Low rates of college completion are a major problem in the United States. Less than 60 percent of students at four-year colleges graduate within six years, and at some colleges, the graduation rate is less than 10 percent. Additionally, many students enter higher education ill-prepared to comprehend college-level course material. Some estimates…

Over the past decade, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reorganized the New York City school system using principles and strategies extrapolated from his corporate sector experience. The mayor and his administration have restructured the public school system into a portfolio district centered on choice, autonomy, and accountability. These strategies…

Stereotypes, role models played by teachers and social norms influence girls' academic self-concept and push girls to choose humanities rather than science. Do recruiters reinforce this strong selection by discriminating more against girls in more scientific subjects? Using the entrance exam of a French higher education institution (the Ecole…

Past research has revealed that students who complete coursework in a concentrated area, defined as completing three or more courses in a specific field of study, are much more likely to have successful outcomes than those who do not. Moreover, fewer than half of students included in this research, which followed students over seven years, entered…

The large number of underprepared students entering the nation's two-and four-year colleges and universities has created what Levin and Calcagno (2008) consider a "remediation crisis" (p.181). Despite the recent attainment of high school diplomas, many incoming students are academically unprepared for college-level coursework in reading,…

The Urban Institute conducted an implementation and participant-outcomes evaluation of the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP). ANSEP is a multi-stage initiative designed to prepare and support Alaska Native students from middle school through graduate school to succeed in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)…

For several decades, policymakers have embraced the goal of preparing students for college and careers, particularly for careers in the area of mathematics and science. The recent emphasis on these STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects is due to the growth of STEM occupations and the perceived shortage of qualified…

This study presents longitudinal description of the association between college readiness--as measured by college readiness benchmarks set by the ACT--and a series of postsecondary outcomes of the Illinois High School Class of 2003. In addition to describing how college readiness is distributed among the cohort, this study establishes the college…

Inasmuch as current U.S. population projections indicate that Latino students will comprise over half the growth in the college-age population during the coming decades, the puzzle of Latino educational attainment presents perhaps one of the most critical policy concerns relevant to any efforts targeted at increasing U.S. levels of educational…

Young people who have spent all or part of their childhoods in public care are at particular risk of social exclusion as adults and yet the pathway out of exclusion identified by policy-makers at both European and national levels, namely, education, is very difficult to access. Using data from a five-country study of the post-compulsory…

Positive outcomes have been reported for university preparation courses for students without disabilities. Little is known about whether these courses can offer the same benefit to students with learning disabilities and whether the inclusion of psychosocial factors, in addition to academic skills, would benefit both groups. First-level students…

Several factors contribute to a disproportionately lower Latino participation in college education. Foremost among those factors are policies that encourage quick job placement over career development, lack of understanding of the benefits of a college degree, lower expectations for Latino students, poor financial planning, and lack of guidance. A…

From Washington to Connecticut, Arkansas to Indiana, state policymakers and community college leaders are focused on building completion pathways to ensure that more students succeed in postsecondary education and make smooth transitions to careers. Financial aid is both an effective and a necessary policy lever to promote this goal. Not only do…

How can an understanding of adolescent development inform strategies and practices for supporting first-generation college goers? In "Ready, Willing, and Able," Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies that young people need to develop in order to plan for and succeed in higher education. These…

In recent years, the education spotlight in the United States has shifted from focusing on high school graduation to postsecondary success. This shift in attention has been accompanied by a wealth of policies and initiatives aimed at preparing students to enter and succeed in college, including federal competitive grants programs, schoolwide…