Active involvement in college activities is linked to a host of student development outcomes, including personal growth, achievement and satisfaction. Yet, to date there has been too little attention to how social class shapes campus involvement. Through an analysis of survey data of students attending a single elite university and a national…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of senior high school counselors' domain specializations--academic, advanced education, career, and personal/social--from two urban high schools, on alphabetically assigned graduating seniors' with low, mid-range, and high Grade Point Averages documented college and career readiness milestone…

Conducted by researchers at the Gardner Center at the request of the College Futures Foundation, this literature review examines challenges and promising practices for increasing college access and completion among boys and young men of color. Wide gaps in college enrollment and persistence remain, even among, for example, Black and Latino boys…

The University of North Carolina System (UNC) annually reports statistics related to characteristics of freshmen classes from each high school and district in the state. Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) graduates were more successful at gaining admission and making academic progress at the member institutions of the UNC system than was…

Student retention and performance in higher education are important issues for educators, students, and the nation facing critical professional labor shortages. Expectancy and goal setting theories were used to predict academic performance and college student retention. Students' academic expectancy motivation at the start of the college…

A study of "at risk" high school youth revealed how student participation in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program positively affected student achievement and increased college aspirations and entrance rates. The experiences of the students, teachers, and administrators were examined using a case study approach…

In November, 2008, Colorado and Nebraska voted on amendments that sought to end race-based affirmative action at public universities. In anticipation of the vote, Colorado's flagship public institution--The University of Colorado at Boulder (CU)--explored statistical approaches to support class-based affirmative action. This paper details CU's…

This work uses original survey and interview data collected from 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 public high school valedictorians in five states to pinpoint when, why, and how similarly accomplished youth become funneled toward different college destinations. To answer this question, a new and enhanced framework for studying students' choice of…

Selection of students for places at universities mainly depends on GCSE grades and predictions of A-level grades, both of which tend to favour applicants from independent schools. We have therefore developed a new type of test that would measure candidates' "deep learning" approach since this assesses the motivation and creative thinking…

In November, 2008, Colorado and Nebraska voted on amendments that sought to end race-based affirmative action at public universities in those states. In anticipation of the vote, the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) explored statistical approaches to support class-based (i.e., socioeconomic) affirmative action. This dissertation introduces…

This report compares high school indicators of college readiness for the Baltimore City Schools Class of 2011 with actual readiness as determined by Maryland colleges. Each Maryland college determines its own criteria for entering credit bearing courses or taking developmental courses. As a result, findings are reported separately by college…

I develop and structurally estimate an equilibrium model of the college market. Students, who are heterogeneous in both abilities and preferences, make college application decisions, subject to uncertainty and application costs. Colleges observe only noisy measures of student ability and set up tuition and admissions policies to compete for more…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

The Texas legislature passed the Top 10% Law in 1996 guaranteeing automatic admission to any Texas public college or university for seniors who graduate in the top decile of their high school class. Using data on a representative sample of seniors (N = 12,029) enrolled in 96 Texas public high schools, we examine whether and how this law affects…

The media communicates the existence of two distinct types of college applicants: the frenzied, overachieving, anxious student who applies to many institutions, and the underprepared, less advantaged student whose parents are not at all familiar with the application process. The purpose of this study is to more realistically describe distinct…