Israel and New York: Educating the Nontraditional College Student.

For over a decade, concerted efforts have been made to provi e nontraditional students with access to traditional higher education in such diverse cultural and geographical settings as Israel and New York City. The Israeli Mechina program and the City University of New York's (CUNY) SEEK program both aim to prepare disadvantaged young adults to succeed in demanding university baccalaureate programs. There are some similarities, as well as obvious differences in the two programs, even beyond the diverse cultural back grounds of their populations. Although comparable data to verify the academic success of special program students are unavailable, a comparison of the two pro grams may yield some insight for educators interested in such programs. Both authors have taught reading in the SEEK pro gram at one of CUNY's unit colleges for fourteen years. In addition, they conducted a survey of reading pro grams at CUNY colleges for the University's Office of Academic Affairs. In doing this, they interviewed SEEK directors and other administrators. During a two-month period in Israel they also interviewed a number of Israeli educators and studied materials describing the Israeli educational system. The Israeli Mechina program is a pre-academic pro gram started at Hebrew University in 1963 as a cooperative effort of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Its purpose was to prepare soldiers from Asian and North African back ground for a university education. During its first six years, the Mechina (or Center of Pre-Academic Studies) graduated 186 students. Of these, 163 obtained degrees and only seven dropped the program. In 1980, 373 Mechina students were enrolled at Hebrew University