This article explores the types of audience engagement strategies used by a Japanese secondary school student in an after school course preparing for a high-stakes impromptu academic writing task on a university entrance exam. The study uses appraisal theory--the branch of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) concerned with the patterning of…

When considering any type of alternative or special admission processes for incoming students, the university is charged with taking into account traditional admissions criteria such as high school grade point average (GPA) and standardized test scores as well as other attributes. These "other attributes" frequently include pressure to…

Nearly 40 years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act directed aid from institutions to students in an effort to enhance student choice and opportunity, the system of higher education continues to be widely stratified with regard to college degree attainment across family income levels and with regard to the distribution of…

The growing heterogeneity of American society is increasingly reflected in the undergraduate student population, yet there has been less change within graduate education. As graduate education is the pipeline to the professoriate, we must have a better understanding of how to promote institutional change toward greater graduate diversity. This…

This article presents the results of a longitudinal study investigating current marketing practices at selected church-related, private, four-year compared to those in place in 1997. The role that institutional selectivity plays in the use of marketing activities was also investigated. The researcher surveyed the admissions directors or enrollment…

The study explores how alumni can help community colleges in Southern Appalachia to create greater access for people in groups which are traditionally under-served by higher education. Semi-structured interviews conducted with alumni program directors and admissions officers at seven community colleges in the Southern Appalachian Region explore…

An estimated 1.1 million students were homeschooled in the United States in spring 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (2006). This figure represents a sizeable increase from the homeschooling rate of 1.7 percent--or 850,000 students--in 1999. With the popularity of homeschooling…

What are the challenges, barriers and facilitating factors connected to the various school admissions approaches used by local authorities? This report gathers the views of local authority admissions officers on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, as well as the issues and challenges they face in this important area. It covers:…

Using interview data from 34 admissions officers at 17 elite colleges, this paper compares two perspectives shaping admissions policy. Admissions officers apply a "merit" perspective that relies on indicators of student academic and nonacademic achievement. They also employ a "competition" perspective that evaluates student characteristics…

Given the intense efforts to change federal legislation, it is surprising that relatively little research has examined how postsecondary institutions respond to organizational pressures and local contexts. These "boundary activities" determine actual practice (Birnbaum, 1991) and may be the only way to remedy the exclusion of undocumented…

Surveyed 998 college admissions directors to identify patterns of career entry, career development, and future career plans. Results suggested entry is predominately from other educational positions, upward mobility involves movement within rather than across institutions, and exit tends to be to other college administration positions. (JAC)

This paper examines the views of staff at higher education institutions on how well 14-19 education and training prepares young people for higher education (HE) study. It draws upon research involving focus groups with approximately 250 academic and admissions staff at 21 higher education institutions in England and Wales. The data collection was…

This study extends research on college choice, with recent national survey data, by examining what African American students say about the importance of college athletic reputation in choosing which school to attend. We use the Educational Longitudinal Survey to examine the overall distribution of self-reported factors that shape college choices…

Examined admissions directors' perceptions of their role, the nature of marketing efforts, the relationship between prior career paths and current ideas about the "mission" of the admissions office, and ideas about how the school should market itself. Results are given. (Author/BL)

This article is a research project which explores that problem with a particular view toward underrepresented students whose life and profile often do not match the life and profile of admission officers who recruit and select them. The authors assert that if vast changes are made with regard to the experiences and the richness that…