Concerns with how students are taught and whether and how they learn has become particularly salient in higher education. This is evident in growing awareness of increases in timetodegree and declines in attainment rates for many students including those who are underrepresented in our nations community and public and private colleges and universities. It is also demonstrated visavis recent findings that more than a third of college students evinced no noticeable improvement in critical thinking writing and complex reasoning skills after four years as an undergraduate. These findings suggest that while a focus on access to and participation in the nations colleges and universities remain a prominent goal it is no longer sufficient given persistent disparities in post secondary student learning. There are a few models however from which we can distill a set of strategies for promoting not only high achievement but also retention and completion rates. This book examines three such models in higher education the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County the Opportunity Programs at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs New York and the Premedical Program at Xavier University in New Orleans with a proven record of student achievement and completion. show more