The college choice process can be reduced to three questions: (1) Where does a student apply?; (2) Which schools accept the students?; and (3) Which offer of admission does the student accept? This paper addresses question three. Specifically, we offer an econometric analysis of the matriculation decisions made by students accepted to Williams…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

Today's fast-paced and Internet-driven society provides a lot of opportunities for innovation in the college financial aid world. As tuition costs continue to rise faster than average incomes, more students are turning to private lenders and other third-party organizations to finance their educations. While the power of online micro-giving has…

Hispanic seniors who were on track to graduate in May 2006 were invited to participate in a program to help them make a successful transition from high school to college. Data indicated that this group might benefit from direct assistance in the college application process. The goal of the intervention was to work with the identified students…

International student mobility is a rapidly growing and evolving phenomenon. During the 2008/09 academic year, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by 8% to a record high of 671,616 students with about 15% from mainland China. The model of college choice for Chinese students who are considering…

In recent years, students and parents have seen tuition costs at colleges and universities rise, to the extent that many low-income families may feel a college education for their child is out of their financial reach. However, this sky-high tuition is often partially, or even largely, subsidized by various forms of financial aid. For families to…

The media communicates the existence of two distinct types of college applicants: the frenzied, overachieving, anxious student who applies to many institutions, and the underprepared, less advantaged student whose parents are not at all familiar with the application process. The purpose of this study is to more realistically describe distinct…

Applying to college used to be a fairly straightforward undertaking: Students applied to a few colleges that met their academic needs, and the institutions responded by admitting the most-worthy candidates. But that seemingly benign process is a distant memory. In its place is a swirling cauldron of angst and anxiety, especially for the families…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is completed by students annually to determine eligibility for federal student financial aid. This report describes FAFSA completion outcomes for Austin Independent School District (AISD) seniors in 2010.

Erica A. Seldin finished in the top 5 percent of her class at Cherry Creek High School in suburban Denver, while taking a demanding curriculum that included 10 Advanced Placement courses. She received the highest score possible--five--on most of her AP tests. Seldin was also president of the school's Thespian Society, acting in and directing a…

This essay describes Louisiana State University's search for an alternative to available placement protocols. Under the leadership of Les Perelman at MIT, LSU collaborated with four universities to develop iMOAT, a program for administering online assessments of student writing. This essay focuses on LSU's On-line Challenge, which developed from…

If teachers were to reflect about their most difficult teachable moments in their careers, the author is sure the Virginia Tech tragedy would be extremely taxing on their minds. For those teachers teaching high school seniors, who were in the process of sending deposits to Virginia Tech, it was particularly agonizing. In this article, the author…

This publication contains information about community colleges, the largest and fastest growing sector of U.S. higher education. Designed especially for students thinking about studying abroad in America, this publication provides information about: (1) College selection, application and visa processes, traveling to the United States, living in…

This article suggests that unlike their well-off counterparts who apply to college in the fall and know they will go somewhere when the applications have been sent, low-income students face unique challenges that extend the process in a manner entirely different from the wealthy. The notion that college-going is a cultural interpretation is…

This article presents key trends in college enrollment and gives suggestions on how to help students find their way to higher education. The authors believe that schools and school districts should create a college-bound culture. Such as culture fosters student understanding about what is takes to succeed in college and how to get there, and it…