Carnegie Classification of Academic Institutions

The 2005 version of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s basic classification scheme for colleges and universities is more complex than previous versions and includes subcategories, new names, and new criteria for categories. Academic institutions are categorized primarily on the basis of highest degree conferred, level of degree production, and research activity. In this report, several categories have been aggregated for statistical purposes. The following are characteristics of those groups:

Doctorate-granting universities include institutions that award at least 20 doctoral degrees per year. They include three subgroups based on level of research activity: very high research activity, high research activity, and doctoral/research universities.

Master’s colleges and universities include institutions that award at least 50 master’s degrees and fewer than 20 doctoral degrees per year.

Baccalaureate colleges include institutions in which baccalaureate degrees represent at least 10% of all undergraduate degrees and that award fewer than 50 master’s degrees or 20 doctoral degrees per year.

Associate’s colleges include institutions in which all degrees are at the associate’s level or bachelor’s degrees account for less than 10% of all undergraduate degrees.

Special focus institutions are those in which at least 75% of degrees are concentrated in a single field or a set of related fields.

Tribal colleges are colleges and universities that are members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Community Colleges and Latinos

Latinos share many risk factors associated with educational attainment with community college students in general. Community college students are more likely than 4-year college students to be from households with low incomes, to be from groups currently underrepresented in S&E fields, to be the first in their family to attend college, to have dependents to support, to be older than the average college student, to exhibit lower achievement in high school, and to delay attendance at college rather than go directly from high school to college (Bailey 2004).

Latino students, as well as black and American Indian/Alaska Native students, are more likely than white or Asian students to attend community colleges. More than half (53%) of Latino undergraduates in 2004 were enrolled in community colleges compared with 41% of white students (NSF/SRS 2007a). At Arizona State University, which has a large Latino population, 67% of all students and 73% of the Latino bachelor’s degree recipients in 2002–03 attended one or more of the local community colleges (Maricopa Community Colleges) before obtaining their degree (de los Santos and de los Santos 2005).

Primary Instruction Methods of Undergraduate Faculty

Most (83%) instructional faculty use lecture/discussion as the primary instructional method for undergraduate classes (Chen 2002). The types of assignments and methods used to grade students vary by discipline. More than half of faculty in the natural sciences* and engineering require their undergraduate students to participate in group projects (compared with 48% of social and behavioral sciences faculty) and more than 60% require lab assignments (compared with 24% of social and behavioral sciences faculty) (appendix table 2-6).

Social and behavioral sciences faculty are more likely than faculty in other S&E fields to require written work of their students: 85% of social and behavioral sciences faculty require term papers of their undergraduate students compared with 76% of agricultural/biological/health sciences faculty and 57% of physical/mathematical/computer sciences/engineering faculty. The use of term papers increased in all disciplines between 1992 and 2003.

Interdisciplinary Degree Programs

In response to the increasing interdependence of S&E disciplines, programs and courses within higher education increasingly reflect interdisciplinary approaches. In one notable interdisciplinary field, neuroscience, the number of doctorates awarded increased from 308 in 1995 to 689 in 2005 (NORC 2006). New interdisciplinary approaches are exemplified in the multidisciplinary doctorate program being adapted at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Economics and Environmental Science PhD Training Program (www.ees.ucsb.edu/). Students earn a doctorate in either economics or in one of the natural sciences. Students in both fields are required to fulfill requirements in their own discipline as well as interdisciplinary courses. They design and conduct thesis research projects that span the two disciplines and include faculty from both departments as advisors.

At the undergraduate level, some interdisciplinary approaches include efforts to design courses and programs around an inherently interdisciplinary discipline (such as bioinformatics or nanotechnology) as a means of developing students’ abilities with allied disciplines. Others involve developing programs whose implementation is enhanced by knowledge, habits of mind, and work approaches from many disciplines. As an example of the first, a broad spectrum of physics and biology faculty in New Mexico are developing a collaborative educational network. This network uses an interdisciplinary approach to produce materials about nanoscience appropriate for use in undergraduate courses in both biology and physics as a means of introducing nanoscience into two diverse disciplines. Biology faculty are developing a knowledge base in physics and physics faculty are developing a knowledge base in biology through joint attendance at workshops and development of course materials. As an example of the second, tissue engineering is being introduced to biology and engineering students in a joint biology/mechanical engineering course at the University of South Carolina–Columbia. Senior-level students are designing bioreactors in their laboratory course and then using the experience to design experiments in courses at their own and other institutions.

Nontechnical Skills Employers Expect of New Entrants to the Workforce

Employers believe that in order for the United States to compete in a global economy, the entering workforce should possess certain skills beyond expertise in their major field (AACU 2005; Bollag 2005; Conference Board 2006; NACE 2005; SCANS 1991). Some of the most important of these skills include good written and oral communication, critical thinking, the ability to work in teams, good interpersonal skills, and professionalism/work ethic.

