college-studyFrom U.S. News & World Report By Robert Morse | Feb. 12, 2015

About 30 percent of freshmen at the least selective colleges plan to transfer to another institution before completing their degree, according to the University of California—Los Angeles’ 49th annual survey of new college students.

That could work against those schools under the Obama administration’s proposed college rating system, which would use graduation rates as a factor. Schools that have a mission of access and that serve minority students could see a negative effect on their potential federal rating if significant numbers of students leave for another school before graduating.

“For many years the federal government has measured graduation rates at four-year schools based on first-time, full-time students who earn a degree from their first institution within six years of enrollment,” said Kevin Eagan, interim director of UCLA’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program. “We know from our research that students who start college intending to transfer tend to follow through on those plans. So it is important that the Obama administration’s new framework does not unfairly evaluate institutions with broad-access missions, given that these campuses enroll a greater proportion of students with strong transfer intentions.”

The study, “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014,” is based on a survey of 153,015 first-year students at 227 four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. who began their studies last fall.

 In addition to gauging transfer intentions, the survey also asked which factors were “very important” in influencing a student’s decision to attend a particular school. The students who responded evaluated 23 possible reasons.

This year, 18 percent of students surveyed cited college rankings as an important factor, up slightly from 17.6 percent last year. Rankings remained in 12th place on the list in the latest edition of the survey, suggesting that students are consulting them, but that rankings are not the most powerful force in the college search process.

Students said the biggest factor influencing their choice to attend a particular institution was its stellar academic reputation. Academic reputation is also used as a key factor in the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings methodology. Undergraduate academic reputation has a weight of 22.5 percent in all our Best Colleges ranking categories, making it one of the most heavily weighted ranking variables.

According to the UCLA study, another important trend is a rise in the importance of early decision programs as a reason for choosing a college. Since these programs were first included on the survey, the percentage of students citing them as “very important” has doubled. In 1999, 6.9 percent of first-time, full-time students said being admitted through an early action or early decision program was “very important” in picking their current institution. That figure rose to 15.7 percent in 2014.

Early admission programs are especially important for students attending the most selective universities. More than one-quarter of students at private, highly selective schools said early admissions was a “very important” factor in their college decision, compared with 12.6 percent of students at the least selective private institutions.

Below are the 23 reasons for choosing a college that students were offered in the latest UCLA survey. They are ranked in descending order, based on which factors students said were “very important” in influencing their final college selection.

1. This college has a very good academic reputation (65.4 percent)

2. This college’s graduates get good jobs (53.4 percent)

3. I was offered financial assistance (46.9 percent)

4. The cost of attending this college (44.9 percent)

5. This college has a good reputation for its social activities (42.8 percent)

6. A visit to this campus (42.4 percent)

7. I wanted to go to a school about the size of this college (36.6 percent)

8. This college’s graduates gain admission to top graduate/professional schools (32.9 percent)

9. The percentage of students that graduate from this college (31.1 percent)

10. I wanted to live near home (20.7 percent)

11. Information from a website (18.8 percent)

12. Rankings in national magazines (18 percent)

13. My parents wanted me to come here (17.2 percent)

14. I was admitted through an early action or early decision program (15.7 percent)

15. Could not afford first choice (14.1 percent)

16. Not offered aid by first choice (10.6 percent)

17. High school counselor advised me (10.4 percent)

18. The athletic department recruited me (9.1 percent)

19. My relatives wanted me to come here (8 percent)

20. I was attracted by the religious affiliation/orientation of this college (7.3 percent)

21. My teacher advised me (7.2 percent)

22. Private college counselor advised me (4.6 percent)

23. Ability to take online courses (4.1 percent)

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