One after another at this time of year, elite colleges trumpet the outstanding SAT scores of the applicants they have admitted. The question often raised by such announcements is just how much those scores matter. Two recent studies conclude that they matter quite a lot. This article reports that researchers assert that selective colleges give…

This paper examines the role of culture in the development of higher education institution (HEI) policy on widening participation. The study involved documentary research and interviews with senior and middle managers. It suggests that a culture of widening participation is often not embedded throughout institutions. Therefore, widening…

Although a stunning success in many ways, California's 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education has been a conspicuous failure in one respect: California ranks near the bottom of the states in the proportion of its college-age population that attains a baccalaureate degree. California's poor record of B.A. attainment is an unforeseen consequence of…

Community colleges enroll nearly half the undergraduates in the U.S. These institutions play a significant role in the academic, social, political, and economic future of our nation. As historically open admission institutions, with a primary focus on providing access to higher education, they have been pressed in recent decades--as has all of…

When the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education (subsequently referred to as the commission) convened in the fall of 2008, the educational landscape included a number of issues that the commission's members recognized as formidable challenges to those students who aspire to enroll and succeed in college. The Commission's…

Universities are encouraged to widen access to a broad range of applicants, including mature students taking Access qualifications. Admissions tutors can find it difficult to compare and choose between Access and A-level applications, and Access applicants for popular courses may be disadvantaged relative to students with good A-levels. In this…

Access to initial teacher education (ITE) across the United Kingdom continues to be significantly determined by selective entry requirements, based on prior academic qualifications. While a number of alternative routes to teacher education exist, several barriers to participation in higher education, including teacher education, still exist.…

Higher education is central to the development of a country. Without it, countries are bound to lag behind others in the race for development. Without human resources development and institution building, a nation cannot dream of progress and prosperity. The investment in higher education does not go unrecorded and its neglect does not get…

With the increase in student numbers and political concern to ensure fair access to higher education, universities have been reviewing their admissions processes in order to improve their transparency, efficiency and effectiveness. The process contains relatively discrete activities--applications and admissions--in which both the applicants and…

There is no shortage of places in higher education--most noncompetitive colleges could admit more students, but institutions often struggle to get the class that they want. Professionals consider the admission process successful when they are able to configure a class that meets the institution's many missions and notions, rather than just…

Preparation for and admission to law school is challenging for many students. For a number of years law schools have used criteria for admission that included school rankings and testing. Schools have been ranked by "The U. S. News and World Report" magazine and potential students have been tested with the Law School Admission Test…

Historically, the primary role of financial aid was to increase educational opportunities for those with inadequate resources, yet more recently institutional aid is increasingly becoming based on criteria unrelated to financial need. Various political forces have reinforced the institutional tendency to redirect dollars from the mission of…

When California adopted its new mathematics standards at the turn of this century, state leaders raised the expectations for its K-12 students, including encouraging them to take Algebra I in 8th grade. This brief looks at how California's high school students are meeting the state's high academic standards in math. It focuses on access to and…

Objective: To review the principles underlying medical student selection from the perspective of the imperatives of widening access policies. Setting: A recent government initiative has increased the number of medical school places in Great Britain. A priority is to widen access to sections of the community hitherto inadequately represented in…

An Australian study examined data from 337 students accepted into college from different entry points: secondary school leavers, students with Technical and Further Education (TAFE) qualifications, adults completing an admissions test, and transfers from other university programs. Transfers outperformed the other three groups, and the latter had…