Education Reference Guide: Pursuing Higher Education (PDF)

The collection begins with Marlene Clapp’s overview of the milestones achieved in the fight to expand access to
higher education in the United States. Clapp cites rising tuition fees and inadequate academic preparation as being
partially responsible for any decline in the progress toward greater access, particularly in relation to already underrepresented
student populations. Clapp continues with a review of admissions policies and the role that the land
grant movement, Title IX, and affirmative action programs play in furthering universal access. She also considers the
admissions policies that attempt to increase accessibility, such as need-blind and score-optional admissions. Because
of the increasing competition involved in the college admission process, more and more students are enrolling in alternative
college prep programs and participating in college placement counseling. Clapp explores student recruitment
strategies and addresses concerns that the use of e-recruitment may hinder equality of opportunity in higher education
institutions. R.D. Merritt then turns to the topic of college entrance exams, which are one of the main determinants of
college admissions. These exams are often associated with wide performance gaps, and Merritt questions the “predictive
validity of the tests as measurements of future academic success.”