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…

An academic characteristics profile database for freshmen at the Pennsylvania State University is briefly described. The database was constructed through the Freshman Testing, Counseling, and Advising Program (FTCAP), which is designed to assist new freshmen in evaluating their educational plans by providing them, prior to initial registration, a…

The college selection process used by high school students was studied and a paradigm that describes the process was developed, based on marketing theory concerning consumer behavior. Primarily college freshmen and high school seniors were interviewed, and a few high school juniors and upper-level college students were surveyed to determine…

The factors influencing attendance at Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada, by 1978 high school graduates were studied. Students who had participated in the Post-Secondary Demand and Enrollment Survey of November 1977 and had selected Brandon University as their first choice institution, and randomly selected students who had applied and been…

Though educationally relevant factors are the most important in explaining college destinations, socioeconomic factors still play a big role. Influence of the ascriptive factors of race, ethnicity, and sex are more mixed in their effect. The academic and socioeconomic "rich" become richer, while the academic and socioeconomic "poor" become poorer.…

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…

A study of the transition of students to higher education in Victoria, Australia, is reported based on data supplied by the Victorian Universities Admissions Committee (VUAC), a mail survey of 1,300 applicants in 1980, and a series of extended interviews with a small number of applicants. A basic causal model for enrollment decisions (college…

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…

Random samples of 405 traditional credit students at Harper College (3.2% of the student population) and 199 continuing education (CED) students (2.5% of total CED population) were surveyed by mail to provide a fall 1977 student profile. Response rates of 86% for traditional credit and 76% for CED students were obtained. Automated student data and…

This volume is largely based on data from the Sloan Study of Youth and Social Development, a 5-year study begun in 1989 when many of the students were in eighth grade (n=7,000). This account presents good news and bad news about our teenagers. Contrary to prevailing notions, theirs is the most ambitious generation yet, but because schools and…

An examination of the results of two surveys of the attitudes of entering freshmen at Muir College, University of California at San Diego (UCSD) is presented. The surveys were conducted in 1968 and 1984 in conjunction with national surveys coordinated by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. Information is presented on: (1) changes in…

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…

Similarities and differences between adult and traditional-aged students were analyzed based on a survey of 13 cohorts of first-year college freshmen. A sample of 172,400 first-year students over the age of 21 who responded to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's freshman survey between 1966 and 1978 was compared to a nationally…

The report is a response to Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority's concern about limiting factors which constrain students' choices of paths to follow after leaving high school, specifically unacceptable factors that prohibit students (1) from pursuing postsecondary education and (2) from entering postsecondary institutions of their…

The 2004 College Applicant Survey (CAS) describes the college-bound applicant pool by covering a broad range of areas including key demographics, factors influencing college selection, academic background and financial preparedness. It is the most comprehensive and the richest source of survey data to date on applicants to the Ontario Colleges of…