The institutional move associated with embarking upon post-16 study is part of the learner journey taken by many young people in England, including those from widening participation (WP) backgrounds. However, it can present a challenge, although one that has received comparatively little attention from researchers, practitioners and policy makers.…

Many English-medium universities employ a compensatory model to establish cutscores on English language proficiency tests for student admissions. In this model, students can have different scores on different sections of the test provided their overall score meets the admission cutscore. This practice raises questions regarding potential variation…

Direct Admissions policies, first pioneered by Idaho in 2015, aim to simplify the path to college for high school students by proactively admitting students to state colleges and universities. Idaho's decision to implement Direct Admissions was motivated by a desire to boost its relatively low college-going rates and ensure that more of its high…

A central exam with objective criteria in student selection and placement for higher education in Turkey had not been applied until 1960s. Each higher education institution used to conduct its own exam according to the demand density. No exams were made when the applications were sometimes below the available capacity. In the 1960s, there were so…

This article explores shared governance in advancing access, completion, and transfer. Shared governance is a critical vehicle for consultation and collective decision-making in higher education. It is the structure and process through which priorities are set and decisions are made in academic institutions. The demographic cliff facing higher…

This paper uses register data to study how a particular age reward feature affects admission into two highly competitive study programs: medicine and law. The Norwegian admission system to higher education is centralized, and applicants compete in two quotas: one quota almost entirely based on grade point average from upper secondary education and…

The objective of this study was to understand which factors contribute most to Psychology and Teaching graduates' satisfaction with their university professional formation. Two factors were assessed: the level of admissions selectivity by the university attended, and the salary received once employed. The participants graduated from three…

Writing a college-application essay has become a rite of passage for high-school seniors in the United States, one whose importance has expanded over time due to an increasingly competitive admissions process. Various commentators have noted the disturbing evolution of these essays over the years, with an ever-greater emphasis placed on obstacles…

As part of a larger research study entitled "Where Do Test Scores Fit in a Test-Optional Environment," the authors surveyed students who took the ACT on June 11, 2022, in order to better understand why high school students would take a standardized test like the ACT when they knew they were applying to test-optional institutions. Among…

It is common for graduate programs to be plagued by delays in on-time student completion or to experience student attrition. Students have experienced such delays in a local program at the University where I am employed as a lecturer. Therefore, this dissertation was undertaken with the aim of supporting university students at the graduate level…

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court brought to a close the country's decades-long experiment in affirmative action in a pair of closely watched cases--"Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College" and "Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina"--and overturned the use of racial…

The aim of the current study is to estimate the graduation grade point average (GPA) at the Arab International University (AIU). The importance of this study is that it is the first of its kind in Syria, particularly under the conditions of the bitter war, which has not yet come to its end. The sample of the study consists of data collected from…

This study illuminates the male advantage in test-based admissions to higher education. In contrast to many other countries, admission tests in Germany are optional, and test-free programs are available. This context offers a unique opportunity to investigate whether the male advantage in test-based admissions is caused by gender differences in…

England has a language education crisis: fewer people are studying languages at school and university language programmes are closing. This study analyses data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the UK admissions service for higher education. The study quantifies how entry tariff and socioeconomic background affect…

The SAT and ACT have held a controversial place in American education for generations. The conventional wisdom has come to suggest that these college entrance tests are harmful to educational equity because they discriminate against students from low-income families and other students whose backgrounds may put them at a disadvantage, such as…