This study explored the college choice decisions for students who undermatched to a community college during their college choice process. Specifically, this project utilized a qualitative multi-site case study design to understand the college choice process for students who were admitted into a four-year institution but chose to enroll in a…

Highly selective public institutions affected by affirmative action bans have struggled to enroll Black students despite myriad attempts at alternative strategies. Bans likely shift university recruitment practices and shape both campus climate and portrayals of institutional commitment to diversity. Increasingly public racial incidents on college…

Although college enrollment rates have expanded over the last several decades, low-income students and students of color continue to face formidable barriers as they seek entry into higher education. While the existence of these barriers are often viewed as macro-level roadblocks that are largely systemic, much of the literature around access to…

This qualitative case study explores the career and educational aspirations, college choice process, and college barriers and opportunities of 26 rural, African American high school students. Data included interviews with 26 students and 11 school staff members. Findings suggest that the students' rural context shapes aspirations. In addition,…

This article describes the college choice process of graduate students in College Student Personnel programs at a public university and a private religiously affiliated university. Despite differences in size, mission, and location of the two institutions studied, the research findings show that respondent populations were similar demographically…

This study examined the extent to which the college choice process of four students from one high school in rural Appalachian Kentucky aligned with Perna's (2006; 2010) nested process model of college choice. I used qualitative case study methodology and inductive analysis to describe how four high-academic achieving students of varying family…

This qualitative study focused on the experiences of eight male first-generation college students attending Kenmont College (pseudonym), a highly selective, residential liberal arts college located in the Midwestern United States. While first-generation college students have been studied in various contexts, very little is known about what…

This report examines the path to college for students in academically advanced programs-- graduates of Chicago's seven Selective Enrollment schools, those who completed International Baccalaureate programs, and graduates who had taken a sequence of at least six honors and two Advanced Placement classes. This report expands on the findings of…