Referring to their 1991 award-winning review of over 2,600 studies in volume one of How College Affects Students, Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) claimed "we had just concluded an intellectual task that was roughly equivalent of painting the Golden Gate Bridge from one end to the other" (p. xi). More than a decade later the bridge needed resurfacing and fortunately for readers approaching the newest volume, How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research, is not equivalent of watching paint dry. Given the sheer magnitude of undertaking a review of nearly 2,500 studies that have appeared in the literature between 1989 and 2001, it is rather impressive that the authors delivered encyclopedic detail with such readability. That said, the book is best consumed not like many texts, but as a reference for anyone interested in understanding the impact of college on students.
How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research follows Feldman and Newcomb's (1969) four-decade review (The Impact of College on Students) of more than 1,500 studies and the authors' (1991) analysis (How College Affects Students: Findings and Insights from Twenty Years of Research) of over 2,600 studies. This most recent examination uses the same framework as the 1991 volume. Evidence is organized in terms of different types of outcomes rather than the sources of influence. Chapters 3-10, therefore, summarize outcomes related to learning and cognitive development, personal growth, psychosocial change, attitudes and sociopolitical views, civic involvement, moral development, educational gains and attainment, persistence, career and economic achievement, and quality of life post-graduation. Within the eight chapters, evidence is grouped around six questions:
- What evidence is there that individuals change during college? (change during college)
- What evidence is there that changes during college are uniquely the result of attending college? (net effects of college)
- What evidence is there that different [End Page 589] colleges have different influences on student change? (between-college effects)
- What evidence exists that different experiences effect student change within an institution? (within-college effects)
- What evidence is there that the effects of college varies among different types of students? (conditional effects)
- What are the long-term effects of college? (long-term effects)
In addition to addressing each of these questions, Pascarella and Terenzini began chapters 3-10 with a summary of their 1991 findings to help readers place the new evidence in context. After reviewing the new evidence for each outcome, the authors summarized their conclusions around the six questions. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the book and chapter 2 succinctly reviews predominant developmental theories and models of student change. The authors offered an overall summary of the findings in chapter 11 and discussed implications for research, practice and policy in chapter 12. The systematic organization and clarity of this text is quite impressive given the relative task at hand.
Pascarella and Terenzini prudently reviewed a large number of studies that include a complex array of methodologies, variables, designs, and samples of students. Using a "weight of the evidence" criterion and related "narrative explanatory synthesis" approach permitted them to include a wider array of studies than, for example, using metanalysis. This approach also accounted for the methodological soundness of various research by giving greater weight to those with more careful designs. Where possible, the authors also carefully estimated the magnitude of an effect thus providing some quantitative measure for practitioners and decision-makers to use in directing attention and resources. Decisions are consistently made to preserve the integrity of the study. For example, distinctions are made when results are based on participant self-report as opposed to objective measures and the authors were lucid in their conceptual awareness regarding the difference between "development" and "change" in explaining...