In this digital age, teaching has transcended the classroom. So why should school walls confine college counseling? The question is driving innovation that could change the way students prepare for college and careers. Just as learning is now a hybrid of face-to-face and virtual interactions, the transmission of college know-how is fast becoming a…

Dozens of universities have started encouraging students to go abroad early in their college life in the last decade, offering overseas opportunities that last a week to a full academic year, in countries as diverse as Britain, China, and Mexico. A variety of factors are driving the growth. Universities say the programs help globalize the…

Many community colleges, along with some public-school districts and family-literacy programs, are overhauling their GED curricula and support services. Nearly 40 million American adults do not have high-school or GED diplomas, according to 2009 data from the American Council on Education, which developed the GED test. Another of the council's…

Studying the effects of remedial education is a little like studying the effects of heart surgery. Simply comparing the fates of those who underwent it with those who did not yields terribly misleading results. After all, one group generally starts out in much worse shape. Three new studies of the effects of remedial programs seek to overcome this…

This article discusses how to help struggling students in high school. The author describes the Early College High School Initiative that helps minority and low-income youths to earn one to two years of college credits while in high school. The program is part of a nationwide effort to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary…

Three new studies of college freshmen suggest that even the most promising among them can run into academic difficulties as a long-term consequence of experiences like attending a violence-plagued high school or being raised by parents who never went to college. Two of the studies call into question a large body of research on the educational…

All the tutoring in the world cannot save students who run short of the money they need to pay for college. This year's Community College Survey of Student Engagement affirms as much. In the survey, known as Cessie, nearly half (45 percent) of respondents cited a lack of finances as a hardship that would likely cause them to withdraw from classes…

As is typical in a recession, many community colleges are experiencing a surge in enrollment, at precisely the same time that they must--like many enterprises, both public and private--contend with choking constraints on resources. The reality for community colleges is this: No matter how good this nation's colleges are today--and they do…

A recently-released analysis of population data has confirmed the acknowledged trend of major diversification in America's higher education student body. After this year's high-school seniors receive their diplomas, the number of graduates nationwide will begin a slow decline until 2015, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher…

In most schools, the rush toward Advanced Placement (AP) courses goes on unabated. In 2006 the number of students taking AP exams increased almost 10 percent over the preceding year, according to the College Board. This is largely because of the growing intensity of the admissions game and the urge on the part of college applicants to seek out…

Yielding to pressure from Congress and grant recipients, the U.S. Education Department has agreed to abandon a controversial evaluation of the Upward Bound (UB) college-preparation program. The study, which began last year, was designed to measure whether Upward Bound would have a bigger impact on college-going rates if it were refocused on…

Greater numbers of high-school students are taking Advanced Placement (AP) examinations and are faring better on them than in the past, said a report released by the College Board. The board, a nonprofit association, administers 37 AP exams, which allow high-school students to earn college credit or exemption from introductory-level college…

Congress created Upward Bound in 1964 with the goal of preparing more low-income students for college. A few months later, it created a second college-preparation program, Talent Search. The pair of programs formed the foundation of TRIO, which now includes six outreach and support programs for disadvantaged students and veterans. Upward Bound's…

In a new approach to college readiness, San Diego State University now accepts all students from a large local school system as long as they complete a rigorous curriculum. Under a partnership formed eight years ago, the university has guaranteed a spot in its freshman class to all Sweetwater Union High School District students who complete…

According to this author, a quiet revolution is picking up steam in the nation's private secondary schools, with broad implications for college admissions and for teaching and learning on both sides of the transition from high school to college. About 50 of the nation's leading college-preparatory schools have opted out of the College Board's…