This report is the first in a series published by the IDEAL (Impact of Distance Education on Adult Learning) project. The IDEAL project ran from October 2013 to September 2015 with financial support from the EU Lifelong Learning Programme. The project aims to: (1) offer insights on the needs of adult learners to both policymakers and distance…

The Community Based Learning (CBL) Certificate and the Civic Honors Program provide unique opportunities for students to receive college credit for their civic participation. The authors describe these programs and the historical and administrative changes at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which created an environment for their development…

This case study is part of a series on newer competency-based degree programs that have been emerging in recent years. In January 2014, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), South Texas College (STC), and Texas A&M University-Commerce (A&M Commerce) launched the Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Program, the state's first…

The purpose of this single, intrinsic, evaluative case study was to examine the problem of nontraditional transfer student completion at a private, religious-based, doctoral degree-granting, moderate research university in North Carolina. The following research questions guided the study: (a) How do institutional policies, procedures, and…

Providing college credit for prior learning is nothing new. The American Council on Education's Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT), the largest national program making credit recommendations for workplace and other training, dates to 1974. Several colleges that specialize in the practice--Excelsior and Empire State in New York, Thomas Edison…

Every year, millions of new college students arrive on campus lacking the necessary academic skills to perform at the college level. Postsecondary institutions address this problem with extensive remedial programs designed to strengthen students' basic skills. While much research on the effectiveness of remedial education has been conducted,…

This article discusses new evidence on the effectiveness of dual enrollment in increasing college achievement in New York City (NYC). After reviewing existing research on the effectiveness of dual enrollment programs, the authors discuss the results of a recent evaluation of College Now, the dual enrollment program of The City University of New…

The recent establishment of the European Higher Education Area and the ongoing monitoring carried out by the Bologna Follow-up Group raises the question: to what extent have the objectives of the Bologna Process been implemented in the varied higher education systems of the 47 signatory states, including the former Soviet Union states? This…

We study a popular dual enrollment program in Washington State, "Running Start" using a new administrative database that links high school and postsecondary data. Conditional on prior high school performance, we find that students participating in Running Start are more likely to attend any college but less likely to attend four-year…

Prior learning assessment (PLA) is a non-traditional component of higher education that recognizes that life experiences and learning from outside of academia can be deemed valid and awarded college credit. This qualitative study explored the perceptions of faculty assessors of PLA portfolios. This study sought to understand, through a…

It is of great significance to an institution of higher education to meet its goals and to establish its institutional effectiveness and that it has a framework for discussing its institutional performance results, accordingly this study aims to investigate a) the conditions for student success at the University with respect to the five benchmarks…

This research was designed to expand the applications of Psychological Distance (PD) Theory by studying the effects of time on the importance of criteria used to evaluate institutions of higher learning. It is intended to help administrators market more effectively by determining how future intentions (to go back to school someday) transition into…

Although a number of claims have been made describing massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a disruptive innovation in education, these claims have not yet been proven through research. Instead, MOOCs should perhaps be considered as an integrative model for higher education systems, but to do so will require recognition of credentials. Initial…

This quantitative study examined first-year university and community college students who were former Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) high school students. Participants in this study were students from groups that are underrepresented in higher education. In the first sample of 329 graduates, grade point average and college credit…

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) was charged by state statute with developing a statewide Master Plan for the future development of public universities, community colleges, and colleges of applied technology, with input from the Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. The overriding function of the Plan…