The Internet &amp; College Admissions<i>Implications and Opportunities</i>

Hartman, Kenneth E.

doi:10.1080/00091389809602609

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Institutional websites are increasingly important to the admissions and recruitment practices of colleges and universities. Colleges and universities embrace the use of institutional websites due to their ability to rapidly communicate a significant amount of information to a potentially vast audience (Abrahamson, 2000;Adelman, 2006;Anctil, 2008;Ashburn, 2007;Boyles, 2007;Hartman, 1998;Hossler, 1999;Kittle & Ciba, 1997;McKnight & Paugh, 1999;Poock & Lefond, 2001;Raisman;Stevens, 2007;Tierney, 2004;Venegas, 2006). The combination of language (e.g., words, phrases, statements) and images (e.g., photographs, graphics, multimedia) are components colleges and universities intentionally deploy to represent the institution (e.g., Hartley & Morphew, 2008;Hossler, 1999;McKnight & Paugh, 1999;Mechitov, Moshkovich, Underwood, & Taylor, 2001;Pooch & Lefond, 2001;Urciuoli, 2003Urciuoli, , 2009.…”

Section: Statement Of Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sample content was available on 12 institutional websites. Data were collected from the following web pages on the institutional websites in the sample: Prospective students are interested in admission selectivity, total costs and financial aid, general academic reputation, majors and programs offered, student life activities, and other unique characteristics of campuses (Hartman, 1998;Hossler, 1999;Hossler et al, 1989;McDonough, 1997). Often websites contain web pages offering a response to this type of inquiry.…”

Section: Sample Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

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Representation on college and university websites

Saichaie¹

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The purpose of this study is to understand how colleges and universities use language to represent themselves on their institutional websites (official websites of higher education institutions). Organizations, like colleges and universities, seek to create and maintain a distinctive identity in an effort to build legitimacy (i.e., status) and attract students (i.e., tuition dollars). Institutional websites are increasingly important to the admissions and marketing practices of colleges and universities due to their ability to rapidly communicate a significant amount of content to a vast audience. Colleges and universities use language, whether textual (i.e., written) or visual (i.e., images), to position and differentiate themselves from other institutions and promote their efforts. This study utilizes Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the language on the institutional websites of 12 colleges and universities across a number of characteristics (e.g., control, type, geographic region, admissions selectivity) in the United States. Theoretically, CDA provides the means to examine everyday language in an effort to raise awareness about issues of inequality, such as access to education. Methodologically, Fairclough's approach to CDA has three dimensions of analysis. The first dimension is descriptive analysis where the intent is to describe the properties of the textual and visual elements. The second dimension involves interpretive analysis where the goal is to examine the contents of language and its functional parts to understand and interpret the connections between the role of language and the greater social structures it reflects and supports. Societal analysis, the third dimension, focuses on explanations of larger cultural, historical, and social discourses surrounding interpretations of the data. The analyses from this study suggest that colleges and universities utilize a common promotional discourse en masse to market rather systematic representations of "higher education" despite the fact that they vary widely by a number of institutional characteristics. Specifically, analyses reveal that institutions use language to repeatedly establish prestige and relevancy by touting the accomplishments of their institutional 2 actors. The institutions attempt to engage the viewer with relational language, present numerous co-curricular experiences along with numerous images related to generic institutional characteristics (e.g., architecture, campus scenery), and multiple layers of navigation. The scholarly commitment associated with higher education plays a reduced role while the intangibles available to the prospective student are at the forefront of representations in the sample. Institutions also poorly represent other social goods (e.g., class, sexual orientation). Of the 453 images in the study, 98 feature a non-white actor (21%) and 146 feature a female actor (32%). Representations of diverse actors often appear in the form of caricatures (e.g., Native American in tribal dress). Given the mission a...

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Section: Statement Of Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sample Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Representation on college and university websites

Saichaie¹

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“…In the 1990s, the use of Internet technologies in college admission and financial aid was heralded as the wave of the future (Frazier, 2003;Gladieux & Swail 1999a, 1999bHartman 1998;Shelley, 1989). Colleges and universities exhibited an increasing reliance on the Internet for admission, financial aid, housing, and registration processes.…”

Section: The Internet and College Admissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Colleges and universities exhibited an increasing reliance on the Internet for admission, financial aid, housing, and registration processes. Admissions and financial aid personnel were concerned about their ability to be effective and attractive to the online student viewer (Hartman, 1998;Hossler, 1998). The advantages of real-time information and expedited admission, financial aid, and housing information increased the quality of service available to Web-registered student users.…”

Section: The Internet and College Admissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantages of real-time information and expedited admission, financial aid, and housing information increased the quality of service available to Web-registered student users. Parents and students could "virtually visit" colleges from the convenience of their own home (Hartman, 1998). At the same time, advocates for low-income students and students of color warned of the potential for Internet resources to become "engines of inequality" if they were not made available to all students (Gladieux & Swail, 1999a).…”

Section: The Internet and College Admissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Internet Inequalities

Venegas

2006

American Behavioral Scientist

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This article focuses on the Web-based resources available to low-income students as they build their perceptions, make their decisions, and engage in financial aid activities. Data are gathered from the results of focus groups and case studies. Findings suggest that low-income students do have access to computers but lack the knowledge and support needed to navigate the financial aid resources available online.

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Our Students…Our Campus…Their Community: Analyzing Institutional Civic Engagement Websites

Hutchings

Morgan

2023

Innov High Educ

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The Internet & College AdmissionsImplications and Opportunities

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Representation on college and university websites

Representation on college and university websites

Internet Inequalities

Our Students…Our Campus…Their Community: Analyzing Institutional Civic Engagement Websites

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