In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began to substantially disrupt the educational experiences of high school students. In addition to experiencing the pandemic disruption in high schools, students were also likely aware of disruptions in colleges and in the labor market. Fast-forward to the spring of 2023. The students who are now…

The Latinx population in the United States has drastically increased over the last twenty years. During the same period, the number of first-generation Latinx students enrolling in higher education post-recession has also increased by as much as 1.5 million students. The expansion of the Latinx student population in Oregon has mirrored the…

To challenge the common narrative around rural students, the author unpacks the ideas of rural advantage and disadvantage as they relate to higher education while keeping in mind the complexity of rural students' intersecting identities and backgrounds. The author approaches this topic by analyzing the beneficial and detrimental impacts of three…

This study described the lived experiences of fifteen African American male college students and their perception of their high school academics. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experiences of African American male college students on the factors promoting and inhibiting their academic achievement. In addition, this…

Empirical studies on university choice and access among under-represented racial/ethnic minorities have utilised the concept of school-based social capital (SBSC)--defined by Stanton-Salazar as key resources and support provided by institutional agents (i.e. teachers, counsellors and other staff). They primarily relied upon minority students'…

This mixed-methods study investigates the real and perceived barriers that African American male Edgecombe County high school students face when considering college enrollment to inform potential interventions to improve college enrollment of this market segment. Phase I of the study design included a survey of current, African American, male…

This qualitative study analyzed the attitudes and perceptions of Latino migrant students who were enrolled in the Project Based Research course, towards post-secondary STEM degrees. This study centered around ten Latino migrant students, 18-21 years of age who attended a Title I high school in South Texas. All participants took the Project Based…

Using discontinuities within the Swedish SAT [scholastic aptitude test] system, we show that additional admission opportunities causally affect college choices. Students with high-educated parents change timing, colleges, and fields in ways that appear consistent with basic economic theory. In contrast, very talented students with low-educated…

Undocumented immigrant students represent 2% of the total U.S. higher education population. Due to their citizenship status, many undocumented high school students encounter barriers to college access including prohibitive admissions policies, increased tuition rates, and funding restrictions. Some undocumented students experience anxiety,…

This ethnographic study examined access to college information for low-income, first-generation Latinx students who attended an under-resourced high school. Using a college-"conocimiento" framework, I analyzed the college choice and transition experiences of 47 participants. Findings revealed that educators provided limited college…

Recently, there has been an increase in the Higher Education (HE) options (in terms of both courses and institutions) available to students in the UK. Given that the choice of institution and field of study are crucial for students' future careers, we investigated how attributes of the institutions and courses determine students' choices, and how…

Research on college choice decisions of high school students has increased over the past forty years but has generally centered on demographic characteristics such as race, gender, or socio-economic status of students. There has been little research on the influences on the college choice decisions of high academically achieving students from…

Guided by the frameworks of college-conocimiento and the cooling out function, this study examined the college choice process of Latina/o/x students who attended an under-resourced urban high school. Data for this study consisted of interviews with ten institutional agents, two oral history interviews with 34 Latina/o/x students, and observation…

This study was designed to explore how secondary school counselors affect the entrance of African American students into higher education based on counselor beliefs. Minimizing and understanding barriers to postsecondary access is critical in closing the achievement gap for underrepresented African American students. Gaps in enrollment is often…

This paper analyses the determinants of national student mobility under the unified system of admission in Russia and evaluates the barriers which still limit educational mobility. It is argued that even with the Unified State Examination (USE) and the decreased transaction costs of applying to universities, student interregional national mobility…