One of the most critical functions on campus is enrollment management. As budgets become tighter and institutions rely more heavily on tuition, the competition to "make the class" intensifies. How can institutional research help inform strategic planning in such a market? This paper will discuss the way that institutional researchers can…

This paper examines the potential negative consequences of the internationalisation of American higher education from the perspective of positional competition theory. This analysis suggests that internationalisation efforts undertaken by colleges and universities contribute to positional competition between students vying for admission, between…

The meritocratic ideal prescribes that universities should admit students based on academic ability and individual effort. Yet as competition for scarce slots has increased, markets for services to improve the odds of admission have expanded. We use the case of a popular online forum for elite Taiwanese students seeking graduate study in the…

Letters of recommendation consume a lot of time and thought as they are solicited, written, and read, and, while many high school and college admission officials say that work pays off by providing a university with valuable and sometimes unique information about prospective students, most everyone also agrees they could be more effective. Some…

U.S. colleges and universities have identified a recent surge in behavioral health issues among their student bodies. Social work educators and scholars have expressed concerns about student behavioral health issues, given their potential impact on their professional functioning. There is, however, relatively little empirical evidence of this…

Situated within scholarly research on tracking, within-school racial segregation, and student career aspirations, this qualitative study examines how three Black students in the mainstream program at a magnet high school in the Southeastern United States discussed their career aspirations. Results indicate that while each participant aspired to…

Compared with admissions test scores, why are high school grades better at predicting college graduation? We argue that success in college requires not only cognitive ability but also self-regulatory competencies that are better indexed by high school grades. In a national sample of 47,303 students who applied to college for the 2009/2010 academic…

In this study, we investigated the currently applied selective admission criteria and tools of the two-year research master's programs of both the Graduate Schools of Life Sciences and Natural Sciences of Utrecht University (the Netherlands). In addition, we evaluated their transparency to applicants. Both admissions staff members and applicants…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a culturally relevant and responsive intervention (i.e., the Hip Hop Learning Community) could develop a foster youth's cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). The Hip Hop Learning Community intervention was developed using a Hip Hop Empowerment Model, combining Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model…

We examined the characteristics of the respondents before entering higher education along with the clusters. We have discovered the characteristics of secondary school studies and further education, the circumstances for applying for higher education. During the analysis of secondary school studies, we took into account the type of class they…

Low-income students, even those with strong academic credentials, are unlikely to attend a highly selective college. With a field experiment, we test an intervention to increase enrollment of low-income students at the highly selective University of Michigan. We contact students (as well as their parents and principals) with an encouragement to…

The National Benchmark Test Project (NBTP) was commissioned by Higher Education South Africa in 2005 to assess the academic proficiency of prospective students. The competencies assessed include quantitative literacy using the NBTP QL test. This instrument is a criterion-referenced multiple-choice test developed collaboratively by South African…

Although college access has increased, first-generation college students are still less likely to enroll in postsecondary education, and when they do enroll, are more likely to attend less selective schools compared to their peers whose parents are college-educated. In order to understand how first-generation students end up where they do, we must…

Research on Black student presence in gifted and talented programs consistently illuminates issues with recruitment and underrepresentation. While enrolled, gifted Black students face a series of issues that affect their ability to persist and achieve, especially in nondiverse environments. This work examines the reflections of four Black adults…

Independent educational consultants (IECs) are rapidly becoming a regular part of the college search and admission process as students search for the right fit. Although the cost of going to college has risen sharply in recent years, the cost of hiring a consultant hasn't gone up nearly so quickly. Families are beginning to see consulting as…