College campuses provide lots of institutions that look like those one finds in a democratic society--newspapers, government, courts--but ultimately the campus versions are not the same. When anybody sign up for college, he/she is volunteering (and paying) to be part of a particular community with particular rules. This article discusses the…

This report provides an comprehensive analysis of the way recession is impacting upon graduate outcomes. Data used in this report reflects the current level of applications to higher education (HE) for 2010 entry, but, due to data collection timing differences, the employment and training destinations of the graduating cohorts of 2005/06-2008/09.…

This article examines the impact of institutional and program-area rankings on student access to, and choice in, U.S. higher education. It also discusses the impact of rankings on student opportunities after graduation in terms of placement success and earnings. The discussion is informed by the broader research literature in these areas, and…

Reports on a study that examined the student-institutional relationship from a consumer behavior perspective. Found that students were more concerned with program, previous investment in the program, and program location, while graduates considered job availability, career options, academic reputation, and program. (JOW)

The author argues that consumer protection in the realm of college education must be implemented. It is suggested that college catalogs and bulletins do not provide enough factual information for a prospective student to make a choice. (MS)

Examined the image and market position, competition, and market segments of Utah Valley State College, factors that influence student college choice. (EV)

This critical essay is based on ethnographic research that followed thirteen students (from different social classes and racial background) through the college application process during their senior year of high school (Bloom, 2007). The study's purpose was to understand the accumulation and use of social and cultural capital by critically…

College counselors regard themselves as teachers and educators, but they are something else as well. They are links between the location of childhood and the larger, more risky terrain of first adulthood. College counselors prepare students for an actual, not merely figurative, journey, the prospect of which fill students and their parents with…

This study used information from the College Board's Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ) to investigate how enrolling students rate college choice factors in general and how they rate the colleges in which they have chosen to enroll. The sample included 68,428 admitted freshmen student responses to the ASQ, representing 122 institutions. Findings…

Reports on a model that develops estimates of institutional enrollments for each market segment in a particular geographic area (three counties in Pennsylvania in this case). The data suggest that it is the self-contained local markets that will be most subject to demographic pressures. (Author/IRT)

Explores how perceptions of quality turn students' heads toward certain campuses, but that price often determines their final choices. (EV)

Examines folklore (conventional wisdom) about college quality and critiques five key myths that misguide prospective students in selecting a college. Suggests multiple criteria framework for assessing college quality. (CM)

Asserts that no one can be certain whether a particular student will be accepted into their college/university of choice. Acknowledges anxiety and lack of control felt by prospective students and their parents. Recommends prospective students' families view the college search as an educational decision-making process. (CM)

Linked student college choice and college student persistence literatures. Combined model, using variables from college predisposition and college persistence models, was operationalized into one educational process using High School and Beyond data base. Resulting goodness-of-fit measures indicated good fit of the model, as specified, to the…