College Choice Report - Class of 2012

A Profile of 2012 ACT-TesTed high sChool grAduATesCollege Choice ReportPart 1Preferences and Prospects ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development. Each year, we serve millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies, nationally and internationally. Though designed to meet a wide array of needs, all ACT programs and services have one guiding purpose—helping people achieve education and workplace success.A copy of this report can be found at www.act.org/collegechoice19558© 2013 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® Test is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. The ACT National Curriculum Survey® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. The National Student Clearinghouse® is a registered trademark of The National Student Clearinghouse.ACT has measured the academic achievement of 11th- and 12th-grade students since 1959, their career aspirations since 1969, and their academic preparation in high school since 1985. Since 1992, and every three to five years thereafter, ACT conducts the ACT National Curriculum survey®, in which we survey thousands of high school and college educators to pinpoint the knowledge and skills needed for first-year college coursework. ACT is the only organization with decades of empirical information showing what happens to high school graduates once they get to college or to work and how they can maximize success—based on their preparation from kindergarten through high school. This unique information is an invaluable resource as ACT works closely with states, school districts, and postsecondary institutions to transform them into better-aligned P–16 education systems. This College Choice Report is part of a report series that focuses on the ACT-tested high school graduating class of 2012. Other reports in this series are The Condition of College & Career Readiness, which highlights the academic readiness of high school graduates to enter college or career training, and The Reality of College Readiness, which highlights the relationships among readiness, college enrollment, and retention. 3Expanded Content and New FormatLast year for the first time, ACT released the Enrollment Management Trends Report to provide enrollment managers and college admissions personnel with the enrollment patterns of the ACT-tested graduating class of 2011. After receiving positive feedback on the first report and requests for more information, we have expanded the content of the report this year to include information spanning multiple stages of the college choice process. Given this expanded content, we have elected to change the name of the report to more accurately describe it, and we have divided the report into two distinct parts: College Choice Report—Part 1: Preferences and Prospects College Choice Report—Part 2: Enrollment PatternsPart 1 of this report focuses on the self-reported college preferences and ACT Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) participation rates of the ACT-tested high school graduating class of 2012. Part 2, to be released at the ACT Enrollment Planners Conference in July 2013, will focus on the college enrollment of these ACT-tested high school graduates and address such topics as student mobility and migration patterns, the extent to which students’ college choices match their preferences, and the enrollment rates of students selected through EOS.In addition to the printed national report, this year we are providing interactive charts and maps online that allow you to view and compare information aggregated by state and region of the country. This new format gives you some opportunity to customize your view of the report content to better address your information needs. To view this content, go to www.act.org/collegechoice.How to Use This ReportThis report builds on a foundation of knowledge about the academic readiness of the ACT-tested high school graduating class of 2012 as presented in The Condition of College & Career Readiness (www.act.org/readiness/2012). An important conclusion of the Condition report is that far too many high school graduates are not prepared for success in college and career as defined by their attainment of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. We encourage you to read through the Condition report to have a better context for interpreting the findings of this report.A little more than half of the graduating class of 2012 took the ACT® Test during high school. Whether you are searching for prospective students locally or in other parts of the country, a better understanding of the preferences and college choice behaviors of ACT-tested students can improve your marketing and recruitment strategies. The information presented in this report and in the accompanying online charts and maps can provid