The news media have extensively documented how many college applicants receive rejection letters from the country's most-elite higher-education institutions. The coverage has focused on the effort and expense that students and their parents put forth, only to be turned away. While many private colleges and universities have always been highly…

The nation's military-service academies could be stripped of one of their chief tools for bringing in black, Hispanic, and American Indian students as a result of regulatory changes being considered by the Department of Defense, officials of the U.S. Air Force Academy said last week. The proposed change in the department's directives to its…

This article reports that as students flock to public two-year and four-year colleges amid an ailing economy, they find the colleges struggling with financial problems of their own. Midyear budget cuts are forcing many institutions to lay off faculty members, cut course sections, and freeze enrollment. Rising unemployment, slumping values of…

A summary and update on recent research by the authors and others concerning rankings of Canadian universities is presented. Some specific data are reported in regard to the 2005 and 2006 ranking data published by "Maclean's" magazine. Some criticisms and difficulties with the use of rank-based data are outlined with regard to the issues…

Admissions deans have perfected the wistful tone of regret. In rejection letters, they talk of wrestling with "difficult decisions" and having "so many more qualified applicants than space." To the rejected, those words often ring hollow. After all, the student remains excluded no matter what the reason. There is mounting evidence that top…

This publication contains information about community colleges, the largest and fastest growing sector of U.S. higher education. Designed especially for students thinking about studying abroad in America, this publication provides information about: (1) College selection, application and visa processes, traveling to the United States, living in…

The dreaded personal essay used to be the toughest part of the college-admissions process for the applicant. These days it's admissions officers who fret about student writing--and not just because they fall asleep reading endless takes on "overcoming adversity." They've got weightier concerns--plagiarized essays, students who receive…

When it comes to getting into college, admissions experts differ on the value of summer jobs compared with that of academic programs, unpaid internships, foreign travel, or other activities designed to look good on a college application. This article presents some views from these experts regarding the value of students' summer jobs. They believe,…

When it comes to educational challenges, the nation's 12.1 million Hispanic schoolchildren face plenty: language, poverty, lower-than-average graduation rates for high school and college, and, more recently, a wave of laws targeting illegal immigrants that has made school seem like less of a safe haven for Hispanic students in some states. Yet, as…

By definition, adolescence begins with the onset of puberty (often starting earlier now) and ends when adult responsibilities are assumed (often starting later). This is a very long period of enormous change and rapid growth, physically, socially, sexually, cognitively, emotionally, motivationally, and morally. Adolescents are moving from…

As Dickinson College saw its annual applicant pool nearly double from 3,000 to almost 6,000 over the past decade, the student profile at the private liberal arts college not only grew academically stronger but more geographically, racially and ethnically diverse. At Dickinson and hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities, this recent growth in…

After adopting a new, "holistic" approach to reviewing applications, the University of California at Los Angeles has reversed a decline in the share of black students in the freshman class it has admitted for the fall. Figures released by the university this month show that the revised admissions policy appears to have increased black…

This article presents key trends in college enrollment and gives suggestions on how to help students find their way to higher education. The authors believe that schools and school districts should create a college-bound culture. Such as culture fosters student understanding about what is takes to succeed in college and how to get there, and it…

This article talks about a special program implemented at Towson University, wherein students are admitted into college even if they don't qualify under the regular admissions. The Towson program is an experiment, and Deborah J. Leather, the associate provost who runs it, acknowledges that it is too soon to tell whether the effort has been worth…

Asserting that institutional quality and great service will remain essential ingredients in drawing students to campus, explores the future of Internet-based admission processes, including consumer empowerment, the information technology challenge, and what the Web will bring next. (EV)