The prominence of discourse on postsecondary degree completion, student persistence, and retention has increased in the national dialogue. Heightened attention to college completion rates by the federal government and pressure to tie state funding to performance metrics associated with graduation rates are catalysts for the discussion.…

Adult learners, and women in particular, have to combat a number of specific barriers to participate in lifelong learning opportunities. Frequently, delivery modes of adult learning programmes do not take these varying demands into consideration (McCulloch & Stokes, 2008). However, when they do, positive results ensue. This case study…

The Missouri Board of Nursing approves 34 practical, 35 associate degree, one diploma, and 21 baccalaureate degree nursing programs. Although the Board is responsible for all nursing programs leading to initial licensure, its recognition by the U.S. Department of Education applies only to the 57 professional nursing programs eligible for Federal…

These Web Tables present information on the employment and enrollment status of first-time bachelor's degree recipients one year after graduation. The analysis uses data collected in the first follow-up surveys of three administrations of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B). The first follow-up studies, conducted in 1994,…

Navigating the complicated path through college can be a difficult task. The report analyses the problems students have on graduating on time--such as earning unnecessary credits--which costs them collectively billions of dollars and millions of hours each year. It also proposes a possible solution--Guided Pathways to Success (GPS), which can…

In the light of the Bologna process, traditional degree programmes of research-led universities in the Netherlands have been transformed into 3 year bachelors programmes and 1 or 2 year masters programmes. The Dutch universities of applied sciences (UAS) mainly offer 4 year bachelors programmes. In principle, this UAS bachelors degree qualifies…

We examined baccalaureate colleges mission statements to better understand how these organizations represent themselves to potential students and other external constituent groups. We drew these documents from two sources, the colleges' official web sites and an archive constructed and maintained by "U.S. News and World Report." Most sampled…

Four-year colleges and universities that espouse teaching as their primary mission bear a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of their students as clients of teaching. This responsibility takes the form of a moral imperative. Faculty members hold considerable autonomy in the professional choices they make in their teaching. As a consequence,…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census from October through February of all departments that offer degrees in astronomy (78) in the United States. Astronomy departments consist of stand-alone degree-granting departments (39) and departments that are administered along with a physics program…

Data from NCES indicate that it is two to three times more expensive to educate a student at a public four-year college than at a community college. These figures exaggerate the difference between the two when you calculate the costs of the first two years of education for students working on a bachelor's degree. Using modified Integrated…

Teacher education in India, including that offered by the open distance learning (ODL) system to thousands every year, imparts mainly pedagogic knowledge, although the need for integrated teacher education programmes has been underscored. As the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an ODL institution, will develop an integrated Bachelor…

The readiness and expectations questionnaire (REQ) assesses first-year students' expectations and preparedness for their first year in university. This measurement instrument is useful for educational policy and curriculum development; it can also be used to predict the outcomes of the first year of college. This instrument was initially developed…

A review of net price calculators--a financial aid tool mandated by the "Higher Education Opportunity Act" of 2008--reveals that students from low-, moderate-, and middle-income families face record-level net prices at 4-year public colleges today. These net prices will translate into levels of average total loan burden far in excess of…

Drawing upon data from the 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08), a nationally representative survey of all postsecondary students, this Statistics in Brief offers an overview of the enrollment characteristics of graduate and first-professional students, when they started their programs, how they combined school and work, the…

Widening participation initiatives led by the government encourage non-traditional students to enrol in higher education courses usually offered through a franchising arrangement between a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and a local Further Education Institution (FEI). The focus has been on the development of foundation degrees with most…