This report discusses enrollment planning by colleges and universities as it concerns the understanding of why students choose to attend one particular college over another. First, the past responses of colleges to enrollment-threatening changes are presented. Next, an explanation is given of why knowledge of student college choice behavior is…

Factors affecting college choice of beginning college freshmen were studied. The influence of academic background and performance of students residing in a metropolitan area was assessed from 1983 to 1986 with 33 institutions of a statewide university system. Using multivariate discriminant analysis, institutions attended were predicted using the…

This report presents the results of a study examining the effects of rapidly rising tuitions at the nation's "elite" private colleges and universities, and the impact on the enrollment of middle-income students. The paper traces the income background of Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) schools and shows how students from…

Parents' plans for sending pre-college age children to college, and their plans for financing that education were studied. Specific concerns included: how many children parents foresee attending college; the type of institution (private versus public) they would prefer their children attend; how well preference for a type of college matches…

Twenty students were interviewed after transferring to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) from colleges that offered no specialized programs for hearing-impaired students. The students reported that previous teachers were not aware of their learning needs, reading materials were difficult to comprehend, classes were too large and…

A study of black college students to assess whether they are better served by predominantly black colleges or by integrated, predominantly white colleges is discussed. About 3,000 freshmen and seniors at eight predominantly white and seven predominantly black colleges were studied in four states with different social mores and attitudes toward…

The general background, views of the university, career and educational plans, academic skills, and personal development of incoming international students at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), were surveyed. Students were also given the opportunity to indicate their social and political attitudes and their specific concerns about…

Characteristics of competition from an institutional perspective were studied, based on a 1983 field study of the management and performance of four-year institutions. Attention was directed to three concerns: the similarity of competing institutions; the extent to which enrollment competition is structured by characteristics such as institutional…

An overview of an ongoing study of state policies and private postsecondary education is presented. It is suggested that higher education should be viewed in the context of a state's practices in other human service policy areas (e.g., social and health services). Three types of state policy postures are emphasized: laissez-faire, market…

The Open University offers part-time courses for adults by means of a multimedia distance teaching system. By adopting an open admissions policy and offering undergraduate courses, it is aiming for excellence and equality on a cost-effective basis. The university does appear to have achieved a high academic standard, both in its courses and its…

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…

As a basis for arriving at appropriate desegregation legal theory and policies, the case law in higher education, analogous case law from elementary and secondary education, and additional insights provided by social science, experience, and common sense are examined. The following issues are reviewed: (1) whether the desegregation of higher…

Student characteristics, opinions, and projections for fall 1981 entering freshmen at the University of South Carolina (USC) were compared to national norms, based on administration of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program questionnaire of the American Council of Education. Twelve areas of interest that were selected for analysis from the…

Results of the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), 1981 University, New Student Census, which is based on data from both the 1-day and the 2-day freshmen orientation programs, are presented. The total sample consisted of 1,454 entering freshmen. Eighty-five percent of the students were white, 7 percent were black, 3 percent were…

National normative data for 1981 on characteristics of students entering college as first-time, full-time freshmen are presented as part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. Based on administration of the Student Information Form (SIF), data are reported separately for women and men, and for 38 groups of institutions. The major…