New Report: College-Qualified Students Who Don’t Enroll in College

Posted by on February 2, 2009

Promise Lost: College-Qualified Students Who Don’t Enroll in College: Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)

A major new policy report from IHEP that sheds new light on the barriers that may prevent college-qualified students from enrolling in college. This thought-provoking research helps identify the multiple reasons why these types of students do not enroll, while offering policy recommendations that may help greater numbers of college-qualified students gain access to higher education. The study captures the attitudes and perceptions of college-qualified high school students and their high school counselors to find that most believe insufficient financial aid is the most influential barrier preventing college-qualified students from their higher education pursuits. Funded by the Boston-based nonprofit TERI (The Education Resources Institute), the report reveals that along with having concerns about how they would be able to pay for college, high schoolers identify additional barriers that contribute to the belief that college is beyond their reach. Areas for policy intervention include   college cost and the availability of aid, the necessary steps needed to enroll in college, consideration for the opportunity cost and economic benefits of college enrollment, , and transparency about the amount and types of financial aid available.

http://www.ihep.org/Publications/publications-detail.cfm?id=117