The optometry program at the Inter American University in Puerto Rico is profiled, with highlights of admission criteria, temporary and permanent facilities, faculty, governance structure, curriculum, research opportunities, and relationship with the university as a whole. (MSE)

Describes the range of policies, criteria, and weightings used in the process of selecting among candidates for admission in 19 public and private colleges and universities. Notes the need for adequate communications between colleges and the schools previously attended by candidates. (PGD)

The factors that influence the size and makeup of the applicant pool for dental education are identified: costs, predental education, demographic trends, resistance from the profession, and higher education trends. The decrease in the applicant pool and what dental schools might do to offset the effects are discussed. (MLW)

Australia's external degree programs have managed to maintain high standards for graduate degrees through residential and weekend schools, teaming of visiting or part-time faculty with regular full-time faculty members, faculty-wide approval of grades, direct supervision, strict admission standards, and rigorous programs. (Author/WD)

Analyzes the development of engineering programs in Portugal based on the experience acquired at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST), the largest Portuguese engineering school. Describes the methodologies developed to monitor admissions and presents the analysis in terms of absolute and relative criteria based on course demand. (DDR)

Relates early attempts to use experimental methods, including testing, for identifying gifted students in German schools before 1930. Suggests that these attempts failed due to insufficient training, the passivity of the majority of teachers, lack of support within the administration, and the conservative interests of both teachers and parents.…

Teacher education testing requirements for all of the states are displayed on a chart. Categories of information include: date of data revision, the name of the test, passing rates, and passing scores for both admission to teacher education programs and teacher certification. (JD)

In Canada, tests and test results do not appear to be driving the school system. Canadian universities do not require Canadian applicants to provide SAT or ACT scores for admission. Most provinces administer their own testing programs aimed at all students, not only the college bound. Developing the whole child is an important objective. (MLH)

Both critics and supporters of affirmative action cite the commitment of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to diversity in the undergraduate population as an example supporting their positions. Merit, diversity, and family income are weighed in applicant processing. (MSE)

The University of Virginia admits proportionately more blacks and children of alumni than other groups. Some other groups also get preferential treatment in admissions: athletes, musicians, artists, applicants from rural areas, children of faculty, female scientists, and other minority group members. (MSE)

Examined family practice residency directors' perspectives on the National Resident Matching Program and medical students' recruitment behavior. Analysis of questionnaire responses (n=351) found that while few directors felt it was ethically wrong for students to interview in more than one specialty, most indicated that knowledge of this behavior…

Discusses shortcomings of student grade-point averages (GPA), including the use of weighted grading. (PKP)

This institutional "self study document" was designed to be presented to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) to aid in the evaluation of the mass communication program at Southern Arkansas University, a noncompetitive institution where any high school graduate may enroll. In narrative form, the document answers substantive…

The admissions decisions of a university are one of its four "essential freedoms," and the courts, as a general rule, defer to universities' judgments regarding academic decisions. In many cases, the courts have said that admissions standards cannot be high-handed, arbitrary, or formulated in bad faith, and they must fall within constitutionally…

The School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University have always had a close working relationship in the development of teachers. This is due, in part, to the fact that the General Education Curriculum (English, history, mathematics, biology, and the arts), which is the…