While individuals in each country or part of the world face unique issues, many challenges facing higher education today are similar across the world. The great majority of higher education systems have grown in recent decades, enrolling far more students than they did in prior years and expanding their activities into new spheres such as economic…

In this article, the author discusses how researchers can use mixed-methods approaches and intersectional analyses to understand college access among first-generation Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). First, he discusses the utility of mixed-methods approaches and intersectionality research in studying college access. Then, he…

This paper presents the U.S. Department of Education's Fiscal Year (FY) "2010 Annual Performance Report" (APR). This report provides detailed information on: (1) the status of strategic goals, and (2) the outcomes of the strategic performance measures identified in the Department's "FY 2007-2012 Strategic Plan" and updated previously in the "FY…

Many public university systems rely on their own institutional research (IR) offices, in addition to the IR offices from their member institutions, to help conduct the work of the university system. In this chapter, the author illustrates the type of work conducted by system-level IR offices using a nontraditional data source that can be used to…

To help fulfill the goal of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), high-quality postsecondary education opportunities must be available to all students. In keeping with this goal, the Federal TRIO programs and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program provide outreach and support to help low-income and first-generation college students, as…

African higher education is currently facing tremendous challenges. The pressure and demand for access is huge. This is understandable against the background of traditionally low participation, low success and throughput rates, declining financial contributions from governments and donors, and critical pressures for efficiency, modernization,…

The condition of higher education is an important indicator of a nation's competitiveness in the modern knowledge-based world economy. Higher education builds up a nation's human resources by equipping students with advanced knowledge, professional skills, and critical and creative thinking ability. Higher education institutions are significant,…

For more than half a century the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) has served the West well. Organized formally in 1951 as an intentional collaboration between state governments in the West, and launching an embryonic program of activities in 1953, WICHE has continuously and effectively served one mission: to expand access…

The methods with which Northern Illinois University (NIU) has implemented enrollment-management change and developed a more efficient enrollment-management process are noted. Some of the techniques used to better understand the admissions and demand environments and NIU's place in them are discussed to help other institutions with the…

Discusses the impact of the 1999 North Carolina General Assembly House Bill 168, which mandated the implementation of performance-based funding for the state's 58 community colleges. States that a college's performance on six of the 12 measures determines its eligibility for supplemental allocation. Questions whether the new standards will affect…

Drawing on four examples of institutional research undertaken at San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC), this paper offers six principles to help researchers make their work more relevant and to enable decision makers to utilize research more effectively. The research examples provide brief descriptions of the need for, methodology of, and findings of…

This document is a report on the City College of San Francisco Decision Support System (DSS). The DSS is a Web-based information system, designed to provide quick access to college information and services for students, faculty, and staff. It includes data on student demographics, course offerings, productivity of departments, student success…

This report presents the results of a study conducted by the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to review the university's policies towards those groups within Canadian society which have low participation rates in post-secondary education. Following the introduction, the section, "Accessibility and the University of Winnipeg,"…

General College, an independent unit of the University of Minnesota, is described in this application for funds and associate status as a participant in Project IV of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The college is an urban, open admissions school that focuses on the interdisciplinary and liberal arts component of the…

The issue of providing access to alternative college programs for adult students through evaluation of institutional accessibility and development of appropriate responses is addressed in six articles. Barriers that adults experience in the admissions process and in completing college programs are identified by Thomas Taafee and Thomas M. Rocco in…