The foreword provides the context for the rationale and need for the book.

Open admission approaches offer a mechanism to reduce barriers for students whose backgrounds are disadvantaged or underprivileged. Institutions with open admissions provide higher education opportunities to many types of students including those who need or wish to reduce the costs of a more selective four-year institution, those who are seeking vocational or technical education, those who may need further academic preparation, and those who do not qualify for admissions to other, more competitive institutions. This chapter discusses the issues surrounding the open admissions model, including the benefits and challenges of implementing such a model. Avenues for future research and applications of an open admissions model are also discussed.

The three chapters in this part move beyond current concepts of higher education admissions. They present alternatives as to how the admissions process might be conceived and maintained. Taking into account threats related to fairness, diversity, and access, the chapters propose new frameworks for conceptualizing what the role of higher education should be and methods for rethinking the assessments used as part of admissions.

For many countries, ensuring a well-educated population is a top priority. Higher levels of education result in benefits to both individuals and society at large. College admissions generally reflect societal values of a country. The underlying philosophy regarding who should be allowed to go to college or university, the criteria believed to be importantin determining which applicants get in and which do not, and how fairness and diversity are perceived often contribute to the shape of admissions procedures. The chapters in this section detail country-specific higher education admissions practices for a sample of countries and address a number of common themes such as access to college, diversity and fairness, and the validity of decision-making criteria.