Funding at-risk compensatory programs: An urban high school case study

A Texas urban high school with a 98 percent minority student enrollment was selected to conduct a micro-finance analysis on site-based at-risk per pupil costs. A process was developed to define site-based state compensatory education (SCE) and to account for all students receiving direct and indirect state compensatory education services. Program costs data were analyzed to develop a relationship between full-time equivalent (FTE) state categorical program costs and regular education program costs. At-risk student background characteristics were defined using a parent home survey, conducted with a sample of twenty at-risk students and twenty regular education students. The data revealed that 68 percent of the students exhibited one or more of the state-defined at-risk variables; the highest program costs produced the highest achievement: and based on student backgroud characteristics, all of the students, including regular funded students, were at risk.     

基于规模效益的高校负债实证分析

对调查样本分析发现,生均成本及在校生规模是影响学校负债的重要因素。以生均经常费成本及生均全成本作为被解释变量,以在校生规模、负债规模及影响学校生均成本的其它办学条件作为解释变量,设计四个不同数学模型,以随机调查获取的样本高校生均经常费成本与生均全成本及相关数据进行回归分析发现,高校负债变量与生均经常费成本变量、生均全成本变量及在校生规模变量间存在正向变化关系,而在校生规模变量与生均经常费成本变量、生均全成本变量间存在反向变化关系,为高校在适度负债的同时实现规模效益提供了理论依据。     

Costs on the Mind: The Influence of the Financial Burden of College on Academic Performance and Cognitive Functioning

The current studies test the hypothesis that the financial burden of college can initiate a psychological process that has a negative influence on academic performance for students at selective colleges and universities. Prior studies linking high college costs and student loans to academic outcomes have not been grounded within relevant social psychological theory regarding how and when the financial burden of college can influence students’ psychological and cognitive processes. We test the hypothesis that the salient financial burden of college impairs students’ cognitive functioning, especially when it creates an identity conflict or perceived barrier to reaching a student’s desired financially successful future. First, we use longitudinal data from 28 selective colleges and universities to establish that students who accumulate student loan debt within these contexts are less likely to graduate from college because student loan debt predicts a decline in grades over time, even when controlling for factors related to socioeconomic status and prior achievement. Then, in an experiment, we advance research in this area with a direct, causal test of the proposed psychological process. An experimental manipulation that brings high college costs to mind impairs students’ cognitive functioning, but only when those thoughts create an identity conflict or a perceived barrier to reaching a student’s desired financially successful future.     

Socioeconomic Status– and Gender‐Based Differences in Students’ Perceptions of E‐Learning Systems

Many universities are pursuing increases in on‐line course offerings as a means of offsetting the rising costs of providing high‐quality educational opportunities and of better serving their student populations. However, enrollments in online courses are not always sufficient to cover their costs. One possible way of improving enrollments is through marketing campaigns targeted to specific demographic groups. In this study, we take a first look into how students’ perceptions of e‐learning systems, prior to their enrollment in an online course, vary across socioeconomic status and gender. Findings suggest that prior to taking an online course, working‐class students perceive e‐learning systems more positively than their middle‐class peers but that little difference exists between genders. Armed with this knowledge, universities may improve online course enrollments by marketing online courses specifically to working‐class students or through campaigns aimed at improving middle‐class students’ perceptions of e‐learning systems.     

Willingness to Pay and Preference for Private Institutions

This study focuses on the correlates of student preference for private institutions over public institutions in their senior year in high school, with a particular focus on the effects of students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability. The data for this study were drawn from a longitudinal study of postsecondary educational choice of high school students in the state of Indiana. The results indicate that in addition to student and family background and student academic characteristics, students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability have a substantial linkage with student preference for private or public institutions. This study suggests that family and ascribed characteristics alone do not explain student preference for the type of postsecondary institution. Students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability are also directly related to student preference for a certain type of postsecondary institution, independent of student family background and academic characteristics. This suggests that the willingness to pay, not only the ability to pay, plays a direct role in student college choice decisions. The implications for policy making are discussed.     

