How College Affects Students: Volume 2 - A Third Decade of Research

by Ernest T. Pascarella, Patrick T. Terenzini

This is the long-awaited second volume of Pascarella and Terenzini's 1991 award-winning review of the research on the impacts of college on students.  The authors review their earlier findings and then synthesize what has been learned since 1990 about college's influences on students’ learning.  The book also discusses the implications of the findings for research, practice, and public policy.  This authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the literature on college-impact is required reading for anyone interested in higher education practice, policy, and promise¾faculty, administrators, researchers, policy analysts, and decision-makers at every level.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Grad School, Teaching, School

848 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2005

Reviews

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the kind of action-packed book I’ve been reading lately, but Pascarella's How College Affects Students packs a punch. The author provides a wide-ranging study on the impacts colleges have on student learning. Part of the strength of this study goes to how specific educational practices make lasting impact. Tons of research.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously this is a solidly-researched classic. However, I agree with a critique I saw from the community college space: while this research explicitly includes only residential four year college student experiences, it continously defines its are of study as "higher education" -- even though only about half of college students have a residential four year college experience. This is deeply strange, and says a great deal about our mental images of higher education in the US, and how they differ from reality on the ground.

[Marlena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "bible" for professionals in college student development.
Filled with great info and research findings.
As a result, the chapters are SO LONG (for reading a chapter and collecting articles for doing a paper every week).

[Larissa]

Recommendation from the NAFSA conference

[Brenley DiFranco]

I quote this book all the time at work! Great research that supports our work with students.