Skip to page content

College-Bound Students

Education Curriculum
commentary
Next Year's Freshman: How Corequisites Might Help Address COVID-19 Learning Loss
Lindsay Daugherty, Trey Miller
Jul 13, 2021
The RAND Blog
As states and colleges look to address learning loss due to COVID-19, it is important that they not turn to traditional models of remediation that prevent students from directly entering college coursework. Instead, they should look to new, effective models of corequisite support.
Read More »

College-Bound Students
commentary
Is It Time to Rethink the Separation Between the High School and Postsecondary Systems?
Julie Edmunds, Fatih Unlu @fatih_unlu_R, Elizabeth J. Glennie, Brian Phillips, Nina Arshavsky
Apr 16, 2020
Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard
We do not yet know how long or deep this economic downturn will be, or how the pandemic will affect the way we work and learn. But just as the post-coronavirus workplace is surely being re-envisioned, this crisis should motivate us to reconsider the structure of our educational system. Early college is a model that can help inform these discussions.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
Dual Enrollment for High Schoolers Can Expand Access to College—with Some Caveats
Fatih Unlu @fatih_unlu_R, Julie Edmunds
Jun 6, 2019
The RAND Blog
Targeted federal investments in high school and college dual enrollment programs can boost postsecondary access for students currently underrepresented in postsecondary education. But thoughtful implementation could be key to ensuring those students are successful in college.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
The Case for Corequisites: What Are the Ingredients of Success?
Lindsay Daugherty
May 23, 2018
Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness
More than two-thirds of community college students and 40 percent of four-year college students take at least one developmental education course. States and colleges across the United States are experimenting with innovative approaches to developmental education to improve graduation rates for struggling students.
Read More »
Labor Markets
commentary
Bridging the Growing College Divide Among Young Americans
Diana Gehlhaus
Apr 13, 2018
The Hill
Over the last decade, more Americans age 25 to 34 earned four-year college and graduate degrees, but the number of those without college degrees also increased. New ways of communicating educational options and outcomes to young people are needed.
Read More »
Education Reform
commentary
Ready, Set, College
Lindsay Daugherty
Mar 5, 2018
U.S. News & World Report
With the nation investing at least $1 billion a year in developmental education, states and colleges are rethinking their approaches to reform. Are states moving too fast to mandate developmental education policy? It depends on the policy.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
National Database Could Help Students Pick College—and Income
Charles A. Goldman
Aug 1, 2017
RealClearEducation
A bill introduced in May would create a searchable database of students' college majors and earnings after graduation. The data could help U.S. students make informed decisions and could also be used to better allocate resources that benefit students.
Read More »
Postsecondary Education
commentary
The High Cost of Free College
Trey Miller
Aug 1, 2016
U.S. News & World Report
Tuition subsidies may encourage institutions to raise tuition, since the government would foot the bill. One possible solution: develop and implement policies that encourage greater productivity from higher education institutions.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
Making the 'Gap Year' More Inclusive and Purposeful
Louay Constant
May 19, 2016
The RAND Blog
High schools and universities should work together, with the support of policymakers, to develop programs that would provide a wider spectrum of U.S. students with the opportunity to take a purposeful gap year—and enter college with some real-world adult experience behind them.
Read More »
Immigrants and Emigrants
commentary
Should Undocumented Immigrant Youth Pay In-State Tuition to Attend College?
Robert Bozick
Jul 28, 2015
The RAND Blog
Undocumented children are entitled to free primary and secondary public education everywhere in the United States, regardless of their legal status. But when they finish high school, their options for college vary depending on the state in which they live.
Read More »
Postsecondary Education
commentary
America's College Promise: Meeting the Higher Education Challenge
Trey Miller, Holly Kosiewicz
Jan 19, 2015
The RAND Blog
President Obama's proposal to cover the costs of two years of community college offers hope to many American students, but two key challenges should be addressed: meeting the needs of underprepared students and devising a system to smooth the transfer of credits from one institution to another.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
