What Matters in College?: Four Critical Years Revisited » (1st Edition)

ALEXANDER W. ASTIN is professor of higher education and director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. He lives in Los Angeles.

From the author of Four Critical Years—a book the Journal of Higher Education called the most cited work in higher education literature—What Matters in College? presents the definitive study of how students change and develop in college and how colleges can enhance that development. Based on a study of more than 20,000 students, 25,000 faculty members, and 200 institutions, the book shows how academic programs, faculty, student peer groups, and other variables affect students' college experiences.

Booknews

Addresses a wide range of issues pertaining to traditional-age college undergraduates who enter college soon after completing high school, showing how cognitive and affective outcomes are affected by student peer group experiences and by the faculty's values, interests, and styles of teaching. Intended primarily for faculty, administrators, and policy makers. Other than making evident the wide variety of factors influencing student success, the abundance of data will probably not be helpful to people who are trying to choose a college. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)