Asian Americans are often depicted as a highly successful group, attaining advanced levels of education and upward mobility. However, research indicates Southeast Asian Americans are underrepresented in higher education and earn less bachelor degrees than East Asian Americans. To explore the phenomenon of unequal representation between Southeast…

This qualitative study utilized interviews with 20 Latina/o high school seniors and five secondary school counselors in South Texas to further understand how counselors help Latina/o students navigate their college choice process. Findings indicate counselors provided students with access to college information and facilitated university…

Most high school reform efforts understandably focus on boosting the success of low-income students who are underachieving academically, but in every school district where students struggle, there are academically capable low-income and minority students who do graduate prepared for college. Yet each year, many of these students choose to attend…

This study focuses on the postsecondary choices of all SAT[R] takers in the high school graduation cohort of 2006, who graduated from 3,172 public high schools in 17 states where the preponderance of college-aspiring students take the SAT, rather than the ACT. The data set analyzed is constructed by merging the College Board's student-level SAT…

This report builds on a foundation of knowledge about the academic readiness of the ACT-tested high school graduating class of 2012 as presented in "The Condition of College & Career Readiness" (see ED534761). An important conclusion of the "Condition" report is that far too many high school graduates are not prepared for…

The inclusion of college preparation programs promote and forecast academic success in postsecondary studies among individual at-risk, African American urban high school students. Past research has shown ongoing, college acceptance, performance, and graduation gaps between at-risk, African American urban high school students when compared to…

Recent studies have revealed how large shares of college-ready students "undermatch", or enroll in colleges with less competitive admissions processes than they are eligible to attend. Undermatch sits at the nexus of both college access and completion agendas, as undermatching to a less selective institution results in a decreased…

The purpose of this survey is to monitor Austin Independent School District (AISD) seniors' perceptions of their high school experience. Results are used to improve campus environments and program supports for students. This report summarizes results from AISD's Class of 2013.

Educators, researchers, and policymakers across the political spectrum agree that America must send more of its young people to college and find ways to help them graduate. Yet it has been difficult to design and implement effective strategies for dramatically increasing college enrollment and graduation. In Chicago, an intervention now under way,…

Inasmuch as current U.S. population projections indicate that Latino students will comprise over half the growth in the college-age population during the coming decades, the puzzle of Latino educational attainment presents perhaps one of the most critical policy concerns relevant to any efforts targeted at increasing U.S. levels of educational…

The decision-making process of academically talented students when making the transition to college is complex. This study investigates the factors that contribute to the selectivity of the colleges by Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate students for application. A multilevel model was created to find which college-level and…

Between January and October of 2013, nearly 3 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 graduated from high school. By October of that year, just two-thirds had enrolled in college. This report uses recently released nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) data from Spring 2012 to examine American high…

Years ago, the popular TV game show "Let's Make a Deal" required its contestants to choose one of three doors. Contestants were just as likely to win expensive items such as cars and exotic vacations as they were to win a crate of lemons. Helping their child reach decisions about college may at times lead parents to feel as if they are contestants…

Narrative inquiry was used to trace the educational journeys of 11 first-generation university students from rural areas of Colorado in an effort to identify the experiences, beliefs, and people that impacted their decision to attend a 4-year institution. Students were asked to convey their experiences growing up within the contexts of their…

Many high school students are faced with the dilemma of "what next?" as they go through their final years at school. With new-economy jobs becoming more complex and career paths increasingly convoluted, the decision-making process is no simple task. What do these jobs and careers entail? How does what they are studying in school relate…