Recent federal and state education policy has targeted community colleges as an affordable venue to increase postsecondary attainment. We examined a state program aimed at increasing community college enrollment, the Missouri A+ Schools Program, which provided eligible graduates from participating high schools the opportunity to earn a scholarship…

Through multilevel analyses of Educational Longitudinal Study and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)-Barron's data sets, this study examined unequal chances for college enrollment for students from different high school types and locations. The study shows that students from more privileged high school sectors are able to maximize…

Although a major focus of current research and policymaking efforts involves understanding and minimizing the barriers to postsecondary access, conventional reform strategies do not appear to be effecting substantial change in the college-going opportunities for students from low-income and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. This article…

Reviewing three key areas of literature in our field (college choice, state policy, and faculty) the article identifies gaps that we can fill by reembodying and repoliticizing "choice," by which is meant moving beyond the individualized and "neutral" market logic in addressing the actions of collective entities in relation to…

This study advances the understanding of college persistence by examining five dimensions of student learning in relation to second-year persistence. Two of the five dimensions of learning were found to be significant predictors of persistence, and each was moderated by social integration. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

Viewbooks are an important medium by which institutions of higher learning entice students to matriculate. Indeed, an entire industry exists to aid institutions in the design and production of these publications and college and university admissions and public relations professionals spend a significant amount of time and money fashioning…

We jointly model the application, admission, financial aid determination, and enrollment decision process. We find that expectations of admission affect application probabilities, financial aid expectations affect enrollment and application behavior, and deviations from aid expectations are strongly related to enrollment. We also conduct…

Academic selectivity plays a dominant role in the public's understanding of what constitutes institutional excellence or quality in undergraduate education. In this study, we analyzed two independent data sets to estimate the net effect of three measures of college selectivity on dimensions of documented good practices in undergraduate education.…

A model of the influences affecting prospective students' college choice is presented. Recent research relevant to the influence of printed materials on students' college choice is reviewed. Given the tightening of institutional budgets, college admissions officers expect to rely increasingly on the mailing of printed materials to recruit…

In an attempt to provide more accurate information for student choice among postsecondary institutions, a team of educators "audited" a new information prospectus under preparation at Barat College. The audit procedure, its accomplishments, limitations, and generalizability are discussed. (Author/LBH)

Recent enrollment shifts and current knowledge of the dynamics of competition in higher education are examined. Results of a study identifying several structural characteristics of competing college groups in New York State are reported and implications for future enrollment patterns there and elsewhere are discussed. (Author/MSE)

The estimation of a comprehensive model describing student perceptions of college quality permits the determination of the relative importance of the influences that affect these perceptions. This knowledge is instrumental for directing efforts toward improving perceptions and for evaluating the effectiveness of changes in recruitment practices.…

Little attention has been given to how people in the market view quality in colleges. Research that focused on indicators of quality that are credible to high-ability high-school seniors and their parents and on varying perspectives of quality is described. (Author/MLW)

Determinants of tuition prices in major state universities are identified in this study. Twenty-two variables accounted for 89 percent of the variation in 1976-77 tuition levels. Primary determinants were related to competition--tuition prices at institutions within the state or region--and to shortfalls in institutional income. (Author/LBH)