The Conference Board (2006) recently found that too few college graduates excel in these areas. The majority of employers reported that 2- and 4-year college graduates were "adequate" in terms of general preparation for entry-level jobs. However, only 10% reported that 2-year graduates and 24% reported that 4-year graduates were "excellent." In addition, more than one-fourth of employers reported that 4-year college graduates and almost half reported that 2-year college graduates were deficient in written communication. When asked about future skill needs, employers reported that the following basic knowledge and applied skills are expected to increase in importance: knowledge of foreign languages, making appropriate choices concerning health and wellness, and creativity/innovation.

Beyond attitudinal surveys, there is little current quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of postsecondary education, whether for specific knowledge and skills related to a field of study or for workplace readiness (Swyer, Millet, and Payne 2006; U.S. Department of Education 2006). However, efforts are under way to provide such evidence.

Cost of Higher Education Internationally

Unlike the United States, many countries historically did not charge tuition for higher education. In the past decade, however, most instituted some form of cost sharing, either tuition or fees (Preston 2006). Imposition of tuition and fees has been a response to a growing need for additional revenue, growth in enrollment, and competing demands on public funding. For example, tuition was first instituted in China in 1997, in Great Britain in 1998, in Austria in 2001, and in some German states in 2006 (Johnstone 2003; Kehm 2006). In the Scandinavian countries, tuition remains free but students are charged for room and board. In some countries in East Asia and Latin America, public institutions remain free but because enrollment is limited, expansion of higher education has been primarily through private institutions that charge tuition and fees. In most countries where tuition is charged, students are offered some form of low-cost loans for higher education (Johnstone 2003).

The initiation of tuition and fees and increases in tuition in some countries have raised concerns about affordability. For example, in China in 2000, the government set annual tuition at about 5,000 yuan (about U.S. $600), which is considered high given the average urban per capita income of 10,493 yuan (U.S. $1,313) and the average farmer’s income of 3,256 yuan (U.S. $407) (OBHE 2003; Shinan 2006). In Canada, average undergraduate tuition increased at an average of 7% annually since 1990–91, almost 4 times the average rate of inflation (Statistics Canada 2006). Canadian public colleges are seen by some as less affordable than those in the United States because even though tuition is lower, U.S. public colleges provide far more money in the form of grants than do Canadian colleges (Birchard 2006; Usher and Steele 2006). Direct comparisons of affordability across countries are difficult because tuition, financial assistance, and policies for providing public subsidies vary widely among countries and even within some countries depending on citizenship (OECD 2006). Table 2-3 shows average amounts of tuition by country. Countries with higher tuition fees do not necessarily provide greater amounts of financial support to students, and countries with low tuition may have substantial proportions of students receiving scholarships and grants (OECD 2006).

Effects of Research Experiences on Interest, Retention, and Success

Opportunities for students to engage in early experiences as a working scientist or engineer have been in existence for some time. However, formal studies of the outcomes of such opportunities were not undertaken until fairly recently. There is now a growing body of literature that examines the results of such efforts and analyzes them for their effect on at least one of the following outcomes: student attitudes toward science, student research skills, student confidence in his or her ability to become a scientist or engineer, and retention of students within the field, including entry into graduate school or graduation with a doctorate. In general, each study found increases in students’ understanding of the scientific process, the way in which research is done, and, to varying degrees, their commitment to majoring in science or engineering, to entering a science or engineering career, and to enrolling in a science or engineering graduate program.

These research experiences are often either hands-on research opportunities (participation in an active research laboratory or a didactic laboratory course specifically devoted to working on ongoing research projects) or literature-based research opportunities (participation in a class designed around seminar-type discussion of ongoing research topics or analysis of papers from the primary literature). In engineering, these experiences generally include a freshman design course and/or a sophomore or junior internship.

A recent comparison of results from nine studies of undergraduate hands-on research experiences (Boylan 2006) reveals some overall consistencies in findings but also some interesting variations. Students who participated in an undergraduate research experience reported, in general, a greater interest in STEM research, greater understanding of the research process and the strategies and tools that scientists use to solve problems, and a broader sense of career options in the field (particularly true of the life sciences when students switched from purely medical to broader career goals). The size of the effect on changes in career or graduate education goals are, to some extent, less consistent. One study (Hunter, Laursen, and Seymour 2007) focused on a small set of institutions and found that participating students with high grade point averages were already committed to a career in S&E and so the research experience, although affirming, did not seem to have a large effect on subsequent entry into a graduate program. Other studies (Barlow and Villarejo 2004; Clewell et al. 2006; Price 2005; Russell, Hancock, and McCullough 2007; Summers and Hrabowski 2006) found that students with a broader range of abilities as well as underrepresented minority students were more likely to stay in or switch to an S&E major and to pursue S&E graduate education.

