ERIC Number: ED583581
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Jul
Pages: 47
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Does Opting into a Search Service Provide Benefits to Students? ACT Working Paper 2017-3
Moore, Joann L.; Cruce, Ty
ACT, Inc.
Recent research suggests that the use of student search services is an effective part of a college's student marketing and recruitment strategy. What is not clear, however, is whether participating in a search service is an effective part of a student's college search strategy. To address this question, we exploit a recent change in the choice architecture that structures students' decision to participate in ACT's Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) in order to make a causal inference about the benefit to the student of opting into a search service. We hypothesized that students who had opted into EOS unintentionally sent scores to more colleges than students who opted out. Indeed, we found that unintentional opt-in was associated with an 8% increase in the odds of sending scores to any colleges, and for students who sent scores, unintentional EOS opt-in was associated with a 1.1 increase in the number of colleges to which scores were sent. Results of this study support the hypothesis that EOS opt-in may indeed be an effective part of a student's college search strategy.
Descriptors: College Students, Marketing, Student Recruitment, Decision Making, Inferences, Hypothesis Testing, Information Dissemination, College Choice, Probability, Search Strategies, Census Figures, College Freshmen, High School Graduates, College Entrance Examinations, High School Students, Regression (Statistics), Student Characteristics, Scores
ACT, Inc. 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA 52243-0168. Tel: 319-337-1270; Web site: http://www.act.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: ACT, Inc.
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: ACT Assessment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A