High College Enrollment Research Articles

Accountability and (In)Congruence in a No-Excuses School College-Going Culture

This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students’ worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the transmission of dominant cultural resources. Alignment between a student’s worldview and the school’s approach mediated their ability to draw on their full range of resources to participate in the college choice process and forge postsecondary trajectories they believed in. These findings foreshadow the potential impacts of “College for All” accountability structures and underscore the importance of cultural congruence in college-going cultures.

Financing Higher Education through Equity, Not Debt: The Case for Income Share Agreements

ABSTRACT Student loan debt in the United States is $1.6 trillion and rising. The public debate concerning the human capital value vs. the social capital value of higher education has been shifting toward the former and away from the latter standpoint in recent years. I observe how the current system of Federal student loans is proving inadequate for a growing number of students. In an era of rising costs, high college enrollment, slower economic growth, and an aging population, the government provision of free college tuition would likely result in lower educational quality and lower accessibility for prospective students. Income Share Agreements offer a market-based alternative for higher education financing that might offer solutions to most of the problems with existing avenues for higher education financing – the solution involves shifting from relying on debt to finance higher education to financing education as an equity investment. In order to clarify lawfulness, policymakers should instill legal certainty and alleviate the reluctance of investors and prospective students from entering the marketplace.

Financing Higher Education through Equity, Not Debt: The Case for Income Share Agreements

Student loan debt in the United States is $1.6 trillion and rising. The public debate concerning the human capital value vs. the social capital value of higher education has been shifting toward the former and away from the latter standpoint in recent years. I observe how the current system of Federal student loans is proving inadequate for a growing number of students. In an era of rising costs, high college enrollment, slower economic growth, and an aging population, the government provision of free college tuition would likely result in lower educational quality and lower accessibility for prospective students. Income Share Agreements offer a market-based alternative for higher education financing that might offer solutions to most of the problems with existing avenues for higher education financing – the solution involves shifting from relying on debt to finance higher education to financing education as an equity investment. In order to clarify lawfulness, policymakers should instill legal certainty and alleviate the reluctance of investors and prospective students from entering the marketplace.

The Cultural Context of Nondisclosure of Alcohol-Involved Acquaintance Rape Among Asian American College Women: A Qualitative Study

With high college enrollment and increasing alcohol use, Asian American (AA) college women may be at particular risk for experiencing alcohol-involved acquaintance rape. Although AA women have expressed the weakest intentions to report rape when compared to other ethnic groups, cultural factors influencing these intentions remain unexamined. Guided by grounded theory, 17 self-identified AA college women were interviewed about how the average AA college woman would respond to an alcohol-involved acquaintance rape. Despite awareness of benefits of disclosing rape, participants emphasized that nondisclosure would be the normative response. Three themes emerged from participants: institutional, sociocultural, and psychological contexts of nondisclosure. At an institutional level, nondisclosure referenced mental health and police services, which included Asian stereotypes and mistrust of police. Within a sociocultural context, rape nondisclosure focused on negative consequences on relationships with parents and, to a lesser extent, on friendships. Emotional avoidance and not labeling an acquaintance rape as rape were psychological strategies for rape nondisclosure. Participant's conceptualizations of mental and physical health concerns, specifically post-rape concerns, were framed within sociocultural/macrostructural contexts and may not match that of the more individualistic U.S. mainstream conceptualizations of health. Culturally sensitive rape education may be more effective in increasing rape prevention and support.

Responding to Change and Forces in Higher Education

An overview of 5 major issues facing higher education and their implications for physical therapy education is presented. The issues are access to higher education/lifelong learning, technology/the digital divide; the changing professorate, accountability, and globalism and democracy. The implications of these issues are discussed from the contexts of threats, opportunities, and strategies based on feedback of participants who attended a presentation given by the authors at the 2001 Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association. All of the issues will result in various degrees of change. Many of the changes may result in new ways of thinking and doing in our educational preparation of physical therapists. Key Words: Education, professional; Higher education; Physical therapy; Physical therapy eduation. INTRODUCTION This article is based on a presentation given by the authors at the 2001 Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). We provide an overview of issues in higher education and a synthesis of the threats, opportunities, and strategies to address these challenges by the physical therapy profession. In addition, the authors offer some observations about the process of change itself. OVERVIEW OF ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION There are 5 issues identified as major change issues effecting higher education. They are: access, technology, the changing professorate, accountability, and globalization. While all of these issues do overlap, they will be presented individually. Access Not since World War II and the passage of the GI Bill of Rights for US veterans has there been more unprecedented access to higher education than there is today. This access is due to several factors. First, there is a growing recognition that more professional positions are going to require postsecondary training. Second, the most diverse populations of Americans than ever before are going to college. A big population will be fueling enrollment, rising immigration will boost campus populations, and older students are going to colleges and universities in greater numbers than ever before. America's college population has grown substantially since WWII. Before then, college graduates were not a common phenomenon. Many states enlarged their university systems, and enrollments at private colleges and universities also grew.1(p15) By 1963, enrollment had risen to 4.3 million students. Over the next 2 decades, US college enrollments tripled to more than 12 million students. This was due to the number of baby boomers, children born right after World War II, from 1946 to 1960. Higher college enrollment also presented a gradual shift in the US economy from blue-collar to white-collar jobs.1(p13) Between 1982 and 1995, college growth continued, but at a slower pace. Nontraditional students aged 25 years and older accounted for much of the campus population growth. Now, as the children of the baby boomers reach college age, they are drawing the enrollment numbers up again. They are known as Y. The 18- to 24-year-olds from generation Y will account for roughly two thirds of the increase in the number of undergraduates by 2015, or 1.7 million out of the 2.6 million additional students. A dramatic rise in immigration is also increasing campus growth. In the 3 decades between 1960 and 1980, about 450,000 immigrants legally came to the United States each year. By 1980, that number had soared to 800,000 annually. Four of the 5 states projected to have the largest increases in undergraduates by 2015-California, Texas, Florida, and New York-also top the list of states with the highest number of immigrants since 1980.1(p15) Older students again will flock to higher education in the 21st century. This population will include baby boomers on sabbatical, mature workers returning to school for more midcareer education. …