This panel contains presentations by four members of the Western Kansas Community Services Consortium (WKCSC) who are involved in either teaching or administering college programs in Kansas in which part-time students are participating. Joyce Hartmann underscores the importance of part-time students as growing consumers of college programming in…

This case analysis describes a program to improve the efficiency with which students in the Adult and Vocational Education Ph.D. program at the University of Connecticut work towards and achieve the doctoral degree. Data gathered between 1985 to 1992 indicated students (who were mostly part-time) dropped out at a 50 percent rate and took 7 to 10…

Indirect student costs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington were studied: semester expenses for food, shelter, clothing, books and supplies, personal items, health care, transportation, and child care. Selected cost data were also compared to student characteristics including: whether they had ever received financial aid from the…

Changes in a group of students' conception of learning over 6 years of part-time study were investigated at Great Britain's Open University. The direct exploration of students' experiences of learning involved a qualitative and phenomenological research paradigm. Learning was described in the context of the natural setting based on the learner's…

Nontraditional styles of postsecondary enrollment were assessed: delaying postsecondary enrollment for a year or more beyond high school graduation, enrolling part-time, or entering non-degree-granting programs. Part-time attendance was defined as pursuing a courseload below half-time. The sample consisted of 8,464 recent U.S. high school…

The 413 members of the North American Association of Summer Sessions were surveyed to determine programming for college summer sessions in the 1980's. Summer session directors were asked about who the students of the 1980's would be, what programs should be developed, where programs should be held, and what time frames for course offerings would…

Upper-level institutions of higher education, offering course work at only the junior, senior, and in some cases postgraduate level, are discussed. Two upper-level institutions that are part of the University of Houston system are cited as examples: The University of Houston at Clear Lake City and the University of Houston Victoria Campus. In the…

The higher education system is seen as having deteriorated in the 1970s due to change in academic schedules, increased size of institutions, impaired effectiveness of faculties, inability of institutions to adjust to increased percentage of disadvantaged students, increase in part-time and nonresidential students, and excessive market orientation…

A study was conducted to identify the factors that influence adults to continue their education by taking formal course work on a part-time basis. Using May 1981 Current Population Survey data gathered by the Bureau of the Census, the study assessed the importance of price, socioeconomic characteristics, family income, and unemployment rates in…

Two questions are addressed: (1) How can existing organizational structures and practices be developed where none have previously existed? The phenomenon of the adult postsecondary student is a fundamental demographic shift not initiated by the institutions but to which they must nonetheless respond. The organizational structure of the University…

The joint effects of institutional and environmental factors on college enrollments on a year-to-year basis were investigated. The study population included all public and private two- and four-year colleges and universities who completed the Higher Education General Information Survey for 1975-1976 through 1980-1981. Four major environmental…

The Community College of Vermont (CCV), which was established in 1970, is described. CCF is a community-based, competency-based college without a campus directed primarily to adults who previously have found access to postsecondary education to be difficult. Classes are offered in various types of locations in the community, and instructors are…

Approaches to student financial aid that are used in Illinois are described. Illinois tries to respond to the separate priorities of guaranteeing both access and reasonable choice. Over 60 percent of students at public four-year colleges, and about 18 percent of students attending community colleges receive need-based aid. The need-based student…

Graduate education in the People's Republic of China is discussed with attention to: historical developments, criteria and trends in enrollment, selection/approval of degree-granting institutions, reforms in graduate education, and international exchanges. Trends in graduate enrollments and degree awards since the Cultural Revolution are briefly…

This overview presents some of the issues that face those concerned with post baccalaureate education, particularly these issues that emerge from new activities and proposals before the graduate community currently. Three sections and an appendix are presented. Covered are: (1) definitions and distinctions; (2) issue-clusters in the areas of the…