Admissions committee members often speak of "it" as an important consideration during the admissions process; however, empirical evidence documenting the efficacy of "it" as a basis for admission is scarce. The purpose of this research was to test the validity of student-institution it as a significant predictor of college success--specifically,…

Conducted five-year study of the various choices students (n=4,923) must make at each grade level in high school to make solid decisions about which college or university to attend. Findings revealed that parents played important role in formation of students' educational aspirations and in decisions about saving for a postsecondary education. (NB)

This book reports on a nine-year longitudinal study of the postsecondary educational decision-making process among a sample of high school students in Indiana. The study surveyed large numbers of students and also conducted in-depth interviews with a small number of students and parents. The book is organized into four parts, each with two…

This study focuses on the correlates of student preference for private institutions over public institutions in their senior year in high school. Results indicate that students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability are directly related to student preference for a certain type of postsecondary institution. (JM)

A longitudinal study compared Indiana ninth graders (n=178) with and without postsecondary education plans. Results indicate decided and undecided students can be differentiated by the amount of time spent thinking about postsecondary options, amount of information received regarding those options, academic achievement, and student and parent…

This study examined the correlates of high school students' preferences in their senior year to attend private or public higher education institutions, and especially the effects of student sensitivity to tuition costs and to financial aid. The data analyzed were from a longitudinal study (n=482) of student college choice. The dependent variable…

A study investigated the variables associated with high school students' sensitivity to tuition in the college-choice process, interaction of tuition and student aid, relationship of family and student characteristics to this sensitivity, and the roles of student perceptions and student institutional connections in price sensitivity. Subjects were…

Current literature on status attainment and student college choice is reviewed, and a structural model of predisposition to attend college is presented. Data from 2,497 ninth graders attending 21 high schools in Indiana and their parents, analyzed using LISREL, support the model's usefulness in determining students' college choice. (SLD)

A model of college student choice for male and female ninth graders using LISREL is examined. Variables examined included parents' expectation regarding higher education for their children, parents' savings for college, students' discussion of college with their parents, and students' aspiration for postsecondary education. (Author/MLW)

A survey of 297 college-bound high school seniors and parents examined techniques for gathering information about postsecondary education and institutions. Students were designated as "highly diversified" or "less diversified" searchers; background characteristics and information-gathering behaviors of each were identified. High diversification…

The college-choice process is complex and affects many high school students, family members and public policy-makers, as well as institutions of higher education. This report provides an overview of the college-choice process for traditional-age students and examines how it has evolved during the last half of the 20th century. Material from the…

The effects of family background characteristics (family income, parents' marital status, parents' education, and number of children already enrolled in postsecondary education) upon parents' postsecondary educational plans for their children, parents' saving for their children, and the amount of planning parents do with their children are…

This study examined a longitudinal data set (9th through 12th grade students from Indiana) to pose questions about the importance students place on certain college and university attributes as part of their college choice process. Using factor analysis, analysis of variance, and discriminant analysis on data about a representative sample of 110…

Compared development of postsecondary education plans of African American and White ninth graders, vs variables of the Hossler/Gallagher Three Phase Model of College Choice. Subjects were from 2,930 households with students attending 21 Indiana high schools. Results indicate the variables were more predictive for Whites than African Americans, and…

This study focuses on predictors of student sensitivity to college tuition and financial aid in their college choice process. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study on the postsecondary education choices of high school students in the state of Indiana. The variables student and family background, student academic characteristics, student…