Although some small liberal arts colleges feature developmentally appropriate programs, most postsecondary institutions are more like factories that process students. This article describes limitations of the current college-admissions model and discusses the need to create common expectations and develop performance-based admission standards…

Reflecting national trends, a quarter of college freshmen in Ohio's public colleges and universities enroll in remedial coursework. Possible causes of underpreparedness are discussed. Policy recommendations focus on aligning high school and college requirements, developing a comprehensive K-16 continuum of assessment and intervention, K-12 school…

Performance of senior medical students on an objectively scored examination of clinical competence based on standardized-patient cases was used to assess the predictive validity of the two most commonly used admission measures. The measures were found useful for selecting students successful in both clinical and basic science settings. (Author/MSE)

Top college admissions criteria include strength of curriculum and outstanding grades throughout high school, strong standardized test scores, and information gleaned from the personal application form about cocurricular activities and community service. Teacher recommendations and personal interviews are not as predictive as personal…

After 4 years of debate, the National Collegiate Athletic Association agreed in January 2000 to accept high-school principals' descriptions of their courses, rather than to continue judging courses through the clearinghouse. Persistence, a sense of humor, and sympathetic journalists aided the protest effort. (MLH)

A Florida community college dean deplores the dual standard for dual-enrollment classes. Nongrading parents commonly assign their kids a 4.0 GPA to meet enrollment qualifications. Although some states require standardized testing for home-schoolers, others lack guidelines for evaluating home-education programs. This attitude must change. (MLH)

This essay compares and contrasts approaches to access and equity in these two nations, focusing largely on higher education (HE) in England and public HE in select states in the US. Three general themes are offered in the following narrative. The first is the transition of admission policy making from an internal academic decision to an…

There has been much high-blown rhetoric lately about the problem of grade inflation in American higher education. All across American campuses, deans and college presidents lament the problem. Such attention, though, focuses mostly on outlining the extent of the problem rather than offering concrete strategies for alleviating it. In most cases,…

From the start of the 2001-2002 academic year, people who had not completed secondary school were able to enter higher education based on documented non-formal learning, realkompetanse. Based on interviews with key personnel at selected universities and university colleges, and on quantitative data from the applicant register, this article…

This report provides an in-depth look at five different programs, all of which currently, or are making efforts to, include a broad range of students. The five Credit-Based Transition Programs (CBTPs) studied are located in five states--California, Iowa, Minnesota, New York and Texas--and included two dual enrollment programs (one with a career…

This report responds to the California Maritime Academy's plan to develop a student affirmative action plan to address the needs of underrepresented, women, and low-income students. The report concludes that the final version of the plan (attached as an appendix) provides a good beginning for the changes that must occur at the Academy if…

Current and proposed Swedish university admission criteria are presented as a reflection of government attitudes about the value of certain kinds of educational backgrounds. Another approach based on different kinds of measures of academic ability is also outlined. (MSE)

The testing of a dual admission system in a South African university, aimed at removal of racial, social, or religious discrimination in college admission policy, found that the system is capable of identifying talented but disadvantaged students. (MSE)

As part of the University of California's recent reconsideration of the role of the SAT in admissions, the UC Office of the President published an extensive report, "UC and the SAT" (2001), which examined the value of SAT I Reasoning Test scores, SAT II Subject Test scores, and high school grades in predicting the grade-point averages of…

The development of a multiple regression equation for predicting an optometry grade point average and a discriminative function designed to distinguish between students likely and unlikely to have academic difficulty is described. Variables used include grades, test scores, undergraduate college competitiveness, and a measure of academic…