This issue brief explores effective educational models for serving English Language Learners (ELLs) in ways that build upon these students' assets and prepare them for college and careers. The brief derives from an AYPF field trip to Texas's Rio Grande Valley region. On May 6-8, 2009 AYPF led a group of national policy leaders on a fact-finding…

Reviews and synthesizes what is known from prior research about racial and ethnic group differences in college enrollment and identifies areas for intervention. Presents a theoretical framework for understanding such differences and discusses the appropriateness of an expanded econometric model for understanding the differences. Considers…

Reviews literature on assessment and assessment of student retention programs, then presents a six-step conceptual model of assessment that is applicable to cross-cutting retention programs. Uses the literature to support the presentation of four simultaneously present retention paradigms of what is valued and can be stated as desired retention…

A three-stage model of college choice is outlined, and research related to the model is reviewed. The first phase is a developmental one in which students determine whether they would like to attend college. For students entering postsecondary studies, the second stage involves gathering information about educational options. The third state is…

Policymakers, educators, and researchers recognize the importance of community colleges as open door institutions that provide a wide range of students with access to college. At the same time, competing demands for the state funds that would support community colleges have resulted in reduced public allocations and higher student tuition fees.…

Current research and literature--most either psychological or sociological--on the college student is discussed. The monocultural focus of most research and the lack of process models to guide implementation of theory are described. (Author/MLW)

This literature review considers the theory and practice of retention efforts in higher education, with special focus on community college programs. Introductory material looks at the conditions (e.g., tighter budgets and decreased enrollments) that have brought the issues of attrition and retention to the forefront. The next section reviews…

Factors that influence college choice and enrollment patterns in both the United States and England were identified, based on a comparative literature review. It was found that the reasons given by students for attending universities in the two countries are very similar, in spite of the fact that the systems of higher education in these countries…

Research on factors that influence college choice, including sociologic and economic explanations, is reviewed. It is suggested that the following four factors strongly affect college choice: family background, student achievement or ability, some college attributes, and labor-market conditions. School context and college effects moderately affect…

Results of a study of trends in college-going decisions of new high school graduates between 1972 and 1980 are presented, along with a model of college choice. The focus is the choice between college and noncollege options. Based on a review of empirical and theoretical work on college choice over the past 25 years, information is provided on key…

In response to a gap in the literature on student development with respect to the role of the family, and anecdotal evidence that the family's influence on the college student's development is profound, a review of the relevant literature on higher education, social psychology, psychiatry, sociology of the family, and family therapy was…

This paper uses the theory of human capital to model post-secondary education enrolment decisions. The model is based on the assumption that high school graduates assess the costs and benefits associated with various levels of post-secondary education (college or university) and select the option that maximizes the expected net present value.…