Report: Most Students Start College Search Months in Advance, Apply To Multiple Institutions
Quick Takeaways:
- Seventy-six percent of prospective college students had already begun their college search process in the fall of 2014.
- Among recently enrolled students, 56 percent began their search process more than nine months ago and about 40 percent began it more than a year ago.
By Brittany Hackett, Communications Staff
A majority of prospective college students intend to apply to more than one institution and begin their search process months, and sometimes years, in advance of enrollment, according to a recent brief from New America.
The brief is the second in New America’s College Decisions Survey series, which is based on a national survey the group sent out in the fall of 2014. The first brief in the series focused on what factors students consider when deciding to apply to a specific college and examined financial concerns, which are one of the major drivers in deciding whether and where students go to college.
The second brief shifted the focus to the application process used by different types of students and found that 76 percent of prospective college students (defined by the survey as those who do not have a college degree and plan to enroll in a two- or four-year institution within the next 12 months) had already begun their college search process, including 38 percent who had started the search, 24 who had decided on which schools to apply to, and 14 percent who had applied to at least one school. About 25 percent of students had decided on which schools they would apply to but had not done so, and another 25 percent had not begun the college search process.
Among prospective students who plan to enroll within the next year, 57 percent started the college search process five months ago or less and 23 percent started the process over a year ago, while one in 10 students began their process more than two years ago. Among recently enrolled students, 56 percent began their search process more than nine months ago and about 40 percent began it more than a year ago.
Notably, 29 percent of enrolled students began their search process five months ago or less, among whom 10 percent started it less than three months ago, indicating that “there are quite a few students who start the process very shortly before enrollment or may even wait until the last minute to apply,” according to New America.
Regarding the actual number of colleges students plan to apply to, New America found that 44 percent of prospective students plan to apply to between two to four institutions and only five percent plan to apply to more than eight institutions. Among recently enrolled students, 31 percent applied to only one institution.
Other finding of the survey showed that:
- 40 percent of females 20-years-old or older and 13 percent between the ages of 16 and 19 plan to apply to one institution, compared with 27 percent of men 20-years-old or older and 17 percent between the ages of 16 and 19;
- Students between the ages of 16 and 19 are more likely (79 percent) to enroll full-time than their older counterparts; and
- 42 percent of students intend to enroll in on-campus programs, compared with 13 percent who intend to enroll in online-only programs.
To better assist students in researching colleges and their options, New America recommends revamping the Department of Education’s (ED) College Scorecard, including testing the tool with consumers and adult students in particular to better understand what data they are looking for when they are choosing a college. The group also recommends displaying the Scorecard on the main webpages of an institution’s admissions and financial aid office, sending it out as a disclosure with institutional mailings, and continuing to make it available online.
New America also recommends that colleges work to improve how they promote their enrollment options, particularly for adult students who are more likely to have outside professional or personal obligations.
“Right now, for-profit colleges use huge portions of their budgets to advertise to these students, even though they are often not the best option for students in this demographic, because they are much more expensive than community colleges or even regional public four-year institutions,” New America noted in the brief. “Thinking of ways to target students locally will help focus precious advertising dollars while still helping to ensure students know about all their options before applying.”
Publication Date: 6/30/2015
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