Cost of College in the United States
Marlon Graf
Jan 16, 2015
EduTech Magazine
For middle- to lower-income families in the U.S., in particular, the costs associated with attending a four-year university are becoming nearly impossible to bear. More and more students are ending up with significant debt after graduating from college, putting financial pressure on them at the outset of their professional careers.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
College Ratings and Affordable Education
Rafiq Dossani
Dec 24, 2014
The RAND Blog
There are reasons to believe American students from the middle- and lower-income tiers aren't making affordable college choices. Can a new ratings system help them make better, more affordable decisions?
Read More »
Obesity
commentary
To Fight Obesity, Make UC a Laboratory
Deborah A. Cohen
Oct 30, 2014
The Orange County Register
With its Global Food Initiative, the University of California is seeking ways to help the billion people who go to bed hungry each night. At the same time, UC could also be addressing obesity. Experimenting with changes to the food environment and documenting their impact on diet and weight gain would accelerate progress on this national problem not just for students, but for all Americans.
Read More »
College-Bound Students
commentary
The Price for Student Satisfaction and Success in Higher Education
Benoit Guerin
Aug 14, 2014
The RAND Blog
Choosing the right university and the best course of study is one of the most important decisions young people and parents will make. Not everyone makes the right decision. Of the wide range of factors involved in choosing a university, how important are university tuition fees to young people and their parents?
Read More »
Postsecondary Education
commentary
Four Approaches to Improve Higher Education in India Through Policies
Trey Miller, Megan Clifford
Jun 12, 2014
EduTech Magazine
In India, university enrolment has grown from 10 to 23 million from 2000 to 2013, and so has interest in improving access and quality. A review of research on higher-education policies on affirmative action, financial aid, private education, and vocational education identifies gaps in research on improving access and quality.
Read More »
STEM Education
commentary
Instead of Promoting STEM Education Indiscriminately, Try This
Rafiq Dossani
Mar 31, 2014
The RAND Blog
With all the evidence demonstrating the importance of STEM education for success in the 21st century, well-intentioned policymakers may be tempted to indiscriminately promote all STEM curricula, across all levels of education. But unpacking what STEM really means reveals the need for a more nuanced approach.
Read More »
STEM Education
commentary
What to Make of P-TECH Schools
Rafiq Dossani
Feb 21, 2014
The RAND Blog
There is no doubting the viability of STEM skills in the 21st century job market and the long-term benefits of going to college. But the P-TECH program could be promising for two reasons that have nothing to do with technology.
Read More »
Educational Program Evaluation
commentary
How to Assess 21st Century Competencies: 12 Key Lessons
Brian M. Stecher, Laura S. Hamilton
Feb 18, 2014
Education Week
Assessing competencies such as creativity and global awareness can provide educators with a broader set of indicators they can use to inform instruction and set goals with students. However, evidence about the effects of testing suggests that caution and careful planning is warranted when developing a new assessment system.
Read More »
Diet and Eating Habits
commentary
The Skinny on the Freshman 15
Deborah A. Cohen
Aug 21, 2013
USA Today
Colleges should acknowledge their responsibility not to put their students at risk for weight gain, obesity and the host of chronic diseases related to poor diets, writes Deborah Cohen. Students have to make their own food choices, but it's colleges who're setting the table.
Read More »
Postsecondary Education
commentary
The Cost of Higher Education: The Big Picture
Rafiq Dossani
Jul 12, 2013
The RAND Blog
According to Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan, tuition is becoming less affordable because institutions are not performance-oriented and thus do not use their funding wisely. But would a more efficient system really bring measurable reductions in tuition costs?
Read More »
Educational Equity
commentary
Preserving Access and Quality in an Era of Rising University Tuition Fees
Charles A. Goldman, Megan Clifford, Lindsay Daugherty
Sep 28, 2012
wise-qatar.org
Many countries have long traditions of full or partial government funding for higher education, but as they struggle with fiscal pressures, they seek ways to shift costs to users. Implementing greater cost sharing without coherent policies to mitigate its impact on students and institutions threatens to worsen both student access and institutional quality.
Read More »