On September 13, 2006, Texas state educational and policy leaders participated in the Texas Education Forum to discuss ways to improve student transition from high school to postsecondary education and careers. The forum was sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and…

A survey was conducted to explore public knowledge about the U.S. educational system and postsecondary degree completion in particular. The survey studied public knowledge of and perceptions about the challenges facing high school students, including low-income and minority groups, trying to move on to college and succeed once they are there. The…

Reviews the literature on the efforts of school-college collaboration to increase the number of minority group students who enter and graduate from college. Concludes that these relationships have been largely self-serving, benefiting school and college personnel much more than the targeted disadvantaged students. (FMW)

The most recent annual American Council on Education study of minorities in higher education examined, by race and ethnicity, high school completion and dropout rates and trends in college preparation, educational attainment, college enrollment, degrees conferred, and higher education employment. The report urges colleges and universities to begin…

Focused on how the high school preparation of first-generation students (i.e., students whose parents did not attend college) related to these students' performance and persistence at 4-year colleges. Compared these students with their peers whose parents graduated from college. Parents' levels of education were associated with student retention…

Compared to its predecessor, "Answers in the Tool Box," the preponderance of the "Toolbox Revisited" story has been on the postsecondary side of the matriculation line. Implicitly, it calls on colleges, universities, and community colleges to be a great deal more interventionary in the precollegiate world, to be more self-reflective about the…

This report is one in a series examining performance measures adopted by the Commission as part of an accountability framework for higher education in California. All measures correspond to one of four goals: (1) Student Preparation for College; (2) Affordability and Access; (3) Student Success in Progressing through College; and (4) Public…

In 1990, the Illinois State Board of Higher Education adopted a comprehensive set of 32 policy statements designed to improve undergraduate education. The policies address the improvement of student preparation for, access to, and retention in colleges and universities; improvement of student achievement, scholarship, and general education during…

This paper addresses the issue of the equitable participation of minorities in higher education. Evidence of the magnitude of the problem is presented in discussions which address: (1) enrollment trends; (2) the persistence of minority students in academic study; and (3) the time required of minority students to complete their academic studies. It…

Successful efforts to improve minority college student retention are discussed, including programs to expand educational horizons and aspirations, college preparation programs for junior high school students, early orientation, minority-directed services, promotion of cultural diversity, and reorganization of financial aid packaging. (MSE)

College prospects for American-Indian youth are brighter than in the past, with two- and four-year college enrollments up and American-Indian SAT scores rising. Anti-affirmative-action policies are having some chilling effects on minority enrollments nationwide, but certain tribes and universities are working together to strengthen college…

This study focuses on 11 African American undergraduate seniors in a biology degree program at a predominantly white research institution in the southeastern United States. These 11 respondents shared their journeys throughout the high school and college science pipeline. Participants described similar precollege factors and experiences that…

For most of Minnesota's 150 years of statehood, its distinctive economic advantages were largely a function of its natural resources, such as timber, taconite and tourism. Today, while these and other resources remain cornerstones of the state economy, it is clear that the intellectual capacity of Minnesota's people is emerging as a promising…

This digest addresses factors that may influence college completion and academic success for Hispanic students, particularly Mexican American students, enrolled in community college and four-year institutions. Recent research suggests that institutional practices in high schools have much to do with the low postsecondary participation rates of…

This article summarizes intervention activities and participant outcomes from a five-year federally funded project that prepared students with learning disabilities for transition to postsecondary education. Project participants demonstrated higher first-year postsecondary retention rates than the student population and gained skills in many…