In 2005, the Hidalgo Independent School District made an ambitious commitment. In partnership with nearby University of Texas-Pan American, the University of Texas System, the Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the district promised that all of its students, not just a select…

The basic currency of higher education--the credit hour--represents the root of many problems plaguing America's higher education system: the practice of measuring time rather than learning. "Cracking the Credit Hour" traces the history of this time-based unit, from the days of Andrew Carnegie to recent federal efforts to define a credit…

Students and scholars leaving their homes in search of education and knowledge is not a new phenomenon. An indispensable resource for understanding the international mobility of students, this book reveals how the global mobility of such students, scholars, programs, and institutions of higher education have evolved over time. Kemal Guruz explores…

In American higher education, it has become the accepted standard to measure graduation rates at four-year colleges on a six-year time frame. Evaluations of two-year community colleges are now based on three-year graduation rates. Metrics like these are unacceptable, especially when we consider that students and their families are trying…

More than 200 early college high schools serving 50,000 students have opened across the United States since 2002--and they are achieving results. Eighty-six percent of early college graduates enroll in college immediately after high school, compared with two-thirds of high school graduates nationwide. Of the 3,000 early college graduates in 2009,…

In this paper we review recent increases in tuition at public institutions and estimate impacts on enrollment. We use data on all U.S. public 4-year colleges and universities from 1991 to 2006 and illustrate that tuition increased dramatically beginning in the early part of this decade. We examine impacts of such increases on total enrollment and…

The completion agenda seeks significant increases in educational attainment, and its goals are quite laudable. The United States is lagging behind other industrialized nations in terms of the proportion of adults holding postsecondary degrees, and states have been challenged to implement policies that ensure improvements in degree completion…

As student mobility continues to rise, the United States is challenged to increase transferability between institutions of higher education. Creating courses that are recognizable across institutions can increase the number of degrees and aid the knowledge-based economy. Europe addressed this issue a decade ago when they initiated the Bologna…

In recent years, legislative constituents have made requests of public colleges and universities that place them center stage in the debate over the value of the financial investment of state monies and the documented outcome of institutions of public higher education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting success…

Community colleges, which serve almost half of postsecondary students in the United States, are receiving ever-increasing attention from policymakers and researchers. Although these institutions have always served a wide range of people in their communities, the number of students who enter community college requiring additional preparation before…

In Spring 2008, senior members of the international admission and credential evaluation community met to deliberate over the admission and placement of Bologna Compliant degree holders into U.S. graduate programs. This group comprised several individuals holding top leadership positions in NAFSA, AACRAO, and closely allied groups involved in…

(Purpose) This is a report about the Urban and Rural Healthcare Academy Pilot Program (HAP) that launched at Southern Vermont College (SVC) and Wheelock College (WC) in summer 2010. HAP enabled 18 vulnerable high school students to learn about how to progress to college, how to transition when they arrive on a college campus, and how to prepare…

This study was conducted at a research-extensive public university in the southeastern United States. It examined the retention and completion of master's degree students across numerous disciplines. Results were derived from a series of descriptive statistics, T-tests, and a series of binary logistic regression models. The findings from binary…

The appeal of concurrent enrollment programs is widespread in Iowa and throughout the United States. The fifteen Community Colleges in Iowa provide extensive opportunities for high school students to enroll in and successfully complete college credit courses while in high school. Accountability in all educational programs is increasing, concurrent…

Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, is an important and often overlooked strategy for helping adults progress towards a degree. PLA is the process by which many colleges evaluate for academic credit the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom, including employment, military training/service, travel,…