This book clarifies the fundamental difference between North America-based instrumental motivation and Korea (and East Asia)-specific competitive motivation by which the EFL learners' excessive competition to be admitted to famous universities and to be hired at a large-scale conglomerate is the main source of L2 motivation. It enables readers to…

This article provides a comparative analysis of accessibility of higher education across Russian regions in terms of the following three factors: the availability of admission opportunities; financial affordability; and geographic accessibility. The study will be of interest to government agencies in higher education at various levels, analysts…

In 2014, Jonathan Zimmerman published an op-ed in the "Christian Science Monitor" in which he wrote, "The last time I checked, [men] held most of the important positions of power and influence in American society. And yet, college admissions offices lower the standard for young men--effectively raising it for women--simply to make…

This paper is the first in Pioneer Institute's UMass at a Crossroads series. In the opening study, the authors focus on UMass' significant growth in two areas, academic competitiveness and student enrollment, compared to other New England state universities, MA private universities, national private universities and national public universities.…

This article explores parents' use of private tutoring services for their primary school children in Sydney, Australia's largest city. Using Bernstein's theories of invisible and visible pedagogies, we look, through the eyes of a small group of middle-class Chinese-background interviewees, at the tensions between certain pedagogic forms associated…

The emerging female advantage in education has received considerable attention in the popular media and recent research. We examine a persistent exception to this trend: women's underrepresentation in America's most competitive colleges and universities. Using nationally generalizable data spanning four decades, we evaluate evidence for…

Drawing upon two ethnographic studies of affluent and elite co-educational secondary schools in the United States, Weis and Cipollone spotlight the explicit "class work" of a now highly insecure middle/upper middle class, as they attempt to maintain advantage via entrance to particularly located post-secondary destinations. Affirming the…

Performance indicators and performance-based funding are becoming integral components of higher education (HE) policy around the globe. We explore some of the implications of this type of policy on Norwegian HE. We believe the case will be of significant interest to policy-makers, stakeholders and academics alike, not least because our empirical…

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…

In January 2011, the University of Southern California Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice in conjunction with the Education Conservancy convened a national workshop--a unique experiment meant to consider "The Case for Change in College Admissions." Its 180 participants included university and college admissions officers…

Using interview data from 34 admissions officers at 17 elite colleges, this paper compares two perspectives shaping admissions policy. Admissions officers apply a "merit" perspective that relies on indicators of student academic and nonacademic achievement. They also employ a "competition" perspective that evaluates student characteristics…

Though targeted for governmental reform since 2002, services envisioned for gifted and talented students have not materialized in Japan. From the perspective of his personal experience as a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund participant in 2005 and an extensive review of available literature and contacts with the Japanese Ministry of Education,…

This study develops a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding the evolution of the class divide in postsecondary education. I conceptualize three prototypes of class inequality--effectively maintained, declining, and expanding--and associate their emergence with the level of competition in college admissions. I also unearth the twin…

In this article, the author expresses his concern about the current state of the profession and the changes in college admission processes. Paper has been replaced with computers, counseling has been replaced with marketing, and the emphasis on "fit" has been replaced by a preoccupation with prestige, or perceived prestige. These changes point to…

A sequential screening procedure has been proposed in Queensland, based on what is known in decision theory as a 'lexicographic ordering.' The concept is explained, and some of the associated assumptions, implications and shortcomings are examined. (Author/MLW)