General College, an independent unit of the University of Minnesota, is described in this application for funds and associate status as a participant in Project IV of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The college is an urban, open admissions school that focuses on the interdisciplinary and liberal arts component of the…

Central Queensland University's Women into Science and Technology program aimed to broaden the access of women to higher education, improve their career opportunities and employment prospects, and address the personnel shortage in engineering and technology by encouraging mature age women to consider these fields. The distance learning program was…

The British Open University (OU) offers university degree programs to adults who are employed and study at home. It does so through a nationwide universal access (open admission) policy. A key feature of this program is that it imposes traditional university standards of excellence. Access is not limited by formal entry requirements, geography,…

This study examined the characteristics of part-time students at the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) and Athabasca University (Alberta, Canada), an open admissions undergraduate distance education university. Also called adult students or non-traditional students, part-time students have been viewed as a homogenous group despite marked…

Access courses have been designed to facilitate entry to higher education, either universities or polytechnical institutions, for nontraditional students. Basic characteristics of access courses include clear entry criteria that target nontraditional students; no insistence on formal educational requirements; recognition of prior, experiential…

The use of nontraditional college admission variables in the prediction of academic success was assessed with 444 freshmen entering the University of California, Davis, under the Special Action process (wavering of admission requirements). For fall 1978, 1979, 1980 special entrants, attention was directed to college applications, including high…

Showcasing 12 community college programs recognized as successful in serving the needs of at-risk students, this book reviews the impact of limited resources and a growing high-risk student population on community colleges, examines successful programs and strategies, discusses faculty selection, and reviews program evaluation criteria and…

Perspectives on adult students at the College of New Rochelle are offered in response to Howard R. Bowen's address entitled, "Adult Learning, Higher Education, and the Economics of Unused Capacity." The College of New Rochelle suggests a modest modification of Bowen's thesis that there should be efforts toward full integration of…

The Early Warning System (EWS) of the Individualized Study Program (ISP) at the University of California, Davis, was evaluated. Disadvantaged students who have not met the university's entrance requirements are tracked by the EWS during their first year in order to identify academic problems and provide advising and support. Findings include: EWS…

In an effort to understand and unify competing voices, which on one hand defend and seek to preserve the open-access college and on the other hand point to concomitant tensions, dilemmas, and uncertainties and call for reform, this book examines the achievements of community colleges, as well as the lingering problems that undercut those…

The Individualized Study Program (ISP) at the University of California, Davis, which is designed to enhance retention of students with academic skill deficiencies, was evaluated. The target group was disadvantaged students who had not met the university's entrance requirements. Attention was focused on two aspects of the program: allowing students…

The academic careers of City University of New York (CUNY) freshmen who enrolled during the initial years of the open-admissions policy were studied. For 1970, 1971, and 1972 entrants, educational attainments were measured through 1984. Attention was directed to: rates of graduation for undergraduate degrees after 12 or more years; how students…

The theoretical basis of programmed instruction and the sequential skill development approach used at University of Louisville's University College are described, and results of student testing to determine the effectiveness of programmed instruction in the school's remedial program are examined. Nine areas of basic competencies needed for college…

Although the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) are rooted in the tradition of providing transfer education to Chicago's working class youth, the current administrative acceptance of a market-oriented, vocational philosophy has resulted in a decline in general education courses and has jeopardized equal access to higher education. This vocational…

Results of an evaluation of the Individualized Study Program (ISP), a 2-year pilot program at the Learning Skills Center (LSC) of the University of California, Davis, are presented. The program target group were disadvantaged students who had not met the university's entrance requirements. The ISP, which is designed to improve retention of…