A selected population of 2,430 white, native-born, college freshmen women (under 22 years old) who remained at one institution for four years were studied to determine the effects of institutional and other variables on their career aspirations. Variables selected included background, career plans and self-esteem (after one, four, and five years),…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on recruitment and training. "College Choice: The State of Marketing and Effective Student Recruitment Strategies" (Fredrick Muyia Nafukho, Michael F. Burnett) reports on a study of the recruitment strategies used by Louisiana State University's admissions office and College of…

In-state and out-of-state choice pattern differences among students with regard to academic and economic variables and the impact that financial aid would have upon their choice are examined. A survey of Pennsylvania public and nonpublic high school seniors illustrated the role background variables play. (MLW)

This study examined how tracking, among a number of other background and school experience variables, affects students' predisposition to pursue a college education. It hypothesized that background characteristics and experiences affect secondary school track placement, that tracking significantly impacts students' postsecondary plans, and that…

Factors that account for variance between groups of Mississippi students in their choice of college types were studied using data from the 1991 American College Testing (ACT) Program. The objectives of this study were to describe Mississippi students who plan to attend community or junior colleges and who took the spring 1991 ACT Assessment…

This paper explains the process used to validate the construct validity of the Factors Influencing Pursuit of Higher Education Questionnaire. This questionnaire is a literature-based, researcher-developed instrument which gathers information on the factors thought to affect a person's decision to pursue higher education. The questionnaire includes…

The study examined the ways in which status cultures and organizational environments influence high school students' college decision-making. Interviews were conducted with 12 white female high school seniors from four northern California high schools (a low socio-economic status(SES)/low organization public school, a low-SES/high organization…

Our schools are environments of race and class and these school environments structure opportunity based on race and class. This paper explores how students' lives and their access to postsecondary education are framed and structured by the influences of race and class. The college choice decision process of three female Black students from a…

Fiscal support for higher education and policy concerns at the state level during difficult financial times are discussed, with specific reference to the western states. States vary widely in several ways: the strength of their economies, the actions of legislatures and voters to reduce the revenues or the expenditure base of state and local…

The question of whether minority, female, and low income college students are disproportionately attending less-selective and lower-cost institutions was studied. Three sets of student characteristics were assessed: ascribed (race, ethnicity, and gender); socioeconomic (parental income, parents' educational attainments, and family size); and…

The effects of school type and curriculum on high school grades, plans for further schooling, and enrollment in higher education and postsecondary training were studied. The data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The base-year sample contained over 16,000 seniors in over 1,000 high schools of all…

Entering freshmen in 13 fields of study were compared longitudinally on demographic characteristics, high school achievement, college selection process, ability to finance college, highest degree planned, academic expectations, career plans, and aspirations. Attributes of students in the humanities and nonhumanities were also assessed. The…

This paper offers the personal reactions of a high school student and his parents to 27 preapplication college campus visits conducted from June through August 1994. The institutions included three public, six private religious, and 18 private nonsectarian institutions. Data were obtained through observations and interviews, and the study reports…

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…

The research on graduate students that has appeared in 20 academic journals since 1976 is reviewed. Ninety-four articles are classified into topic areas, and representative articles of each area are discussed. The research designs of the 94 research studies are considered with attention to: the level of students (master's or doctoral); whether…