The Logic of Loans: students' perceptions of the costs and benefits of the student loan

Government policy towards financial support for students means that students increasingly have to bear the costs of their education, often through acquiring significant student debt. This policy is largely justified with reference to the private benefits (through enhanced life-time earnings) that university graduates can expect to enjoy. Using evidence from a qualitative study of 49 students, this paper analyses the extent to which students are engaged in a process of rational weighing-up of the costs and benefits of higher education as implied by the policy stance. It also explores their interpretation of their financial position and Government policy towards them. It argues that students are very poorly informed about both the costs and benefits of higher education, and that financial outcomes are not created in an essentially private and individual fashion, but instead are strongly mediated by cultural and familial resources.     

Financing student flows: The effects of recent policy trends

Rapid growth during the 1970s in the number of foreign students, led several countries to introduce quotas or differential fees to regulate or restrict foreign student enrolments. An analysis of the effects of full-cost fees, introduced in Britain in 1980, shows that this caused a reduction in the number of students, particularly from developing countries, but since 1983 a policy of targeted scholarships has helped to redress the balance. Many countries are now reassessing the costs and benefits of foreign students and developing new policies, to ensure that both sending and receiving countries benefit from increased student mobility.     

A Waste of Time? (Private Rates of Return to Higher Education in the 1990s)

Since 1990, there has been considerable debate concerning the benefits of the expansion of higher education and the appropriate way to fund such an expansion. This paper demonstrates that three factors are decisive to the individual contemplating higher education: national economic growth; the relative earnings of graduates and non-graduates; the difference between the average and the marginal student. The results, of analysis based on rates of return, reaffirm the view that a proportion of the costs involved in higher education can be transferred to the graduates themselves in the form of loans. However, there appear to be limits to the costs that can be transferred if all students are to judge that undergraduate study is a worthwhile proposition. Notwithstanding this, most students could be lent more income to study than is now the case and indeed an average student would be advised to take any loans despite the greater debt. Marginal students, however, are making a risky private investment and, therefore, any decisions to further expand may result in students not taking up the places.     

MATHEMATICS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The research reported in this article used regression analyses to examine the factors explaining the variation in instructional costs per full‐time equivalent (FTE) student at 592 public community colleges during the 1991‐92 academic year. The results suggests that instructional costs per FTE student tend to increase with the full‐time faculty‐to‐FTE student ratio, the part‐time faculty‐to‐FTE student ratio, faculty salaries, and the ratio of degree completions to total FTE enrollment in agricultural, skilled trade, and health‐related programs. Community colleges with total FTE enrollments between 1,000 and 1,499, between 2,000 and 2,499, and between 4,000 and 4,499 students tend to have lower instructional costs per FTE student than community colleges having total FTE enrollment less than 500 students.     

Fachspezifische Entscheidungen zum Auslandsstudium

In the context of economic globalization, international student mobility is considered increasingly important. However, due to data limitations, systematic studies to explain observed disciplinary differences are rare. Using expectancy-value-theory, we argue that this “discipline gap” in international student mobility can either be explained by a particular link to costs and/or to expected benefits. A factorial survey experiment administered to students of economics and engineering at a German university allows for a comparison of the separate consideration of both systematically varied costs and measured benefit expectations of studying abroad across both groups of students. The results reveal that disciplinary differences in the intention to study abroad are based on differently-weighted benefit potential, and not on differences in the evaluation of costs.     

Student‐to‐Student Interaction Revisited: A Case Study of Working Adult Business Students in Online Courses*

Faculty teaching in online environments are universally encouraged to incorporate a variety of student‐to‐student learning activities into their courses. Although there is a body of both theoretical and empirical work supporting this, adult professional students participating in an online MBA program at an urban business school reported being at best indifferent and often negative regarding these learning activities. A case study was performed to explore how pervasive this attitude was and the possible reasons for it. Through various sources of data and exploration, we discovered that common interactive modalities are not associated with either perceived learning or satisfaction. A content analysis of a data analysis course revealed that 64.5% of responses recalled student‐to‐student interactivities when responding to a “learned least from” query. We identified three possible reasons for these negative responses: time inefficiency, interaction dysfunction, and flexibility intrusion. We conclude that, although some working professional students probably do learn from student‐to‐student interactivity, the costs incurred may be too great. If working adult students present a different profile than those students typically represented in academic research and thus have different needs and expectations, we may need to rethink the design of online education delivered to them.     

