Amid concerns about creating internationally recognized world-class universities in China, this study aims to explore the factors that influence the selection of two prestigious universities in China, namely Tsinghua and Beida, by high school students. In light of concerns surrounding the establishment of globally renowned universities in China,…

Annual rankings provide easily consumable quantitative information that prospective students and their families use to make decisions about applications and admissions offers. One popular ranking is Princeton Review's Party Schools, which receives national attention and condemnation by institutional leaders. We analyzed IPEDS and Clery Act data…

Previous studies have paid little attention to teachers` self or collegial considerations when making decisions about their students, precisely their tendency to avoid being blamed for students` failure. When a teacher is blamed for a student's difficulties, her/his public image ('face') is threatened, and s/he and her/his colleagues can be…

Purpose: University selection in higher education is a complex task for aspirants from a decision-making perspective. This study first aims to understand the essential parameters that affect potential students' choice of higher education institutions. It then aims to explore how these parameters or priorities have changed given the impact of the…

This study aims to develop a comprehensive HEI choice intention (CI) model to understand how social influence (SI), brand equity (BE), and HEI factors influence attitude toward HEI (HEIA) as well as how the HEI attitude is a mediator of the relationship of these variables with the HEI CI. Data collected from 1633 high school seniors via online…

College choice is one of the most significant decisions a family will make. Families with high socioeconomic status often hire independent educational consultants (IEC) to assist their family in college search activities. A review of the literature indicated a gap in the literature regarding IECs' understanding of the factors which influence their…

Each year, final year high school students choose the university that they would prefer to attend. Past studies have found that family, friends, course availability, university reputation, distances from home, and job prospects were factors affecting students' choice of university. However, the relative weight of these factors might have changed…

Lackluster BA completion rates have made it clear that improving postsecondary outcomes in the U.S. is not simply a matter of raising college enrollment rates. In addition to increasing the number of people who attend college, it is also important to increase the number of people who graduate. Over the years, scholars have identified many factors…

When choosing a college, high school students and those who guide them through the process must consider the complex interactions between student-level and institution-level variables in order to achieve an optimal person-environment fit. Ten academically advanced high school students who had chosen and committed to attending a college…

In this conceptual article, the authors examine changes to the United States educational ecology during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article draws on contemporary and historical research to critique how K-12 school policies and educational leadership decisions are made amidst a crisis. As schools and districts continue to navigate a shifting…

This qualitative case study examines the college choice decisions of rural students enrolled in engineering majors to understand what conditions and experiences led rural students to pursue engineering at their institution. We found four themes that help illuminate rural engineering students' college choice journeys (1) The Inextricable Nature of…

Grade repetition is one of the bottlenecks to Uganda's vision of producing skilled human capital to transform the nation's status from peasant to middle class. This study explored how education stakeholders perceived the implication of students' grade repetition at a secondary school level. I employed a qualitative approach with an embedded…

This paper presents findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis with 20 students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds who were accepted onto a Foundation Year in Oxford University. It explores the factors that impacted on their decision to apply to a prestigious university and student's views on their transition to the…

Less-advantaged students are under-represented at prestigious universities, but can we infer that they actively avoid them? This research measured university applicants' knowledge of 115 UK universities. Using card-sort tasks within an interview format, 56 Year 13 students from different types of 16-19 education described how they chose five…

This article analyzes the crystallized learning disposition formed in secondary schools and its persistent influence on the transition between educational sectors and the workplace. Using interview data from eight adults who graduated from a prestigious university in Korea, this study reveals that "exam-inclined self-direction," a manner…