Presents a literature review which confirms the positive benefits of higher education for knowledge acquisition, and for intellectual, social, personal, and career development. (JAC)

Analyzes responses to the College Student Experiences Questionnaire from 51,155 undergraduates at 128 institutions to develop a student typology based upon their patterns of engagement in educationally purposeful activities and the progress they reported making toward important outcomes of college. The typology reported yields new insights into…

The literature on personal development, student involvement and satisfaction is reviewed in the following categories: the warrant for personal development as a desirable college outcome; conceptual and theoretical foundations of personal development; empirical research on personal development during college; the undergraduate experience;…

Examines the effects of interactional diversity experiences on a range of desirable outcomes for White students and students of color in different types of higher education institutions. Though White students had less contact with students from different backgrounds, such experiences positively affected the self-reported gains for both Whites and…

Examines the relationships between student characteristics, student use of computers and other information technologies (C&IT), the amount of effort devoted to college activities, and self-reported gains in a range of college outcomes. Results reveal that students appear to benefit more from C&IT when used frequently and in a variety of…

Analyzed articles appearing between 1970 and 1978 in four student affairs journals to determine types of articles published and institutional rates of productivity. Authors from a small proportion of institutions were overrepresented. Compared with research articles, few literature reviews were published. (Author)

Claims that, to prepare students for the future workplace, some notions are best forgotten. Educators must design seamless learning approaches, and institutional policies and practices must engage students in a variety of learning activities. Schools should cultivate an institutional ethos that promotes involvement in educationally purposeful…

Examines the benefits associated with involvement in campus governance. Discusses implications for enhancing student learning through participation in governance structures and processes. Asserts that participation in campus governance is linked to desirable outcomes for individual students and to positive contributions to the welfare of the…

Summarizes the contributions of and obstacles to using student development principles in student affairs. The value of using alternative organizational perspectives to better understand student affairs practice is discussed. Describes a promising strategy for increasing the influence and organizational effectiveness of student affairs in the…

One of the more intriguing trends at the turn of the twenty-first century is the ascendant influence of religion in various aspects of American life. The renewed interest in religion and spirituality is not just a function of aging baby boomers acknowledging their mortality. The University of Pennsylvania reported that 86 percent of those between…

Indices and manifestations of quality in undergraduate education are considered and a four-part framework is developed. Context indices represent institutional characteristics that remain relatively stable over time (e.g., expenditures per student and size of student body), while input indices reflect characteristics of entering students (e.g.,…

In an examination of the meaning and measurement of quality in the undergraduate experience, quality is compared with the conceptually similar but distinct concepts of adequacy and excellence. Most of the conceptual frameworks available for assessing quality are essentially unidimensional assessment strategies that rely almost exclusively on…