The effect of local labor market conditions in the 1990s on the likelihood of community college students’ persistence and attainment

This study analyzes the influence of local labor market conditions on the year-to-year persistence and attainment decisions of a sample of traditional-aged students who attended community colleges during the 1990s. The findings suggest that the enrollment and attainment decisions of these first-time community college students were not made purely as a response to changes in tuition costs, but rather the result of a more interconnected process whereby changes in tuition, local labor market conditions, and the relative change in both are considered. For those who are sensitive to these relative costs, the likelihood of dropping out is increased. Of those who remained enrolled, the evidence suggests that an increase in tuition appears to provide an incentive or extra motivation to finish a degree, especially an associate’s degree. This finding does not support the raising of in-state tuition to improve student outcomes; rather it draws attention to the complexity involved in student persistence and attainment decision-making.     

Right from the Start: Critical Classroom Practices for Building Teacher–Student Trust in the First 10 Weeks of Ninth Grade

Teacher–student trust is associated with the social and emotional development of students, their school connectedness and engagement, and their academic achievement. However, few studies have examined how trust develops between teachers and students in ninth grade, a critical year in high school for students to start off on-track. Even less research has examined how teacher–student trust develops from the perspective of students to help identify specific teacher classroom practices that are effective at doing so, particularly at the start of the school year when students’ relationships and connections to high school are just beginning to take shape. Drawing on data from a longitudinal, qualitative study of ninth-grade teacher–student relationships in one neighborhood public high school in Chicago, this study highlights three critical classroom practices that appear particularly effective for helping to build trusting teacher–student relationships during the first 10 weeks of high school. Highlighting the perspectives and insights of ninth grade students, this analysis finds that (1) the priority that teachers place on specific classroom practices, and (2) the timing of when these practices are used by teachers, are both critical in establishing teacher–student trust—an essential ingredient in helping ninth grade students gain important social and school connections during their transition to high school. By highlighting the voices of ninth grade youth, this study provides valuable insights for educators aiming to use specific classroom-based practices that are essential for helping ninth grade students make valuable school connections and get on-track right from the start of the year.

     

Cost analysis of televised instruction for continuing professional education

As knowledge expands in many professional fields the provision of continuing education for full-time employed professionals becomes increasingly important. The Stanford Instructional Television System, which entails open air broadcast of programs received by students at their places of employment, represents a feasible alternative for accomplishing the taks of continuing education. The emphasis in this study is on the costs of the system. Costs and utilization for the years 1968 through 1974 are presented along with annual projections to 1987. Two types of cost models are used to analyze this data. The first model provides information of the change in annual total cost with increased student utilization and course hours. The second model provides information on the average costs per student per year, over any assumed project length from any initial year. The two models are consistent. The initial equipment investment was US $ 1,187,300. In 1974 recurrent costs were US $ 206,800 (exclusive of teacher costs) to service 3,762 students and produce 6,290 hours of programs.San Jose State University     

THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER‐STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND THEIR ACADEMIC SELF‐REGULATION: DOES LIKING A SPECIFIC TEACHER MATTER?

Although positive teacher‐student relationships are known to aid students’ academic self‐regulation, the emotional aspects of teacher liking are often neglected within research. The present study used a large sample of seventh‐ and eighth‐grade students (N = 1,088; M_Age =  13.7) in secondary schools in Germany to investigate whether the motivation students gain from specific well‐liked teachers (i.e., that students identify) can moderate the relation between their perception of teacher‐student relationships overall and academic self‐regulation (intrinsic motivation, identified, introjected, and external regulation). By means of latent moderated structural equations, students’ motivation based on liking one specific teacher was found to moderate the association between teacher‐student relationships and intrinsic motivation. The present study makes a contribution to the existing research on teacher‐student relationships and academic self‐regulation by investigating the role of students’ motivation related to the liking of a specific teacher. Results indicate that when early adolescent students can identify a well‐liked teacher, they tend to have higher levels of academic motivation. Hence, students’ motivation based on liking a single teacher compensates for generally low‐quality teacher‐student relationships and their respective impact on students’ intrinsic motivation.     

Matching between students and universities: What are the sources of inequalities of access to higher education?

