Views on college recruitment methods and materials: A theory -driven multiple instrumental case study with high -ability Nebraska high school students and their parents

This purpose of this study was to gain insights into the college recruitment process from the perspective of high-ability high school students and their parents. Hossler and Gallagher (1987) defined the three stages of the college recruitment process as the predisposition stage, the search stage, and the choice stage. While much is known about college recruitment from the standpoint of college administrators, little is known about the search phase of the college recruitment process from the standpoint of a student and the student\u27s parents. College recruitment materials and activities comprise key components of the search stage in which students are discovering and evaluating possible colleges in which to enroll (Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999). Public relations theorist James Grunig provides that communication models serve as a basis examining college recruitment communications with high-ability high school students and their parents. This multiple case study examined the college recruitment process from the vantage point of four high-ability high school students and their parents who were in the search stage of the process. All four participant families are residents of the state of Nebraska. The central question for this study was: What are the views of high-ability high school students and their parents on the communications from and with college recruiters? The findings show that students and parents look for a college or university that will open doors to good career and graduate school opportunities, and that will offer opportunities for interactions with faculty members and other high-ability students. The interactive nature of these preferences should be reflected in the style of communications used by colleges and universities, particularly with high-ability students. A cross-case analysis revealed a common pattern of preferences for communications that are two-way and symmetrical in nature, as defined by Grunig\u27s theoretical models