This paper argues that transition is not a one-off event that occurs when students first enter universities but is an on-going process that is repeated over time. We draw on qualitative data from a longitudinal project on "non-traditional" students who entered a research-intensive university in Scotland direct from further education…

To what extent and why do social origins matter for access to higher education, including access to elite universities? What is the role of private and selective schooling? This paper uses the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) to analyse the trajectories of a generation currently in early middle age. We find that the influence of social origins,…

Are geography students good "environmental citizens?" Has this improved over time with increasing emphasis on sustainability within higher education? This paper compares environmental attitudes and behaviours of geography students at different stages of their degree and over a seven-year period. The findings show that although geography…

Learning to program is a complex task, and the impact of different pedagogical approaches to teach this skill has been hard to measure. This study examined the performance data of seven cohorts of students (N = 1168) learning programming under three different pedagogical approaches. These pedagogical approaches varied either in the length of the…

Australian higher education lags behind other western countries in relation to access and attainment of equity groups (Organisation for Economic Development [OECD], 2010). This is despite major policy reforms in the last two decades targeting better educational outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Australian Labor Government's…

The main controversy as a result of the commercialisation of international education markets is that international students especially those from China are unable to perform as well as UK students in UK universities. So far, research has yet to identify the influence of placements on the academic performance of Chinese students from entry to…

This paper addresses the economic returns on tertiary degrees obtained in ages above 30 for individuals with upper-secondary schooling in light of current ideas on lifelong learning. Sweden is a case in point: Swedish tertiary education is open to older students, and labor market legislation supports employees who take a leave to study. The…

Combining school study with part-time or casual work is an increasing trend for Australian high school students. For some, it is a way of earning some extra cash and having a bit of freedom from their parents, or it is an opportunity to get some experience in an occupation they are interested in. This paper looks at the impact that working while…

This is a Swedish study about the correspondence between higher education studies and the obtained profession considering both skill level and specialisation. The labour market position in 2002, for a student population, aged 26-28 years, was analyzed. Also those students who had not obtained a degree, but who had studied at least two years were…

This article examines whether rising tuition fees for post-secondary education are a contributing factor in students' labour market decisions. When labour market decisions for total number of working hours and for participation were measured, the results suggested that concerns about increased tuition fees leading to more work and compromising…

There are ambitious institutional and national goals that aspire to improve the six year graduation rate for undergraduate students. An important element of increasing the overall rate lies in decreasing the educational attainment gaps for low-income, first generation, and other historically underserved students. Comprehensive theoretical…

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the state of Tennessee while also incorporating the hallmark elements of existing merit-based aid programs in other states. Developed through a process involving elected officials and members of the academic community, the TELS program aims to…

Working in some capacity is almost considered de rigueur for tertiary students. The reasons for working and the impact this has on both an individual's ability to complete their studies and on their post-study labour market outcomes are only recently receiving attention. Using the 1995 and 1998 cohorts of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian…

Mandatory internships are implemented in higher education curricula in order to ease the labour market integration of graduates. This article evaluates the utility of mandatory internships in Germany by assessing the effect on graduates' transition from higher education to work. The authors examine whether these compulsory programmes provide extra…

Describes the procedures and results of the full-scale Implementation of the final followup interview with the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study 1996/2001. This study follows a cohort first interviewed in 1996 in their first year of postsecondary education. (SLD)