With a dwindling college-age population and a need to attract academically talented students, postsecondary institutions search for factors that influence college choice. The educational plans of two comparable groups of high ability Arizona secondary students were examined and compared using the Higher Education Orientation Inventory and personal interviews. One group of students consisted of high school juniors who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program for Gifted and Talented Students in the summers of 1981 and 1982. The Comparison Group students were selected from a group of the top ten percent of Arizona high school juniors from those same years. Factor analysis was utilized to answer major research questions about factors that affect a student's choice of a higher education institution. To examine the differences between the two groups, discriminant analysis was used. An open-ended question approach provided supplementary data from both groups. The majority of both groups of students favored the choice of a four-year university. It was found that students who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program rated that experience as more important in their institutional choice than did those students who did not attend this program. In a separate factor analysis, it was shown that the two groups appeared to differ on several choice factors. Only one pair of factors entitled "Academic Quality of the Institution" was found to be similar within the groups. Other important factors for both groups included "Social Components of the Institution", "Expenses and Financial Aid", and "Institutional Image". The largest discriminant difference between the two groups was with reference to the institution's precollege program. This supported the finding that there was a significant mean difference on which students rated the importance of a precollege program in institutional selection. The open-ended question approach indicated that important reasons for postsecondary choices were (1) location, reputation and size of the institution, (2) cost, and (3) program quality. Personal interviews emphasized the value of a precollege program in providing an introduction to college life and in building confidence about the forthcoming postsecondary experience.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 demanded that public schools demonstrate adequate yearly progress by increasing student educational achievements. In 2014, the local high school at this study enrolled 62.7% socioeconomically disadvantaged students and implemented a precollege intervention program; however, little is known about its efficacy due to a lack of a formal evaluation, prohibiting an informed approach to continual improvement. The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine if program participation resulted in the higher academic outcomes. Guided by the theory of change, the program evaluation was used to assess the efficacy of the local high school's year-long precollege intervention program in a convenience sample of 112 Grade 9 students. The research questions examined the difference between the program participants and non-participants' academic outcomes including grade point average and semester course grades in math, English, science, and social science from Semester 1 to Semester 2 in the 2014-2015 school year. Independent samples t tests were used to identify whether there was a significance difference between the mean-scores of the intervention and control groups. The results indicated that the program did not significantly impact the participants' academic outcomes, and the program goals were not met. The evaluation report included the results, provided recommendations to increase understanding of the intervention program and students' needs, inform and engage stakeholders, redesign program goals, allocate resources, and streamline program activities. The improved program model could enhance students' academic outcomes and lead to higher high school graduation and college enrollment rates for students.