research actually examining student behavior. The purpose of this study is to address this research gap using data based on a national sample of nearly one million students. Distance was computed in…

Educational research has shown that individual-level background characteristics, such as parental socio-economic status and academic ability, influence college going behavior. This study tests for the existence of aggregate-level high school effects on college enrollment, persistence and degree attainment. It links institutional data on students…

This article presents questions and answers about ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks. ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks are the minimum ACT test scores required for students to have a high probability of success in credit-bearing college courses--English Composition, social sciences courses, College Algebra, or Biology. Colleges can use the…

Presented at the national conference for AERA (American Educational Research Association) . This study examined whether there are distinct differences in the demographic characteristics, HSGPA, first-year college performance, and second-year college retention rates among students who have discrepant CR-W performance.

Various reasons may be advanced for conducting proficiency tests in academic literacy at higher education institutions. The Standardised Assessment Test for Access and Placement (SATAP) aims at determining the academic literacy skills that entry-level students should demonstrate as a predictor of their preparedness and success in tertiary…

Admissions committees and researchers around the globe have used diligence and imagination to develop and implement various screening measures with the ultimate goal of predicting future clinical and professional performance. What works for predicting future job performance in the human resources world and in most of the academic world may not,…

The use of standardized examinations as a factor in admission decisions in Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs is a customary practice at many universities. Aptitude testing of pre-service, recent baccalaureate recipients is a means of assessing continued academic success in a graduate program. However, we contend, a growing diversity…

A primary gateway to a career in engineering is the attainment of the bachelor of science degree in engineering. In contrast, a common barrier to becoming an engineer is failure to attain the degree. Those variables that are related to college graduation are often in place prior to college admission. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

This article describes the formulation and execution of the Rainbow Project, Phase I, funded by the College Board. Past data suggest that the SAT is a good predictor of performance in college. But in terms of the amount of variance explained by the SAT, there is room for improvement, as there would be for virtually any single test battery. Phase I…

Medicine is a profession with a long history of research and high standards of methodological rigour and evidence-based decision making. These standards are being transferred into medical education. Universities are starting to collect high-quality data on their admissions systems. This has not been a short-term proposition. Medical courses are…

How can one create a system for university admission that is equitable, valid, and representative of the broad range of abilities that students can bring to university settings? Conventional tests of abilities and achievements are narrow and do not measure the full range of abilities relevant to university and life success. In this article I…

Online high schools are growing significantly in number, popularity, and function. However, little empirical data has been published about the effectiveness of these institutions. This research examined the frequency of group work and extended essay writing among online Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) students, and how these tasks may have…

This study employed logistic regression to predict the probability that a student would be successful in achieving a FGPA at various levels, based on that student's SAT scores and high school grade point average. Tables of accuracy rates are appended.

The relationship between coaching and subsequent performance on the SAT I is a complex issue. Overall, anecdotal reports from one or two students and even studies that gauge the effects of coaching by examining the score gains for students who have enrolled in these programs are highly misleading and will not present an accurate picture of the…

Recently, the popularity of timed-essay exams has increased, becoming part of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) in the late 1990s and now being incorporated into The College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in Spring of 2005 and ACT (American College Testing) test in Fall of 2004. This research evaluates the "value…