Measuring the Value of a Postsecondary Education is an insightful collection of essays that respond to current and pressing questions in the field of higher education: What do we mean by "quality" of education? What do courses and programs promise to deliver, and do they succeed? What do we know about improving learning outcomes, and is reform possible? Comprised of papers presented at a conference of experts convened by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario in 2011, the book begins by evaluating pioneering initiatives in Europe, and follows this with reports on efforts to measure and evaluate learning outcomes. Drawing on over two decades of work by international agencies, governments, and foundations in identifying and evaluating learning outcomes in higher education, Measuring the Value of a Postsecondary Education encourages educational institutions to draw on this evidence in revising course and program offerings. Bringing together international leaders and innovators in the field, this book is an important analysis of progress in enhancing learning quality and directions for future reform. Contributors include Jeana Abromeit (Alverno College), Roger Benjamin (Council for Aid to Education), Ken Dryden (Canadian politician), Michael Gallagher (Group of Eight), Virginia Hatchette (Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board), Jillian Kinzie (Indiana University), Diane Lalancette (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), Holiday Hart McKiernan (Lumina Foundation), Robert Wagenaar (University of Groningen), and Lorne A. Whitehead (University of British Columbia).

Originally published in 1975, Strategies for Postsecondary Education looks at how postsecondary education absorbs an increasing proportion of education budgets in developed countries. The book analyses the inequalities in the American postsecondary education system and compares its performance with France and the United Kingdom. The traditional concept of higher education with its preference for the college sector is now being challenged by the notion of postsecondary education which embraces the community colleges and preparatory schools in the United States and the polytechnics in Great Britain. The book argues that the development of the non-collegiate sector, including further education outside a formal educational context, will extend the range of educational opportunity and make much better use of limited resources.