The college choices of the academically talented and their financing of college were studied through a 1981 survey of 280 National Merit scholars in Indiana. The influences of college majors, family size and income, parental occupation and education, and national test performance were examined. The Indiana Merit scholars more often majored in…

A comparison of telephone and mail surveys of accepted applicants who chose not to attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was undertaken. The telephone method was used to interview the undergraduate applicants' parents, while the mail survey was sent to graduate school applicants. The telephone survey concerned 161 in-state…

The effect of tuition and aid policies on access and choice in education is described, the research through which this knowledge was obtained is examined, and further research that will be useful to the policymaker is suggested. This speech is organized into four sections. The first examines the evidence of the effect of tuition on total…

Perspectives of a law school advisor on the advising role as seen by the student and the law school and issues that are relevant to student needs are presented. Questions that students frequently ask the law school advisor and the legitimacy of the advisor as a screener in getting students accepted into law schools are discussed. Concern over the…

Higher education administrators often wonder if the information they receive from the low response rates to surveys of non-matriculating applicants accurately reflects the entire population of these non-matriculants. These questions are exacerbated by evidence that response bias does exist. This paper describes how St. Mary's College in Notre…

Two papers on developments toward consumerism in higher education are included. In "Alternatives to Federal Regulation of Consumer Information," by Joan S. Stark and Patrick T. Terenzini, several questions are posed for considering alternative systems to help students obtain and use information for college choice: (1) Can meaningful…

A study was conducted to help discern the relationship between various student recruitment activities and enrollment. A set of 10 recruitment activities utilized by the office of admissions at a private selective undergraduate institution of about 2300 students was selected for analysis. The activities were classified as on-campus contacts and…

This study investigated 10-year trends of first-time-in-college (FTIC) and community college applicants to major public institutions in Florida, focusing on how an institution's geographic location affected applicant enrollment patterns. The investigation also examined the influence of geographic location on applicants applying to a single…

This study compared the benefits and costs associated with online versus paper-and-pencil surveys for a random sample of undergraduate students. Students completed the College Selection Survey, which had them evaluate the soundness of 10 reasons for choosing, or not choosing, to attend the university, if they could make their choice over again.…

This paper describes a quantitative method to investigate the enrollment motives of students, and reports on the application of the method at the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands). The paper discusses environmental, educational/organizational, and image factors influencing a student's choice of a particular university. A quantitative…

In April 1990, a survey was conducted of 3,800 two-year college administrators nationwide to ascertain the factors influencing their choice of location for administrative positions both before and after they received their doctoral degrees. The survey instrument consisted of 13 close-ended questions and one open-ended question. Over 80% of the…

Choosing a college is a major decision for many high school students. A study was conducted to determine at what point in his/her life a student makes college plans, what factors influence college choice, and what information resources students use in choosing a college. College freshmen (N=3,708) completed questionnaires concerning their college…

The way that students structure the colleges they choose among in a particular educational market is analyzed with a sample of 408 locally-college-bound high school seniors from 16 area schools. In January and February 1985, the College Image Questionnaire was administered to the seniors. The students judged the similarity (psychological distance)…

This study investigated reasons for college choice as detected by the American College Testing (ACT) Corporation's "ACT Alumni Survey." The data were compiled between January 1980 and May 1988 from 172 colleges and universities throughout 42 states, with 77,361 alumni responding. Responses indicated significant differences in the reasons…

A study of students who had transferred from a community college in Michigan to two senior institutions in the state between 1973 and 1979 was conducted in order to determine why students attended a community college; the point at which they decided to obtain a baccalaureate degree; and their experiences after transfer. The study also sought to…