Increasingly, colleges and universities have begun to recognize the potential of students who do not meet standard admissions criteria, or who, despite their talents and abilities, come from educational backgrounds that did not prepare them adequately for the rigors of higher education. As a result, many of these institutions use alternative…

To serve students and society well, higher education needs to make a pervasive commitment to equity and inclusive excellence--both preparing students for and providing them with access to high-quality learning opportunities, and ensuring that students of color and low-income students participate in the most empowering forms of college learning.…

With the assistance of four writers and dozens of expert reviewers, Lumina Foundation for Education offers the first step in creating a Degree Qualifications Profile for American higher education. The Degree Profile is a baseline set of reference points for what students should do to earn associate, bachelor's and master's degrees--regardless of…

Through this document, Lumina Foundation for Education offers a "Degree Qualifications Profile," a tool that can help transform U.S. higher education. A Degree Profile--or qualifications framework--illustrates clearly what students should be expected to know and be able to do once they earn their degrees--at any level. This Degree…

The U.S. Census data are clear: In the coming years, America's Latina/o community will continue to drive population and labor force growth. Therefore, federal and state policymakers, higher education leaders, and communities small and large across the pre-K to college continuum would be wise to seize this sizeable demographic shift to help propel…

Research is unequivocal in showing that the quality and intensity of a student's high school curriculum has the greatest impact on college success. But even rigorous academic preparation alone is not sufficient to assure that a student graduates from high school ready to succeed in college. Social support strategies that sustain the preparation…

Access to higher education remains a challenge for many students who face academic and informational barriers to college entry. This guide targets high schools and school districts, and focuses on effective practices that prepare students academically for college, assist them in completing the steps to college entry, and improve their likelihood…

America's economic and social well-being is increasingly dependent upon the capacity of public education system to prepare all students for college and high-performance careers. With almost 80 percent of today's fastest-growing jobs requiring some postsecondary education, all students--regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic or…

Provides some of the results of an international survey involving 20,000 faculty members in 14 countries to obtain a comprehensive view of the professoriate. Some of the topics presented are academic freedom, faculty influence on countries' policies, and student level of preparedness. (ZWH)

College science education is at risk of becoming mired in the "reform culture" that has long been problematic in precollege science. A single universal solution to student underpreparedness and lack of sustained interest cannot be found, but a departmental level commitment to change and reallocation of resources is necessary to achieve program…

For nearly half of his professional career, this author admits he was wrong about how to help students achieve. During almost thirty-six years as a college administrator and instructor, he designed programs and services, taught classes, and conducted workshops with one purpose in mind: to help students gain maximum benefits from college and…

This document presents the curriculum for a pilot program for nontraditional students, held concurrently with a 13-week Medical Assistant Program, designed as a bridge into academic life. It notes that the program and its cognitive group counseling methodology are designed to strengthen the personal identity of students and to help them develop…

Research on college students' study skills and habits and on secondary-level course organization suggest certain patterns of instructor demand (workload, test difficulty, latitude for self-direction) and compensations (test review practices, test item overlap with instructor handouts, "safety nets") may account for student study deficiencies, and…

This report is one in a series of reference documents designed especially to assist educators who are directly involved in the revision and improvement of content standards. It presumes a basic understanding of the purposes for standards and the process of standards review and evaluation. This document is intended to be a desktop reference volume…

The issue of assessing adult learning prior to formal college level study is examined and presented in this handbook. The handbook offers guidelines for setting standards, provides a review of some of the proven techniques and practices that have been used to evaluate previous learning, addresses a series of issues relevant to particular subject…