Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to better understand the selection criteria that college students of varying demographic backgrounds find most important when making a final selection of a college or university during their college search process and the promotional information they find to be most useful, particularly within the post-COVID-19 higher education landscape. Secondly, this study evaluated how students view themselves as learners and/or consumers within higher education and investigated relationships between selection criteria and learner-consumer orientation. A mixed methods sequential explanatory approach to data collection was used, and the analysis included both quantitative statistical analysis and qualitative thematic coding. The study developed a list of selection criteria that students find most important in their college search process in the post-COVID-19 environment, primarily those related to obtaining a job post-graduation, financial factors, and proximity to home. The study found that students consider themselves both learners and consumers in higher education and as such have several expectations about higher education, including receiving quality information from colleges during the search process. The findings of this study are significant for practitioners in higher education in advancing the field of knowledge around enrollment management, strategic planning, institutional effectiveness, and university marketing to strategically market the institution to prospective student consumers.

Details

Title
Resetting Institutional Priorities Post-COVID-19: An Analysis of College Selection Criteria and Student Consumerism in Higher Education
Author
Hove, Kristy M.
Publication year
2024
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
ISBN
9798382822877
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3067258069
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.