Factors in the Choice of Higher Educational Institutions by Academically Gifted Seniors.

Abstract

Recent research has reported a significantreduction of the college entry rates of high ability students. This study was conducted to more fully understand the reasons academically gifted high school seniors select institutions of higher education. A total of 165 academically gifted high school students were administered the Higher Education Orientation Inventory (HEOI). Twenty-nine items of the HEOI were analyzed with a principal components analysis followed by a Va-rimax rotation. The findings of the study were (1) there was a substantial interest among academically gifted high school students in attending university-level courses, (2) there were four underlying factors of choice: the Academic Quality of the Institution, Special Institutional Features, Social Aspects of the Institution, Socioeconomic Forces, and (3) the Academic Qdality Factor was found to have three aspects: instruction, interaction, and independence. These findings have clear implications for recruitment officers, administrators, and counselors who wish to assist academically gifted seniors in their choice of a college or university. Moreover, these findings should assist in attracting mora-hIgh ability students into higher education. FACTORS IN THE CHOICE OF HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS BY ACADEMICALLY GIFTED SENIORS 1 University and college administrators are faced with declining enrollment, dwindling fiscal resources, and societal demands for public accountability (Kolevson, 1981). Anxiety about finances is widespread in higher education (McCoy, Krakower and Makowski, 1982). Concomitantly, shifting demographic trends indicate a greater number of adults enrolling as full time students in undergraduate degree programs (Anderson and Darkenwald, 1979). A major concern of college and university administrators is how to attract ihe academically gifted high school student to campuses of higher education. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical evidence about why academically gifted students select colleges and universities. Student recruitment and retention is currently a major concern in institutions of higher education. A decline of the entry of high ability students in four-year colleges and universities has been noted as one of the major findings of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 -a study which tracks the educational progress of over 23,000 young people. Davis and Levinsohn (1979, p. 85) reported: 1. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dean F. Robert Paulsen, College of Education, University of Arizona, for his support and encouragement of this research. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Merrill A. Grant, Superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District, for permission to conduct this research in the Tucson Unified School District. Requests for copies of this paper or inquiries into the University of Arizona Precollege Program for Gifted and Talented Students should be directed to: Peggy Douglas, Director, Precollege Program for Gifted and Talented Students, University of Arizona, College of Education, Tucson, Arizona 85721.