A gender gap currently exists in college STEM majors, with a lower percentage of females entering math intensive fields. One possible explanation is the advice students receive in high school. We conduct a survey of high school guidance counselors, soliciting their advice regarding hypothetical high school students' college and major choices. We…

Background: Most community college students from low-income families have ambitious educational degree goals, but only a small fraction attains them. For many decades, sociologists have primarily attributed this problem to a cooling out process in which college practitioners diminish students' educational ambitions using academic reorientation…

This mixed-methods study analyzed data from 906 Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Surveys (RNLSSS) at a two-year technical college in Wisconsin, to determine influences on participants' choices of programs in information technology (IT). Quantitative results showed that none of eight variables (i.e., cost, financial assistance, academic…

This study explored variables that impacted college choices of traditionally aged new freshmen who chose to attend two-year colleges in central Wisconsin with the intention of completing bachelor's degrees. Participants in this study were traditionally aged 18 and 19 years-old first-time freshmen who attended one of five two-year schools in…

This dissertation consists of three chapters examining issues relevant to current higher education policy debates. In the first chapter, I use surveys, in-depth interviews, and administrative records from a sample of Wisconsin Pell Grant recipients who chose among Wisconsin public colleges and universities to explore whether students' initial…

A substantial amount of research has been conducted on the college choice process of students entering postsecondary education, yet little is known about this process for students transferring from two-year colleges to bachelor degree-granting institutions. The current study examines how and why community college students' perceptions shape their…

We use the random assignment of a private Wisconsin need-based grant to estimate the impacts of financial aid on college persistence among Pell Grant recipients at 13 public universities over three years. For equity and efficiency reasons, governments use conditional cash transfers to reduce the relationship between family income and college…

During Academic Day, September 1, 2009, incoming freshmen and transfer students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) were asked to complete a one-page questionnaire designed to find out: (1) how they learned about UW-River Falls as an option for their tertiary education; (2) what factors most influenced their…

The report, "Why They Don't Show in September" analyzed the findings of a questionnaire sent to students who had been admitted to the Wisconsin State University at Stevens Point but failed to enroll in the fall. One major question left unanswered in the earlier study concerned 223 high school graduates who indicated that Stevens Point…

This survey is part of a larger study which was initiated to gather data for the planning of state-wide post-secondary programs in Wisconsin and to assess the state's needs for educational institutions and facilities. A questionnaire, administered to 57,349 high school seniors in the spring of 1968, collected data on: post-high school plans for…

In order to determine the barriers to enrollment in Wisconsin vocational and technical institutes, 440 questionnaires were sent to potential students in the 1975-76 school year; 198 questionnaires were returned, over half from students who had applied but did not attend, for a response rate of 45%. Results of the survey indicated that, overall,…

This brochure provides a complete listing of the approved undergraduate and graduate professional education programs including majors, minors, and concentrations offered at all of the public universities and independent colleges and universities in Wisconsin. Individuals interested in pursuing a career in the education professions may use this…

Based on a prior study which found that only 55% of those who indicated they planned to attend a Wisconsin vocational-technical-adult education (VTAE) school in their district actually did so, a research project was conducted to identify barriers which appeared to deter recent high school graduates and adults from attending a VTAE school. Surveys…

In the present complex and changing context students and families are looking for information tools to help them identify financial planning constants to allow them to reduce the number of unknown factors that can be barriers to the completion of a personal financial package to cover the cost of higher education. This handbook is designed to…

Information gathered from various sources was directed toward identifying those areas where programs could be implemented and action taken to increase the enrollment and graduation of students, particularly the disadvantaged. The guiding model emphasized the factors affecting both a person's decision to enter a postsecondary school and his…