This article presents a case study of a First Nations educational initiative in British Columbia. Simon Fraser University's (SFU) Integrated Studies Program created two unique adult education programs in response to a request from the Aboriginal-operated Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT); this request involved the two institutions…

A four-year college degree increases a student's employment prospects and earning potential. Given this importance, it is not surprising that 75 percent of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high school students aspire to obtain at least a four-year college degree. Yet, prior research showed that few achieved this goal: a 2006 University of Chicago…

Background/Context: Although much research has dealt with the factors that influence educational expectations, few studies have addressed recent high school graduates who attend community colleges as their first postsecondary institutions. As the costs associated with attending a four-year institution keep rising, community colleges increasingly…

The open admissions policies of community colleges serve to remove barriers for students aspiring to a college education (Mosholder & Zirkle, 2007), provide an affordable opportunity to attend college (Mullin & Honeyman, 2008; Zinser & Hanssen, 2006), and increase underrepresented student population enrollments at four-year…

Charter schools have been in existence for 20 years in the USA and their effectiveness has been heatedly debated. Despite a growing literature on charter school administration, research on charter school teachers in comparison with their counterparts at traditional public schools is scarce. Using secondary data from the 1999-2000 Schools and…

Over the years, there has been a persistent lack of available information about the economic consequences of choosing one academic major over another. As a result, students have had little financial data on hand to help them choose between majors. No longer. This report finds that different majors have different economic value. While going to…

In early 2000, Florida's workforce wasn't keeping pace with demand. The state decided that a then-novel credential, a bachelor's degree from a community college, was the solution. The plan is working. The new bachelor's degrees initially focused on education, health care, and information technology. Even as the job market has shrunk, demand has…

President Obama is calling for an increase in educational attainment among citizens of the United States (Obama, 2009). Prior to this national call, Washington State recognized the need to increase the educational attainment of its residents to maintain a globally competitive economy. By 2018, 67 percent of jobs in Washington will require a…

The Advisory Committee's 2010 report, "The Rising Price of Inequality," found that need-based grant aid from all sources was inadequate by examining the enrollment and completion rates of low-income high school graduates who seek to earn a bachelor's degree and are qualified to gain admission to a 4-year college. The major finding was…

Workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. Yet, because of how the STEM economy has been defined, policymakers have mainly focused on supporting workers with at least a bachelor's (BA) degree, overlooking a strong potential workforce of those with less than a BA. This report…

As the cost and importance of education continue to rise, more college students across the U.S. begin their postsecondary education by signing a contract to repay an ever-increasing amount of student loan debt. Conventional wisdom maintains that borrowing for college is an investment in the future that should be deemed "good debt". Data…

In this article, we analyzed research studies in the field of graduate education. In particular, we explored the issue of inequity in graduate education through three key lenses of social science analyses. Furthermore, we analyzed selected quantitative research studies that undertook a comparative examination of aggregate trends in enrollment and…

This executive summary highlights several findings about healthcare. These are: (1) Healthcare is 18 percent of the U.S. economy, twice as high as in other countries; (2) There are two labor markets in healthcare: high-skill, high-wage professional and technical jobs and low-skill, low-wage support jobs; (3) Demand for postsecondary education in…

The purpose of this study is to seek to understand the process of privatisation and deregulation of Israel's higher education system which had been until the late 20th century predominantly public. Since 1994, public and governmental agencies became major clients of private universities. Thus the public sector played a major role in the expansion…

The Federal Pell Grant Program is a critical source of grant aid for many low-and moderate-income college students. Over the past decade, the federal government has expanded the program to serve more students, increasing the maximum level of each award to $5,550 and better ensuring college access and success. However, the House 2012 budget…