The literature on college choice is extensive and navigating it for purposes of review is complicated by the dual meaning given to the word choice. To clarify, in this article, the phrase "college choice" refers to the concept defined by Don Hossler and Karen Gallagher in their seminal 1987 article entitled "Studying Student College…

The importance of information is seldom centered in modern college access, college disparities, and college-going discussions. This article situates information and how it shapes college pursuits and intensifies inequities, particularly for minoritized groups. Specifically, the author unpacks two components from the Iloh Model of College-Going…

The decisions to go to college and where are life-altering. Accordingly, college choice theory has been a necessary framework for understanding access and destinations in postsecondary education. The author argues for the need to depart from framing college-going around "choice" and puts forth a timely and context-driven alternative to…

On-campus admissions events are the secret weapon that colleges and universities use to convince students to apply and enroll. On-campus events vary depending on the size, location, and type of institution; they include campus visitations, open houses, preview days, scholarship events, admitted student events, and summer yield events. These events…

In 1976 and again in 1995, several brave women chose to enroll at--and thereby to "gender integrate"--America's military colleges. In 1976, women were admitted to the Department of Defense (DOD) service academies after an Act of Congress changed a law so as to allow for their matriculation. Beginning in 1995, women were admitted to state-supported…

For several decades, colleges have maintained an LGBT Web presence for currently enrolled students. These Web sites inform students about resources, services, events, and staff . They serve as a way to communicate a school's inclusivity and commitment to the LGBT population. Only recently have Web sites specifically targeted for the prospective…

This article utilizes data from a two-year study of Latino urban high school students to understand more about the role of peers in college choice and access. Findings suggest that peers can support college goals.

A study of prospective engineering majors' college choice compared factors influencing those students with factors influencing other college-bound students; related college choice to student characteristics; and examined the time of major choice, principal influences on that decision, specialization preferences, and career objectives among this…

A study examined the probability that students would apply to or attend Southwest Missouri State University without a freshman no-need scholarship, prospective students' awareness of these and other scholarships, the relative importance students attach to the scholarship, and the recruiting potential of the scholarship in various amounts. (MSE)

Analysis of the joint submission of Scholastic Aptitude Test scores by 10,704 high school seniors shows that relatively few colleges compete with each other in local student markets. This suggests that state and institutional policies for adapting to demographically induced enrollment declines will be severely constrained by the competitive…

Common quantitative measures used as indicators of institutional quality (library holdings, student faculty ratio, expenditures) may be less revealing than other factors (out-of-class student-faculty interaction, special living environments, the institution's informal organization, etc.). Admissions staff should have such information available for…

A survey of a sampling of college-bound high school seniors in Arizona was undertaken to determine students' information needs for college choice. Items, including institutional, student, and program characteristics, are ranked in order of perceived importance. (MSE)

A study of 2,500 Boston College applicants accepted for fall 1977 revealed information about the college's applicant pool and drawing power that can be of assistance in policymaking and student recruitment. It also revealed information about application overlap and competition with other institutions in the same market. (MSE)

A survey of 2,500 applicants accepted at Boston College in 1977 is used to develop two statistical models of student decision making for college choice. One model focuses on the decision-making process and the other on institutional image, and the two are compared. The results of the two models guide institutional policy in different directions.…

The concept of family members assuming buying roles in various purchasing decisions is applied to parents and students in the college choice process. Prospective students (high school seniors) and their parents were surveyed in Milwaukee; the results and their implications for college marketing are discussed. (MSE)