Misconceptions regarding the work of college admissions officers and the role of admissions in expanding access to education prompted this review of applied research in college admissions. Focus is on two areas of research and evaluation: college staff visits to schools and college choice decisions made by applicants who were offered admission.…

Causes of the emerging perception among middle-income students that their educational opportunities are being restricted are discussed, and potential solutions are offered, including controlling college costs, encouraging saving, and borrowing. The role of information and of values and priorities in helping middle-income families pay for college…

This report reviews two decades of trends in college tuition, the effects on student access and college choice, and how governments and institutions have responded. Among major findings are: (1) overall, average tuition and fees have increased almost five-fold over the last two decades; (2) a major cause of higher prices has been the declining…

The extent to which educational debt is burdensome for borrowers who are currently in repayment was studied with attention to the actual impact of loan repayment on economic behavior and the perceptions of repayers concerning that impact. Opinions of borrowers concerning the role of student loans in providing access to and choice among higher…

Accessibility to a college education in Ontario, Canada, was assessed by studying the pattern of acceptances and rejections of various choices made by unregistered college applicants. Study concerns included: total offers to programs of choice from any college and from an Ontario college only; offers by institution type and program type for first…

Two aspects of recent trends in Black college attendance patterns are examined: the proportion of Blacks at various institution types and the distribution of Black students among institution types. Issues relating to institutional quality or reputation and Black enrollment are discussed. White enrollment data are included for comparison. (MSE)

Improving access to college for Latinos and other underrepresented minorities is a serious policy dilemma, particularly in states where they constitute large and growing numbers of the college-age population. Latinos as a group face numerous obstacles to college attendance, including a lack of knowledge about college and how to get there,…

This report examines how students choose colleges and how the college choices of students differ by race and ethnicity across four subgroups of students: African American, Asian American, Chicano, and Caucasian. It is proposed that students conceptualize their college choices differently based on how they perceive their anticipated college…

The student financial aid mechanism has been considered the form of subsidy more likely to provide both access and choice since it can target aid to students most in need of it and lets student choose the college of their choice. The Tuition Assistance Program in New York is discussed. (MLW)

Reports trends over a recent nine-year period in student access to and choice of public or private college as related to availability of monetary awards from one of the largest state student financial aid agencies, the Illinois State Scholarship Commission. Survey responses indicate that state awards foster access to Illinois college and…

A study tested a model for assessing the impact of financial aid offers on 2,558 accepted students' college enrollment decisions. The analysis demonstrates that financial aid strategies have a substantial influence on enrollment and the systematic analysis of student enrollment decisions can help institutional administrators refine their financing…

This article utilizes data from a two-year study of Latino urban high school students to understand more about the role of peers in college choice and access. Findings suggest that peers can support college goals.

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…

The obstacles to aid-and-access research on minority students include: inadequate models of the decision process, heterogeneous subpopulations, and the momentary equality of 1977. Until research yields qualitative knowledge of why similarly situated teenagers make different decisions about college, analysis of minority aid-and-entry decisions will…

Describes a study which found that financial aid promotes institutional choice when academic achievement and school costs are held constant. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the independent effects of race and sex are not significant determinants of whether aid recipients can afford their college choice: parental income is of far greater…