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The issue of academic undermatching involves students enrolling at colleges and universities below the level of selectivity to which their academic profiles indicate they could gain admission. Undermatching has received significant attention because students who undermatch have been shown to experience less favorable outcomes than their peers who match, including lower levels of satisfaction with the college experience, lower graduation rates, lower rates of full-time employment, and lower annual incomes. Undermatching has also been found to occur with much greater frequency among various populations of students, including those of low socioeconomic status (SES), underrepresented racial and ethnic minority identities, and first-generation college students. The extant literature focuses almost exclusively on students from those groups. Research has also, however, identified a geographic component to undermatching, as rural students have been found to undermatch at significantly higher rates than their urban and suburban counterparts. Interestingly, rural students are less likely than nonrural students to attend selective institutions even after controlling for SES and academic preparedness, as well as other demographic and high school achievement variables. While the nature of the academic undermatching that occurs among rural students appears to be distinct from that which occurs among nonrural students, there are no qualitative studies focused on the intersection of rurality and academic matching. In fact, students from rural backgrounds are largely ignored in the broader literature on access and equity in higher education. This study seeks to address current gaps in the literature by focusing exclusively on rural students and employing a qualitative design to explore more deeply their college choice processes and experiences at a large urban public research university. / Educational Leadership

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Research examining college choice has traditionally focused on factors relating to demographics of the student and the college/university. Less attention has been directed towards how safety and security of the campus and the surrounding community play a role in college choice. In addition, some studies have examined students’ fear of crime, perception of safety and security, and perception of public safety; however, there is still much to be learned. The current study sought to further the research by (1) assessing how campus safety and security impacts enrollment decisions, (2) assessing how students perceive fear of crime and their personal safety, and (3) determining how students view campus public safety officers and the various programs/policies designed to improve their safety. Survey data was gathered from a sample of students attending East Tennessee State University. Results suggested that several factors played a role in the outcomes of interest. Findings served to better our understanding of the topic and promote future research in the field.

In recent years, university-based Intensive English Programs (IEPs) have expanded to serve the growing population of international students who wish to earn their degrees at U.S. universities. Many of these IEPs have shifted their focus to assist these academically bound international students by functioning as a bridge to enrollment in American undergraduate or graduate degree programs. Accordingly, it has become increasingly important to investigate and better understand how such programs are serving this student population. This dissertation explores how one university-based IEP is preparing its academically bound international students for their subsequent academic studies. In order to gain greater insight into students’ experiences throughout the college-going process, current and former students were interviewed about the ways in which this IEP facilitated their admittance to, enrollment in, and academic readiness for success in university degree programs. Additionally, interviews with instructors and administrators, observations of IEP courses and advising sessions, and student test score and academic record data were all analyzed to gain a more holistic understanding of the processes these students undergo in the pursuit of their academic goals. This study draws upon Lave and Wenger’s (1991) theory of situated learning as a theoretical framework to examine the academic socialization that international students studying at a university-based IEP experience throughout the college-going process. The findings from this study revealed that in addition to English language instruction, university-based IEPs with academically bound student populations must also provide their students with the college choice support and academic readiness skills necessary to achieve their goals. By conducting an in-depth analysis of one university-based IEP, this dissertation offers concrete implications that IEP administrators and instructors can enact in order to better support their students throughout the university applications and admissions processes, while providing these students with the linguistic and academic skills necessary for ultimate success in their undergraduate or graduate degree program. / CITE/Language Arts

The question of how black students select four year colleges in Virginia was addressed by analyzing factors which influence their decisions: socio-economic status, proximity of college to home, and criteria for college selection. Attention was directed to the role of information networks in the decision-making process and corresponding relationships between informal versus formal network use, college selected, socio-economic status, and distance. Results indicated few differences among students with regard to criteria for selection. Black students appear to maximize both educational and job opportunities in their selection of colleges and curricula to the extent that personal resources allow. Students surveyed at traditionally white institutions (TWI's) showed reliance on formal educational networks, particularly college recruitment representatives. In contrast, students who selected a traditionally black institution (TBI) solicited college information from informal interpersonal networks, friends in college, parents and relatives. Three TWI's (Old Dominion University, University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) and one TBI (Virginia State University) participated in the analysis. / M.S.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

The aim of this quantitative, descriptive and co-relational study was to analyze the factors affecting students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions in Botswana. The three specific objectives of the study included, to identify the factors influencing students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions, to predict students‟ intention to enrol at private higher education institutions and, to determine the differences in factors influencing students‟ choice among private higher education institutions. Data was collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire through a survey of 560 stratified randomly sampled first year students from four of the higher education institutions in Botswana. Data collection was done through survey using a valid and reliable questionnaire constructed based on the information gathered from the literature review. A five point Likert‟s scale was adopted to measure the students‟ choice of institution and, intention to enrol at private higher education institution. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance. Principal component analysis revealed thirteen factors affecting students‟ choice to enrol at private higher education institutions. Multiple regression analysis revealed that out of the thirteen factors, only seven factors were found to be significant predictors of students‟ intention to enrol at private higher education institutions. These seven factors were characteristics of programs and course offered, campus life, criteria, procedure and policies for admission, quality of teaching and learning resources, physical characteristics of campus, person based outreach and, electronic based outreach. Analysis of variance and Post Hoc Test determined that only seven factors were significantly different among the four institutions in the study. These seven factors included advice seeking, employment prospects, campus life, quality of teaching and learning resources, person based institutional outreach, electronic based institutional outreach and, policies and procedures for admission. Based on the findings, implications for policy and practice were discussed and appropriate recommendations were made. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)