Deciding about College: How Soon is Soon Enough?

Abstract

Background/Context Prior research has stressed the importance of timing in the college choice process, especially as it relates to receiving early information and making plans and decisions. Little has been done, however, in terms of empirically demonstrating how soon students make their decisions about college and the ways in which the timing of student decisions are related to planning behaviors. Focus of Study This paper examines the relationships between the timing of decisions related to college attendance and outcomes such as aspirations, course-taking patterns in high school, and eventual college application. It also considers how the timing and various sources of information are related to when students make these decisions. Research Design This study provides secondary statistical analysis of data obtained from a statewide survey of high school seniors in New Hampshire during the spring of the 2004– 2005 school year. Conclusions/Recommendations Findings suggest that the dominant model of college choice involving predisposition, search, and choice should be updated to acknowledge that predisposition may begin much earlier than the literature has typically considered. To wit, many students begin gathering information and making decisions about postsecondary education as early as elementary school. Additional resources should be dispatched to address the needs of economically disadvantaged and first-generation students who often lack the types of human, social, and financial capital needed to make the most of their early educational opportunities.

High School Students’ Expectations and College Aspirations: Causes and Consequences

“…aspirations, access, and choice in postsecondary education (e.g., Harding et al, 2017;Means et al, 2016). This study reveals how various factors can account for the disparity between aspirations and expectations in a variety of contexts in the U.S.…”

“…In K-12 and higher education settings, policymakers, scholars, and practitioners have continuously discussed the issues of students’ educational aspirations, access, and choice in postsecondary education (e.g., Harding et al, 2017; Means et al, 2016). This study reveals how various factors can account for the disparity between aspirations and expectations in a variety of contexts in the U.S.…”

“…Other studies have centered on the effects of finances on facilitating or hindering access to higher education (e.g., Scott-Clayton, 2015; Toutkoushian & Hillman, 2012). And students who come from higher socioeconomic families are more likely to aspire to go to college, enroll in college, and earn a degree (e.g., Choy, 2001; Harding et al, 2017; Nichols & Islas, 2016; Toutkoushian et al, 2018). Additionally, a few studies have focused on the relationship between high school contexts, such as rural areas and public schools and college choice or attainment (e.g., Barr, 2018; Means et al, 2016).…”

Choice, Information Inequity, and the Production, Legitimation, and Reduction of Educational Inequality

“…It has become clear that students begin thinking about college well before their junior and senior years. Hence, many researchers recommend that advising for college start as early as the sixth or seventh grade (Harding et al, 2017; Holzman et al, 2020; Hossler et al, 1999, pp. 22–23, 29; Perna, 2013).…”

“…Moreover, there is abundant evidence that educational expectations play an important part in producing class differences in whether and where students go to college. High socioeconomic status (SES) students are more likely to enter higher education and go to selective colleges in large part because of their deeply ingrained expectation that college going and attending a selective college is a preordained step in their life course rather than an open choice among multiple options, as is more often the case for low SES students (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990;Grodsky & Riegle-Crumb, 2010;Harding et al, 2017;Lor, 2023;McDonough, 1997;Mullen, 2010;Weis et al, 2014).…”