The Role of State Policy in Promoting College Access and Success

The Role of State Policy in Promoting College Access and Success PDF Author: Michael K. McLendon
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781483380049
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Today more than ever, higher education is profoundly important to the prosperity of U.S. society. It is increasingly required for jobs; produces higher earnings, which spurs economic growth; and encourages civic engagement, which strengthens the foundation of democracy. Although the benefits are clear, educational attainment in the United States has stalled. The United States trails its peers substantially, limiting its international competitiveness, and educational disparity exists across socioeconomic groups within the United States, furthering inequality of many kinds. The key to reversing this trend lies in policy innovations within higher education. This volume of The ANNALS offers theoretically grounded empirical analysis of the impact of public policy on higher education. The collection of articles examines the effects of state policy on student readiness for, participation in, and completion of college, in addition to college affordability. The authors also identify theoretical and methodological approaches for future research to help improve policies and higher education attainment in the states.

The Role of State Policy in Promoting College Access and Success

The Role of State Policy in Promoting College Access and Success PDF Author: Michael K. McLendon
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781483380049
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Today more than ever, higher education is profoundly important to the prosperity of U.S. society. It is increasingly required for jobs; produces higher earnings, which spurs economic growth; and encourages civic engagement, which strengthens the foundation of democracy. Although the benefits are clear, educational attainment in the United States has stalled. The United States trails its peers substantially, limiting its international competitiveness, and educational disparity exists across socioeconomic groups within the United States, furthering inequality of many kinds. The key to reversing this trend lies in policy innovations within higher education. This volume of The ANNALS offers theoretically grounded empirical analysis of the impact of public policy on higher education. The collection of articles examines the effects of state policy on student readiness for, participation in, and completion of college, in addition to college affordability. The authors also identify theoretical and methodological approaches for future research to help improve policies and higher education attainment in the states.

Public Policy and Higher Education

Public Policy and Higher Education PDF Author: Edward P. St. John
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415893569
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Amid changing economic and social contexts, radical changes have occurred in public higher education policies over the past three decades. Public Policy and Higher Educationprovides readers with new ways to analyze these complex state policies and offers the tools to examine how policies affect students’ access and success in college. Rather than arguing for a single approach, the authors examine how policymakers and higher education administrators can work to inform and influence change within systems of higher education using research-based evidence along with consideration of political and historical values and beliefs. Special Features: Case Studies—allow readers to examine strategies used by different types of colleges to improve access and retention. Reflective Exercises—encourage readers to discuss state and campus context for policy decisions and to think about the strategies used in a state or institution. Approachable Explanations—unpack complex public policies and financial strategies for readers who seek understanding of public policy in higher education. Research-Based Recommendations—explore how policymakers, higher education administrators and faculty can work together to improve quality, diversity, and financial stewardship. This textbook is an invaluable resource for graduate students, administrators, policymakers, and researchers who seek to learn more about the crucial contexts underlying policy decisions and college access.

Public Policy and College Access

Public Policy and College Access PDF Author: Edward P. St. John
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education and state
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Volume 19 of Readings on Equal Education takes a hard look at the impact of state and federal policies on college access. Since passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965, differences in access for low-income and middle-income families have been an important issue. This volume suggests a new approach to policy research on college access and provides information on the impact of federal and state financial and school reform policies. Statistics (NCES) studies and expose the serious errors made in these studies. These chapters show how the errors were made, consider the implications for federal higher education policy, demonstrate the critical need for a reanalysis of the NCES databases, and reanalyze the access challenge using NCES databases. Section II examines changes in the state role in promoting access to higher education. Articles focus on the impact of change in state policies on state student grant programs, academic preparation, and postsecondary encouragement.

The State of College Access and Completion

The State of College Access and Completion PDF Author: Laura W. Perna
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135106703
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Despite decades of substantial investments by the federal government, state governments, colleges and universities, and private foundations, students from low-income families as well as racial and ethnic minority groups continue to have substantially lower levels of postsecondary educational attainment than individuals from other groups. The State of College Access and Completion draws together leading researchers nationwide to summarize the state of college access and success and to provide recommendations for how institutional leaders and policymakers can effectively improve the entire spectrum of college access and completion. Springboarding from a seminar series organized by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, chapter authors explore what is known and not known from existing research about how to improve student success. This much-needed book calls explicit attention to the state of college access and success not only for traditional college-age students, but also for the substantial and growing number of "nontraditional" students. Describing trends in various outcomes along the pathway from college access to completion, this volume documents persisting gaps in outcomes based on students’ demographic characteristics and offers recommendations for strategies to raise student attainment. Graduate students, scholars, and researchers in higher education will find The State of College Access and Completion to be an important and timely resource.

