What if you didn't have to go to college? You may have heard that a college degree is the only path to success. But many college graduates end up mired in debt and underemployed, working jobs that don't even require a degree. The good news? There are many promising career options for those who don't want to or can't attend college. In Rethinking College, award-winning journalist Karin Klein sets out a new path for our country's students and their families. Klein examines why the traditional college-for-all model has been overhyped and is growing less relevant, then shares practical advice and real-world examples of exactly how others have succeeded without a four-year degree. Discover an abundance of alternative paths, including white-collar apprenticeships, certificate programs, entrepreneurship, creative careers, residential public-service work, and more. Klein will guide you step-by-step toward a broad range of fulfilling and well-paid careers that don't require a degree—ranging from pilots, costume designers, influencers, writers, computer programmers, corporate headhunters, film editors, and so many more. The breadth of possibilities is wider than you think! Rethinking College is perfect for: Those who are unsure of their next education or career steps. Those looking to make a job pivot. Parents seeking guidance for their child. School counselors who want to offer their students more and better options. Don't just go to college because everyone says you have to—find the path that's right for you. It's out there.

Drawing on studies funded by the Lumina Foundation, the nation's largest private foundation focused solely on increasing Americans' success in higher education, the authors revise current theories of college student departure, including Tinto's, making the important distinction between residential and commuter colleges and universities, and thereby taking into account the role of the external environment and the characteristics of social communities in student departure and retention. A unique feature of the authors' approach is that they also consider the role that the various characteristics of different states play in degree completion and first-year persistence. First-year college student retention and degree completion is a multi-layered, multi-dimensional problem, and the book's recommendations for state- and institutional-level policy and practice will help policy-makers and planners at all levels as well as anyone concerned with institutional retention rates—and helping students reach their maximum potential for success—understand the complexities of the issue and develop policies and initiatives to increase student persistence.

A major new contribution to college student development theory, this book brings "third wave" theories to bear on this vitally important topic. The first section includes a chapter that provides an overview of the evolution of student development theories as well as chapters describing the critical and poststructural theories most relevant to the next iteration of student development theory. These theories include critical race theory, queer theory, feminist theories, intersectionality, decolonizing/indigenous theories, and crip theories. These chapters also include a discussion of how each theory is relevant to the central questions of student development theory. The second section provides critical interpretations of the primary constructs associated with student development theory. These constructs and their related ideas include resilience, dissonance, socially constructed identities, authenticity, agency, context, development (consistency/coherence/stability), and knowledge (sources of truth and belief systems). Each chapter begins with brief personal narratives on a particular construct; the chapter authors then re-envision the narrative’s highlighted construct using one or more critical theories. The third section will focus on implications for practice. Specifically, these chapters will consider possibilities for how student development constructs re-envisioned through critical perspectives can be utilized in practice. The primary audience for the book is faculty members who teach in graduate programs in higher education and student affairs and their students. The book will also be useful to practitioners seeking guidance in working effectively with students across the convergence of multiple aspects of identity and development.

Not a method of turning your degree back in and having your loans forgiven, but an argument that by becoming vocational schools measured by reduced cost and efficient production, colleges and universities are neglecting their essential purpose. The reason for college education, says Allan, is to provide an environment within which students can absorb the moral practices that determine how they can acquire and evaluate knowledge, best conduct their lives, and become responsible adults. He maintains that such learning requires imagination, dialogue, conversation, and cultured intercourse. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Rethinking LGBTQIA Students and Collegiate Contexts situates and problematizes identity interaction, campus life, student experiences, and the effectiveness of services, programs, and policies affecting LGBTQIA college students at both two- and four-year institutions. This volume draws from intersectional and critical perspectives to explore the complex ways in which LGBTQIA identities are shaped, discussed, and researched in higher education spaces. Chapters provide student affairs and higher education scholars with theory and practice perspectives on sociopolitical and historical contexts, student learning and development, support services, and explore how higher education reflects society’s pervasive stereotypes and lack of awareness of LGBTQIA students’ identity development and needs.

The book covers professional, Olympic and collegiate sports and each chapter has a fully developed introduction to explaine the relevance of the articles to be presented.

Co-published with NACADA.Changes on college and university campuses have echoed changes in U.S. popular culture, politics, and religion since the 1970s through unprecedented visibility of LGBTQA persons and issues. In the face of hostile campus cultures, LGBTQA students rely on knowledgeable academic advisors for support, nurturance, and the resources needed to support their persistence. This edited collection offers theoretical understanding of the literature of the field, practical strategies that can be implemented at different institutions, and best practices that helps students, staff, and faculty members understand more deeply the challenges and rewards of working constructively with LGBTQA students. In addition, allies in the field of academic advising (both straight/cis-identified and queer) reflect on becoming an ally, describe obstacles and challenges they have experienced and offer advice to those seeking to deepen their commitment to ally-hood.

Distinguished scholars provide the first book-length consideration of the work of philosopher and theologian Robert Cummings Neville, including a response from Neville himself.

Higher education institutions have already begun to see decreasing enrollment numbers, even as higher education enrollment is predicted to drop precipitously starting in 2025. Much of the decrease in enrollment will be driven by demographic trends about which higher education institutions can do little, making the retention of students who do enroll that much more important. Overall retention rates have stagnated and differential retention rates by race and ethnicity have persisted. If higher education institutions, researchers, and policy makers are to improve retention rates, a critical examination of the current state and future directions of retention research is essential.This edited volume begins that examination by addressing several questions: What are the needed directions in theory and research on college student persistence and how do we translate new theory and research into effective practices? Are we asking the right questions, looking in the right places, or trying to apply out-of-date theories to new populations? In short, how can the research community help institutions improve retention in this challenging time?

A thought-provoking textbook written for students enrolled in graduate Higher Education and Student Affairs Masters and PhD programs, College Organization and Professional Development focuses on the framing of critical issues in organization practice, the gaps between moral beliefs and actions, and improving equity within organizations. This breakthrough text seeks to revolutionize how we understand ethical practice and provides a new theory that informs practice within organizations. Unlike the majority of Organization textbooks currently available which lack social contextual understanding of moral issues and social justice, this text encourages the use of action research to inform and support change in professional practice. Students will find the pedagogical exercises useful for reflecting on their own goals, examining their own practices, and testing new intervention methods within their organizations and communities of practice. Reflective assignments are suggested for readers to help them engage in a process of reflective analysis of professional practice. This textbook is organized into three parts: Part I: Focuses on the foundations for moral reasoning in practice, introduces the framework used in the book and encourages introspection and reflection as an integral part of professional practice. Part II: Focuses on frames of professional development, both as frames of reasoning and as developmental pathways, focusing methods of learning moral reasoning and changing organizations that support just practice. Part III: Focuses on challenges of building communities of practice that support social-critical changes and environmental consciousness. Practicing professionals and those academics at different stages in their careers who wish to reflect on the gaps between their moral values and their actions in work situations will also find this text informative and useful. The chapters include fundamental and insightful guidance for reflection on the topics raised and discussed.