This guest perspective argues that converting in-person summer pre-college program participants into matriculated, degree-seeking undergraduate students at that same institution is a multi-step process that involves: 1) strategic pre-college program recruitment, 2) a curated and well-rounded summer pre-college experience that is both academically…

The COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 as high school seniors were receiving their college admission notifications for fall. Many postsecondary institutions shifted outreach efforts to online formats. This qualitative study examines how virtual recruitment at an emerging HSI incorporates culturally responsive practices from the perspective of…

The pandemic period of the past two years has altered many aspects of the high school and college experience for students. With more emphasis on hybrid and virtual experiences, how has this impacted the college search process for high school students? What do they value, what do they need to know, and what information have they seen? Ruffalo Noel…

Low-socioeconomic status (SES) students are underrepresented at selective colleges, but the role that admissions offices play is poorly understood. Because admissions offices often have inconsistent information on high school contexts, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether providing detailed information on high school…

This was an exploratory qualitative study utilizing tenets of phenomenology to examine the lived experiences of front-line student services professionals in Admissions and Financial Aid and their dilemmas in interpreting and implementing California Assembly Bill 540 (2001) in their interactions with undocumented students. Front-line student…

This study examines the relationship between high school efforts at post-secondary preparation for college bound students and the expectations of college and university admissions personnel. The Advanced Placement (AP) teachers and administrators at a rural Northwest Florida high school were administered a quantitative survey in order to collect…

Undergraduate admissions in the United States is a multibillion dollar industry involving families, higher education institutions, journalists, testing companies, test preparation companies, private consultants, marketing firms, high school guidance counselors, high school teachers, coaches, financial advisors, and publicly funded programs.…

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students' lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and…

Few professional processes are more personally intrusive than the college application. It demands information about your family, your finances, your interests, and your desires. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) applicants in their teenage years who may not be comfortable with their sexuality, admission officers need be sensitive…

On-campus admissions events are the secret weapon that colleges and universities use to convince students to apply and enroll. On-campus events vary depending on the size, location, and type of institution; they include campus visitations, open houses, preview days, scholarship events, admitted student events, and summer yield events. These events…

In an effort to recruit digitally native high school students, admission professionals at colleges and universities are incorporating blogs on their websites in an effort to render authenticity in their marketing materials. Of 4-year accredited colleges and universities, 66% have a blog; 85% percent of institutions with blogs reported that their…

Woodbridge Senior High School, known as "the Bridge," serves a diverse community. Located in Prince William County, in Virginia, the high school lies about 20 miles south of Washington. Teenagers here are less likely than those in Virginia's affluent northern suburbs to aspire to top-25 colleges. Nonetheless, a higher education is a…

Recruitment pieces are often part of a university's larger marketing effort or branding. With the assistance of consultants, admission officers conduct research and often know more about prospective students than students may know about themselves (Gose 1999). Why do admission offices often have a difficult time reaching target audiences?…

When considering any type of alternative or special admission processes for incoming students, the university is charged with taking into account traditional admissions criteria such as high school grade point average (GPA) and standardized test scores as well as other attributes. These "other attributes" frequently include pressure to…

Nearly 40 years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act directed aid from institutions to students in an effort to enhance student choice and opportunity, the system of higher education continues to be widely stratified with regard to college degree attainment across family income levels and with regard to the distribution of…