Exploring the Decision Process of School Leavers' and 'Mature Students' in University Choice

University choice: what do we know, what don’t we know and what do we still need to find out?

“…For example, the sub-groups they named "have lots" and "university lifers" rely on information about courses, whereas the sub-group "little direction" need information about sport and "new lifers" were interested in student life (Bonnema and van der Weldt, 2008). The finding that choice factors often vary for different groups or segments of students is further supported by Harker et al (2001) and suggests that details of the institution are not important for all types of studentsthey differ in importance depending upon a range of lifestyle characteristics and demographic factors (Tonks and Farr, 1995). There are no factors or characteristics of universities identified which drive the choices of all students, academic reputation was the highest ranked factor in a study conducted in the UK by Briggs (2006), see also studies on "reputation" by Nguyen and LeBlanc (2001), Daily et al (2010), Dunnett et al (2012), Hoyt and Howell (2012).…”

“…Overwhelmingly studies of higher education choice tend to focus on school-leaver choosers and therefore age is not a variable that is generally explored. Harker et al (2001), however, collected data from 407 mature students and 246 school leavers to compare the factors influencing their choices. Findings showed that mature students were more likely to: select a university near to home; more likely to use a wide variety of sources to make choices; and more likely to select a less prestigious university compared with school leavers.…”

Getting into a Russell Group university: high scores and private schooling

“…There is no single published, definitive list of influential factors in terms of choosing a university, nor would these factors influence every student if researchers were able to identify and map them—different types of students by age, gender, programme choice, lifestyle, etc., are influenced in different ways by these factors. Analysis of prior research reveals that a great many authors choose to focus on demographic factors and their studies are based on differences between categories of students by sex (Becker, ; Yingui, ), racial group (Reay et al ., ; Thomas, ; Cho et al ., ; Yingui, ), socio‐economic status (Macdonald & Stratta, ; Reay et al ., ; Callender & Jackson, ; Cho et al ., ; Chowdry et al ., ), age (Harker et al ., ; González‐Arnal & Kilkey, ) and family income (Oosterbeek et al ., ; Strayer, ; Ozdemir & Hacifazlioglu, ; Boudarbat & Montmarquette, ). Articles also explore factors associated with academic issues including prior qualifications (Leslie, ; Pasternak, ; Callender & Jackson, ) and parental education (Boudarbat & Montmarquette, ; Yingui, ).…”

“…Harker et al . (), however, collected data from 407 mature students and 246 school leavers in order to compare the factors influencing their choices. The findings show that mature students (aged 25+) are more likely to select a university close to home, use a wider variety of sources to make choices, and are more likely to select a new university than their school‐leaver counterparts (Harker et al ., ).…”

“…The background and context for previous research on student choice of higher education institution covers a range of social (Davies & Guppy, ; Zimbroff, ; Whitehead et al ., ; e.g. Baker & Brown, ), cultural (Maringe & Carter, ; Chung et al ., ; Ivy, ), political (Bratti, ; Dawes & Brown, ; Pasternak, ; Maringe, ), financial (Harker et al ., ; Briggs & Wilson, ; Callender & Jackson, ; Brown et al ., ) and globalisation issues (Kemp & Madden, ; Pasternak, ; Briggs & Wilson, ; Chen, ; Chung et al ., ; Park, ). Much research in the field, however, has been based on studies using secondary data from high school students (often dating back 5–10 years), regional (including some single institution) studies, studies with relatively small and often convenience samples (for example an insightful qualitative study by Baker and Brown () relies on interviews with 14 students), and studies conducted in countries outside Europe with somewhat unique education systems (e.g.…”