It is assumed that a perfect balance between student academic achievement and the quality of the university they attend is beneficial both for students and higher education institutions (HEIs). Matching theory predicts the existence of perfect match between the two groups in the absence of transaction costs associated with university enrolment. However, in this study we show cases of mismatch situations in Russia under the Unified State Exam—the standardised student admission mechanism. The reasons for minimal transaction costs and the emergence of unequal access to HEIs were studied. Based on data on Moscow high school graduates who entered university, the determinants of the mismatch between the quality of universities and applicant abilities were assessed. Whilst overall favourable matching results are established, we show that individual student achievement results are subject to the influence of school and family characteristics. Thus, inequality of access can be formed at stages preceding higher education enrolment.     

Student Finance and Widening Participation in the British Isles: Common Problems, Different Solutions

Across the British Isles there are common forces encouraging an expansion of higher education (HE) while constraining the ability and willingness of governments to finance it. We examine the nature of these forces and conclude that together they are likely to lead over time to the general taxpayer funding a declining share of HE costs. While there are some potential efficiency and social equity benefits from reforms of student finance motivated by switching more of the costs towards students and their parents, the likely impact of these reforms on widening participation is unclear. We examine the current student finance systems in the British Isles and assess whether or not a system based upon income‐contingent student loans, means‐tested grants and targeted bursaries can deliver both the desired expansion and widening access.     

Potential economies of scale at the university of Bradford

Conclusions It seems that considerable potential economies of scale exist if the University of Bradford is representative. If enrolment is doubled with present accommodation surpluses and course structures, then average costs per student may fall by between 11 and 38 percent, depending upon the course involved and the assumptions made. Further substantial cost reductions would arise with a course structure which handled two intakes a year.However, we became increasingly aware during our research of the absence of any built-in incentive to use resources efficiently. This was most obvious in the case of buildings which were designed in a manner which fits academic requirements more like a sack than a glove, and which, once constructed, were regarded as free goods. It was also the case in respect of current items of expenditure, for under the present system of British university financing and planning, universities know in advance, subject to certain specific exceptions, their income for a five-year period and the approximate number and type of students they will enrol. Thus cost per student over the quinquennium has been determined before the students enter. Once the quinquennium has begun there are few real ways to effect economies since revenue and therefore expenditure have already been determined, nor is there any incentive for universities to cut costs per graduate. The critical time to achieve economies is therefore before quinquennial recurrent grants are fixed, and the power to do this lies with the University Grants Committee and the Department of Education and Science, not with the individual universities. Thereafter universities would need to react to such economies by implementing them as painlessly as possible.This paper demonstrates that substantial economies may be expected in per-student costs at the University of Bradford as the number of undergraduates increases. Further details may be obtained from the authors.     

浅析高校实行学生宿舍自主管理

目前,我国高校学生宿舍管理模式频有创新且创造出许多行之有效的办法,学生宿舍管理社会化、后勤服务化正在成为主流。但是,面对新一代大学生对于自身利益维护诉求不断增多及校园公共事务参与度不断提升的局面,许多管理或后勤服务在传统的单向管理模式上举步维艰,不重视甚至忽视学生自我管理在宿舍管理体系中的作用,在管理、服务成本增大的情况下却收效甚微。本文在对高校宿舍管理过程中采取的系列措施进行思考及总结,探讨学生宿舍自主管理的可行性及必要性,对于学生自治在校园文化建设、制度建设及校园安全稳定维护等方面的作用有针对性的提出了几点有益的思考。     

Student views on transition to higher education in Ireland: Challenges,impacts and suggestions

This paper examines students’ perspectives on the main transitional challenges experienced when commencing higher education. It explores which students are most affected by the transition and is the first paper to provide an overview of student recommendations to help improve the transition in an Irish context. The study involves large‐scale surveys and focus groups across four higher education institutions and explores a range of transitional challenges (including academic, social and course‐specific aspects). Over 1,100 student suggestions to improve transition are analysed and many of these recommendations could be easily implemented beyond Ireland. Ten overall recommendations are made which include, among others, specific supports for mature students and those with longer commuting distances, course‐specific introductory skills modules to be given by current students, a first year ‘starter’ pack with course‐specific orientation materials, and the introduction of a student‐shadowing programme for prospective students.