Changing patterns in how students apply to colleges and universities have affected the way institutional researchers project enrollment. This paper explores the usefulness of adding student prematriculation activities (i.e., commitment to enroll, registration patterns, and academic ability). Trends in prematriculation activity identified include…

This paper examines the U.S. college admissions market in the late 1980s and 1990s and how enrollments have shifted, competition has increased, and nonschool-based services have mushroomed. Introduced is the concept of admissions management: a constellation of behaviors which include, among others, the buying of services to help mostly…

This study examined College Board Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ) data from 1988 through 1992 to determine whether any trends could be identified, specifically with regard to the degree of importance ascribed to the 20 college characteristics listed on the questionnaire and to patterns in financial aid applications and awards. Analysis of 5…

Two studies were conducted by a New England university during the 1986-87 school year to gain a better understanding of the factors influencing individuals' decisions to attend graduate/professional school. One purpose of the two projects was to develop school-specific databases to: provide graduate school administrators with information regarding…

Perceptions of United Kingdom students concerning higher education, student choices of individual programs and institutions, and sources of information were studied in 1982, based on a national survey of over 1,500 student applicants to institutions of higher education, from 50 schools, and backed up by interviews with over 500 of those sampled.…

Personality characteristics among females admitted to the U.S. Air Force Academy were compared to those of male cadets and to females attending other colleges. The Personality Research Form-E (Jackson, 1974) was administered to all 217 females of an entering class at the Academy during the first few days of basic cadet training. Approximately…

Small rural social systems tend to have great impact on the social behavior and performance of rural youth in higher education. The issue is the degree to which rural youth from a social environment requiring active and continuous social involvement can exist in a larger social system which may require more passive and observational modes of…

Financial support to college students and public and private colleges in Pennsylvania is described. The philosophy in Pennsylvania regarding the survival of private institutions is to provide money to the students, the consumers, and let them decide which institutions fit their basic needs and goals. Pennsylvania has established the Pennsylvania…

The problem of improving the quality of incoming college students and practicing fairness in admissions was studied at Boston College. The study sample was over 2000 accepted applicants who completed an admissions questionnaire. A systematic admissions procedure is described that provides an index of applicant "quality," and the rating…

The extent to which financial concerns cause high-ability high school students who desire highly-selective colleges to choose less-selective institutions was investigated, as was the influence of student and parent characteristics on this decision. Data collected from 1,483 students in six cities in the United States show that the more a…

A time sequence of recruitment activities was developed using high school data to represent the total, potential, and actual student markets for Pennsylvania State University. High schools with similar characteristics were grouped according to potential recruitment yields. Under the assumption that college decision-making behavior approximated the…

Differences in selected characteristics of black and white freshman applicants to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a predominantly white university, were examined using data from the Student Descriptive Questionnaire developed by the College Entrance Examination Board. Background characteristics, special needs, extracurricular…

Scholarship aid continues to be crucially important in attracting and retaining students in higher education institutions (Abrahamson & Hossler, 1990; Cabrera, Nora, & Castaneda, 1992; Paulsen & St. John, 1997; Schuh, 2000; St. John, 1992; St. John et al., 1994; Terkla, 1985). Although the general concept and effect of financial assistance is…

This paper explores an important component of the high college enrollment of Asian American students: application to college while in high school. Using data from the 1988-1992 waves of the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), rates of application to college are compared for Asian Americans and Whites and various Asian American ethnic…

By examining the effects of financial aid upon students' choice of what type of institution of higher education to attend, this study addressed the effectiveness of current student financial aid programs in achieving the goal of equal educational opportunity. The study evaluated a sample of 1,916 students in the first follow-up (1992) of the…