Black students in U.S. higher education: Toward improved access,adjustment, and achievement

This paper seeks to broaden our knowledge and understanding of black student experiences in U.S. higher education over the past 20 years. Toward this end, I analyze black student enrollment/earned degree trends in the state of Michigan during the 1965–80 period; examine the institutional experiences of black students who enrolled as freshmen at the University of Michigan between 1975 and 1983; and assess the correlates of access, adjustment, and achievement of 700 black college students who attended six predominantly white public institutions in 1981. The analyses out across four different levels of U.S. higher education (national, state, institutional, and individual) and shed considerable light not only on black student experiences but also those of other minority and white students as well. Based on the result of the multidimensional analyses, I set forth an agenda for action to improve the status of blacks in higher education.     

The Growth of Vocabulary among University Students with Some Consideration of Methods of Fostering It

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that educational attendance projection problems could be formulated in such a manner that the regression model could be used in the analysis thereof. Two projection approaches, the Cohort-survival ratio approach and a comparable regression approach, were compared using a sample of twenty-five Michigan school districts. The regression approach provided significantly better estimates than did the Cohort-survival ratio approach.     

Selling the Niche: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Cable Network Business-to-Business Advertising

Aside from battling for the hearts and minds of audiences, cable networks also must compete for the attention of cable system operators and national advertisers. The purpose of this study was to ascertain how cable networks attempt to achieve these objectives using various niche branding strategies revealed through their business-to-business (B2B) advertising. Adopting a merged conceptual framework of niche theory and brand differentiation, a 10-month qualitative content analysis of over 200 B2B advertisements representing 62 national cable networks revealed several recurring strategies for selling the niche.