In 2002, the Policy Center on the First Year of College undertook a national study to identify and describe, through in-depth case studies, a variety of “Institutions of Excellence in the First College Year.” These case studies were published by Jossey-Bass in 2005 book entitled Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College.
As part of its research agenda, the Policy Center on the First Year of College conducted national surveys of first-year structures, policies, and practices in both the collegiate curriculum and co-curriculum
The First-Year Initiative (FYI) benchmarking survey, developed by the Policy Center on the First Year of College and Educational Benchmarking, Inc. (EBI), assesses the learning outcomes of first-year seminars – a core part of the first-year experience at over 70% of institutions of higher education in America. FYI provides information that institutions can use to manage improvement or confirm current practice.
The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and the Policy Center on the First Year of College jointly sponsored a project during the 2001-2002 academic year to provide guidance to colleges and universities on how to assemble data on the implementation of first-year programs and the first year of college
During Fall 1999 and Winter 2000 the Policy Center on the First Year of College* and the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA adapted “The Freshman Survey,” the most prestigious assessment instrument in the history of higher education, to measure growth, learning, and change in the first year of college.
