For more than 1,043,839 international students, the United States is the destination of choice to pursue higher education. Although Chinese students account for almost one in three international students in the U.S., there are many unknowns about the influential factors behind their college decision. This qualitative study explores the…

In the context of a political imperative to reorganise the Portuguese higher education system, a deep knowledge of student choice decision-making processes when applying to higher education is needed. Following a 'combined model' of student choice, which emphasises economic and social factors, this paper aims to answer two main related questions:…

The purpose of this research is to understand how nation branding initiatives complement education diplomacy for a country such as China and to investigate how country distance shapes perceptions of China across a large international student contingency in China. We use Ghemawat's [(2001). Distance still matters. "Harvard Business…

Education reformers have spent decades doggedly working to improve student outcomes in K-12 education by championing policies spanning federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Higher education is a much different story. Policy ideas at the federal level are plentiful; however, state- or institution-level policies are examined and implemented far…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how and why the human, cultural, and social capital (or lack thereof) of students from rural North Carolina counties of persistent poverty impacted their decision to attend a historically black college or university (HBCU). Students from counties of persistent poverty in their first semester…

Student mobility has increasingly become a key issue of policy and practice in higher education. This chapter presents a set of critical views about international student mobility globally, setting the context for emerging voices and critical lenses. The authors argue that educators should look into the bigger picture of mobility to understand its…

This study examines how Swedish students originating from metropolitan areas have used university colleges to access higher education. In the 1970s, as part of a series of reforms to the Swedish higher education system, university colleges were established. One reason being to make higher education more accessible to students outside the…

Janet Marling is the Executive Director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS), which is housed at the University of North Georgia. NISTS was established in 2002 at the University of North Texas and later moved to its present location in 2012. During this time, NISTS has grown into one of the largest national…

This comparative study modifies Cabrera and La Nasa's model to examine social and class stratification in students' college-choice outcomes in the USA and Taiwan, and compares the mechanisms that perpetuate this stratification between the two systems. Students' college-choice outcomes are defined by both institutional selectivity and control, in…

Branding in higher education has become increasingly used as a mechanism of differentiation among competitors to attract prospective students. Although branding in higher education is a common phenomenon, little work has been done assessing the college selection process using a brand choice framework. This paper aims to fill the gap by…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between self beliefs, institutional characteristics, and college student persistence. More specifically, this study sought to understand whether self-efficacy beliefs, both academic self-efficacy and social self-efficacy, play a role in college persistence. Further, the possible moderating…

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between the new statewide two-year financial aid program, Tennessee Promise, and college choice among high school seniors in four counties in upper Northeast Tennessee. Independent variables included GPA, concern about ability to pay for college, and plans to attend a two-year…

Access to higher education begins with a student's decision whether and where to apply to college. This paper examines racial and ethnic differences in college application behavior of high school graduates, using two recent graduation cohorts from Texas. We estimate racial and ethnic differences in the probability of applying to college,…

Means-ends decoupling implies that national policies and practices are disconnected from the state's core goal of creating public welfare. Employing sociological institutionalism, this article aims to explore how means-ends decoupling at the state level affects Ukrainian students' choice of university and study programme using semi-structured…

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study is an examination of some perceptions of US education, as experienced by foreign MBA students. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal field study captured perceptions of a group of 51 international students over a one-year interval. The first anticipatory survey was done in India, and the…