Which University?

The factors influencing the choices
of prospective undergraduates

Richard James
Gabrielle Baldwin
Craig McInnis

Centre for the Study of Higher Education
The University of Melbourne

99/3

August 1999

Evaluations and Investigations Programme
Higher Education Division

© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
ISBN 0 642 23914 2
ISBN 0 642 239150 (Electronic)
DETYA No. 6381.HERC99A

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission from AusInfo. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601.

This report is funded under the Evaluations and Investigations Programme of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Executive summary
1. Introduction
2. Understanding student decision-making
3. The method
3.1 Data collection
3.1.1 Project surveys
3.1.2 Questionnaire design
3.1.3 Case study interviews
3.2 Analyses and reporting
3.3 The profile of the survey respondents
4.  Applicants’ general intentions and sources of information
4.1 General intentions
4.2 Sources of information
5.  The influences on school-leaver applicants
5.1 Influences on field of study preferences
5.2 Influences on course and university preferences
5.2.1 Course decisions
5.2.2 University decisions
5.3 Summary
6.  The influences on mature-age applicants
6.1 Influences on field of study preferences
6.2 Influences on course and university preferences
6.2.1 Course decisions
6.2.2 University decisions
6.3 Summary
7.  Subgroup differences: The effects of gender, socioeconomic status, and location
7.1 Gender comparisons
7.2 The influence of socioeconomic background
7.3 The influence of location
8.  Influences by field of study preference
8.1 Influences on choice of field of study
8.2 Influences on choice of course
8.3 Influences on choice of institution
8.4 Summary
9.  Influences according to the type of university chosen
9.1 Overall impressions of universities
10. Diversity and uncertainty: Applicant case studies
10.1 Annette—last minute influences
10.2 Moira—the perceived value of a degree from a prestigious older university
10.3 Andrew—concern for learning support and ‘hands-on’ approach
10.4 Robert—a few false starts
10.5 Fiona—perceptions of class sizes
10.6 Simon—staying in the rural hometown
10.7 Susan—a hierarchy of required entrance scores
10.8 Tony—seeking out ‘hard facts’
10.9 Angela—hoping for a transfer after first year
10.10 Tran—committed to a career in medicine
10.11 Barbara—is this really the right course for me?
10.12 Kathy—the ‘chilling effect’ of distance
11. Decisions at the time of offer
12. The higher education choice process: A summary of findings and conclusions
12.1 Discussion of the study’s implications
12.2 The possibilities for enhancing applicant decision-making
Appendix 1 Definition of applicant subgroups
Appendix 2 Details of factor analyses
References

Tables

Table 3.1 Field of study preferences of the sample compared with the applicant population
Table 4.1 Applicants’ plans at time of application if not offered course of first preference
Table 4.2 Applicants’ sources of information and the extent of their influence
Table 5.1 Influences on field of study preference, school-leaver applicants
Table 5.2 Perceived level of knowledge of various influences on field of study preference, school-leaver applicants
Table 5.3 Influences on choice of preferred course, school-leavers
Table 5.4 Perceived level of knowledge of various influences on course preference, school-leaver applicants
Table 5.5 Influences on choice of university, school-leaver applicants
Table 5.6 Perceived level of knowledge of various influences on university preference, school-leaver applicants
Table 5.7 Summary of main influences and perceived knowledge of these influences, school-leaver applicants
Table 6.1 Influences on field of study preference, mature-age applicants
Table 6.2 Perceived level of knowledge of various influences on field of study preference, mature-age applicants
Table 6.3 Influences on choice of preferred course, mature-age applicants
Table 6.4 Perceived level of knowledge of various influences on course preference, mature-age applicants
Table 6.5 Influences on choice of university, mature-age applicants
Table 6.6 Perceived levels of knowledge of various influences on university preference, mature-age applicants
Table 6.7 Summary of main influences and perceived knowledge of these influences, mature-age applicants
Table 7.1 Influences on applicants, selected item means and frequencies by gender
Table 7.2 Influences on applicants, selected item means and frequencies by applicants’ socioeconomic background
Table 7.3 Influences on applicants, selected item means and frequencies by applicants’ location
Table 8.1 Influences on field of study preference, selected item means and frequencies by applicants’ preferred field of study
Table 8.2 Influences on course preference, selected item means and frequencies by applicants’ preferred field of study
Table 8.3 Influences on university preference, selected item means and frequencies by applicants’ preferred field of study
Table 9.1 Influences on applicants, factor scales by category of preferred university
Table 9.2 Influences on applicants, by preferred university type
Table 9.3 Comparative choice priorities of applicants, by preferred university
Table 11.1 Applicants’ sources of information in 1999 and the extent of their influence
Table A1 Factor loadings and communality values (h2) for exploratory factor analysis using a varimax rotation and principal components extraction
Table A2 Estimated factor score means and standard deviations
 

Acknowledgments

This report was prepared at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, by Richard James (Project Director), Gabrielle Baldwin and Craig McInnis.

The research team would like to thank the members of the project Advisory Group for their contribution to the study’s methodology and the shaping of the final report: Les Andrews (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs), Paul Clark (Victoria University of Technology), Stuart Macintyre (The University of Melbourne) and John Wade (Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre).

We are grateful to Andrew Stephanou for preparing the sample of applicants for the survey, Carole Hooper and Fengzhi Ling for data coding, Simon Harvey for conducting applicant interviews and writing the accounts of these interviews in Chapter 10, and Marcia Devlin for proof-reading.

This research was possible because access was kindly granted to the tertiary applicant databases of the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, the University Admissions Centre (NSW) and the Tertiary Institutions Centre (TISC). We are very grateful to the staff of these organisations who assisted in extracting applicant samples: Fai Lau (Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre), Peter Kruger (University Admissions Centre), and Kong Foo Meng (TISC). We are also indebted to the tertiary applicants who responded to the project surveys and to the twelve who also participated in interviews.