Increase in Student Nonreporting of Race/Ethnicity

For several years, the number and percentage of students not reporting race/ethnicity on their college applications and thus the number and percentage of students of unknown race/ethnicity in federal surveys of higher education enrollment and degrees have increased. In 2005, about 25,700 S&E bachelor’s degree recipients (almost 6% of the total) were of unknown race/ethnicity, up from about 3,700 (1% of the total) in 1985 (appendix table 2-28). At some colleges and universities, the percentage of students who decline to report race/ethnicity is as high as 25% (JBHE 2005). How the unknown category is treated in data reporting can affect estimates of the composition of the student body and trends in minority enrollment or degree attainment. Inclusion of these students in counts of "minority" students or omitting these students from totals or calculations of percentages inflates the number and fraction of minority students.

Level of selectivity of the school is a factor, with the most selective colleges and universities having a higher percentage of students not reporting race than is the case for colleges and universities in the United States overall (JBHE 2005). Most students of unknown race/ethnicity are white and another substantial number are thought to be multiple race (Linneman and Chatman 1996; Smith et al. 2005). The reluctance of white students to report race/ethnicity on college admissions forms may reflect a belief that their race/ethnicity would negatively affect admissions decisions. Thus, timing of collection of race/ethnicity data seems to be a factor in the number of students who do or do not report (Smith et al. 2005). Schools that collect race/ethnicity data after students matriculate generally have lower percentages of students not reporting race/ethnicity.

Recent Developments in Higher Education in China

Major education reform efforts in China began in the late 1990s. These efforts focused on consolidating and strengthening higher education institutions, expanding disciplines offered, increasing funding, and improving teaching. As a consequence, enrollment in higher education in China increased sharply (Hsiung 2007). Since 1998, undergraduate enrollment in colleges and universities increased from 0.3 million to 13.3 million in 2004, and 4-year degrees increased from 405,000 to 1.2 million (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2005). Although enrollment and degree production increased exponentially, the per capita rate of college attendance remains low (Hsiung 2007). In addition to expansion of 4-year colleges and universities, vocational and technical education also expanded. The number of vocational and technical schools increased from 101 in 1998 to 872 in 2004, and enrollments rose to 5.96 million students (45% of all college students) in 2004 (Hsiung 2007). Current reform efforts focus on improving quality of instruction, slowing the growth in college enrollment to 5% per year, and targeting advanced education.

The increased growth in enrollment and degree production over the past few years has increasingly been outside of S&E fields. Historically, almost half of bachelor’s recipients in China earned degrees in engineering, but although the numbers of degrees in engineering have increased, the percentage has been steadily decreasing over time. In 1994, 46% were in engineering; by 2004, 37% were in engineering (appendix table 2-38) as the number and percentage of degrees in business, literature, education, and law increased.

Recent Developments in Higher Education in India

Over the past two decades, higher education in India expanded rapidly (Agarwal 2006). Enrollment increased from 2.8 million in 1980 to 9.9 million in 2003 (Ministry of Science and Technology 2006). Most of the growth is due to an increase in the number of private colleges, many of which are polytechnics and industrial training institutes. Foreign education providers also increased their presence. In 2005, 131 foreign providers of higher education, mainly from the United States and United Kingdom, enrolled students mostly in vocational or technical fields (Agarwal 2006). Despite high numbers of students enrolled, the percentage of the college age population who enroll in higher education in India is low (13%) (Thorat 2006).

The growth of higher education in India resulted in several challenges, including questions of adequacy of facilities, space, and resources; institutional quality and standards; and quality of faculty and instructional methods (Chatterjea and Moulik 2006). There is wide disparity in the perceived quality of schools. The Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institutes of Technology are generally regarded as top-quality schools. According to Giridharadas (2006), graduates of second-tier schools face high unemployment as their knowledge and skills are considered not up to par. Another observer (Agarwal 2006) states that the expansion of higher education also resulted in mismatches between supply and demand. He reported that in 2001, about 17% of higher education graduates were unemployed and nearly 40% were not, or were not fully, productively employed.

Although data on enrollments are available, up-to-date definitive statistics on Indian higher education degrees are not. Higher education institutions are not required to provide information and response rates to voluntary data collections are low.

Transnational Higher Education

Universities in the United States and abroad are establishing branch campuses and programs in other countries. In the past, cross-border higher education largely involved study abroad programs. More recently, it involved establishing programs for foreign students in their home countries. For countries in which these branch campuses are established, these efforts provide a means to curb "brain drain," increase educational opportunities, and potentially attract more international students (McBurnie and Ziguras 2006). Some of the major sites for transnational delivery of higher education include China, India, and Singapore. For countries that establish branch campuses abroad, the benefits of these efforts include increased enrollment and revenue, greater opportunities for student and staff mobility, and prestige. The major countries providing transnational higher education include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The United States accounts for the majority of institutions offering transnational delivery (Verbik and Merkley 2006). Problems with this type of delivery include issues of governance, quality control, and access; the stability of the institution; and the range of disciplines offered.