source: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/profiting-higher-education
Incoming Students Not Well-Informed About College Choices.....
Students from for-profit schools - who often come from economically
vulnerable populations - are not comparative shoppers. Many are selecting
schools without having weighed different options. Just 39 percent of
for-profit undergraduates and 32 percent of for-profit alumni had
considered more than one school before they enrolled at their current
institutions. Students are even less likely to compare for-profit with
not-for-profit schools before enrolling, with just 20 percent of for-profit
undergraduates and 11 percent of alumni having considered a not-for-profit
college. Parallel research with community college students suggests that
"comparative shopping" is uncommon among other types of college students as
well. Many students seem to be drawn to either for-profit or not-for-profit
schools, though rarely to both.
*...the reality is that most students in this research are not really
making comparisons at all.*
As our Research Director, Carolin Hagelskamp, put it, "I think sometimes
policymakers have this idealistic vision of students sitting down with
spreadsheets, comparing colleges across columns and columns of data. But
the reality is that most students in this research are not really making
comparisons at all. They rely on recommendations from friends and families
and hear about schools through ads or because they pass by the schools on
the street."
- See more at:
http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/profiting-higher-education#sthash.afDBG05I.dpuf