Breaking Through the Access Barrier

Breaking Through the Access Barrier PDF Author: Edward P. St. John
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136952381
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Breaking Through the Access Barrier argues that the policies designed to address inequalities in college access are failing to address underlying issues of inequality. This book introduces academic capital formation (ACF), a groundbreaking new theory defined by family knowledge of educational options and the opportunities for pursuing them. The authors suggest focusing on intervention programs and public policy to promote improvement in academic preparation, college information, and student aid. This textbook offers: a new construct–academic capital–that integrates and draws upon existing literature on influencing access to college practical advice for better preparation and intervention real student outcomes, databases, and interviews taken from exemplary intervention programs empirical research illuminating the role of class reproduction in education and how interventions (financial, academic, and networking) can reduce student barriers quantitative and qualitative analysis of the importance and effectiveness of several major policy interventions. Written for courses on higher education policy and policy analysis, readers will find Breaking Through the Access Barrier offers valuable advice for working within new policy frameworks and reshaping the future of educational opportunities and access for under-represented students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The States and Public Higher Education Policy

The States and Public Higher Education Policy PDF Author: Donald E. Heller
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142140477X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Affordability, access, and accountability have long been among the central challenges facing higher education—and they remain so today. Here, Donald E. Heller and other higher education scholars and practitioners explore the current debates surrounding these key issues. As students and their families struggle to meet rising tuition prices, and as state funding for higher education dwindles, policymakers confront issues of affordability within state and institutional budgets. Changing demographics and challenges to affirmative action complicate the admissions process even as colleges and universities seek to diversify enrollments. And issues of institutional accountability have forced the restructuring of higher education governing boards and a reexamination of the role of public trustees in governance. This collection analyzes how issues of affordability, access, and accountability influence the way in which state governments approach, monitor, and set public higher education policy. The contributors examine the latest research on pressing challenges, explore how states are coping with these challenges, and consider what the future holds for public postsecondary education in the United States.

Understanding the Working College Student

Understanding the Working College Student PDF Author: Laura W. Perna
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000978753
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
How appropriate for today and for the future are the policies and practices of higher education that largely assume a norm of traditional-age students with minimal on-campus, or no, work commitments?Despite the fact that work is a fundamental part of life for nearly half of all undergraduate students – with a substantial number of “traditional” dependent undergraduates in employment, and working independent undergraduates averaging 34.5 hours per week – little attention has been given to how working influences the integration and engagement experiences of students who work, especially those who work full-time, or how the benefits and costs of working differ between traditional age-students and adult students.The high, and increasing, prevalence and intensity of working among both dependent and independent students raises a number of important questions for public policymakers, college administrators, faculty, academic advisors, student services and financial aid staff, and institutional and educational researchers, including: Why do so many college students work so many hours? What are the characteristics of undergraduates who work? What are the implications of working for students’ educational experiences and outcomes? And, how can public and institutional policymakers promote the educational success of undergraduate students who work? This book offers the most complete and comprehensive conceptualization of the “working college student” available. It provides a multi-faceted picture of the characteristics, experiences, and challenges of working college students and a more complete understanding of the heterogeneity underlying the label “undergraduates who work” and the implications of working for undergraduate students’ educational experiences and outcomes. The volume stresses the importance of recognizing the value and contribution of adult learners to higher education, and takes issue with the appropriateness of the term “non-traditional” itself, both because of the prevalence of this group, and because it allows higher education institutions to avoid considering changes that will meet the needs of this population, including changes in course offerings, course scheduling, financial aid, and pedagogy.

Pathways to Academic Success in Higher Education

Pathways to Academic Success in Higher Education PDF Author: Edward P. St. John
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136964568
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Pathways to Academic Success in Higher Education examines two major challenges facing the nation. The first is preparing high school students for college, a reform that has been tackled largely through state policy initiatives. The second is creating new pathways to academic success for underrepresented students in higher education, a challenge that must be addressed within a decentralized system of higher education. Part one: Presents and documents key findings from research on K-12 education policy. Part two: Provides action research using a state data system to inform colleges and universities. Part three: Focuses on the future of policy and organizational initiatives to improve opportunity. This book integrates studies conducted over nearly a decade and offers guidance on how best to understand and promote retention and success once students have gained access.

The Attainment Agenda

The Attainment Agenda PDF Author: Laura W. Perna
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421414066
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
"While the federal government seeks to promote educational attainment and equity through its extensive investment in student financial aid, states have primary responsibility for policies that affect the educational attainment of their populations. Despite the centrality of state policy, however, we know relatively little about the relationship between state policy and these outcomes. This book addresses this knowledge gap. Drawing on data collected from descriptive case studies of the relationship between public policy and higher education performance in five states (Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Washington), this book offers a more complete conceptual framework for understanding how state public policy can promote educational attainment. The resulting framework has five central tenets that help us understanding how to improve overall educational attainment and increase equity in that attainment. At its core, the model assumes that higher education performance is determined by effective state policy leadership for higher education. The book also illustrates the need for state policies that reduce the cumulative negative implications of policies that perpetuate differences in educational outcomes across groups and that proactively address the barriers that limit educational attainment for underachieving groups. This book has important implications for public policymakers, college and university leaders, educational researchers and others who are interested in understanding how public policy canimprove educational attainment and equity in attainment across groups"--

Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education

Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education PDF Author: Jennifer A. Delaney
Publisher: American Educational Research Association
ISBN: 196034899X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
The severity of cuts and the unpredictability in state funding for higher education have garnered headlines across the nation since the turn of the present century. In this context, the authors in this new groundbreaking volume argue that too little attention is paid to the consequences of volatility in funding, as most discussions focus on levels of funding. Their research addresses an important blind spot in the academic literature since predictability matters—to institutions, students, families, and states. In addition, the risks of operating in an uncertain financial environment have led to behaviors that are not always in the best interests of states, institutions, faculty, students, or the public good.