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…

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…

This article explores the decision making in developing and starting a partnership between three universities using the decision-making models developed by Graham Allison in 1971 and updated in 1999. University partnerships are complicated and require more than one decision-making model to explain all the significant decisions that are make in…

A theoretical model of decision-making was used to determine the influence of perceived differences in 27 institutional characteristics on college applicants' final college choice, using data from an annual survey by John Carroll University. (MSE)

Universities are challenged to educate their students, to administer themselves effectively, and to show fiscal responsibility. In order to meet these responsibilities, a simulation model is developed that serves as both an administrative as well as a predictive tool. (LBH)

This study investigated how cultural forces influence college choice at Olivet Nazarene University (Illinois), an institution seeking strategic guidance in light of the threat of contracting enrollment. The use of "local-cosmopolitan" dichotomy allowed researchers to determine an individual's pattern of social participation and…

The results of a pilot test involved in the development and testing of an expert systems model for admission decisions in an MBA program are discussed. Other potential uses for expert systems in enrollment management are suggested. (MLW)

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.…

Possible bias in admissions decisions on the basis of sex is analyzed. The methods of testing for bias and the results thereof for graduate academic programs at the University of California, Davis, are reported. Differences in the quality distribution, based on grade point average, between male and female applicants are incorporated. (MLW)

A model of student college choice decision was formulated and empirically tested to be used as the basis to estimate the probability of whether a student would enter a particular college. Three components of the model were students' personal characteristics, the admissions process that the students experience, and college characteristics.…

This study examined how high school seniors construct decision-making strategies for choosing a college to attend. To comprehend their decision-making strategies, we chose to examine this process through the theoretical lens of bounded rationality, which brings to light the complexity in constructing a college choice decision-making strategy…

This study was initiated to determine whether factors pertinent to the choices of four-year students apply to, and are predictive of, the decisions of two-year students, or whether alternative models of choice are needed. Students completed a questionnaire which asked for information about their characteristics and college decisions. (MLW)

A model of the decision-making process for college choice that has three phases (predisposition, search, and choice) is proposed, and the implications of this model for college and government policy formation are examined. (MSE)