MAKING CHOICES: THE INFLUENCE OF THE PITTSBURGH PROMISE ON THE\ud COLLEGE-GOING DECISIONS OF PITTSBURGH PUBLIC AND CHARTER\ud SCHOOL STUDENTS

This study describes the college choice experiences of high school students eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise, a place-based merit-aid scholarship. The Pittsburgh Promise provides scholarships of up to $10,000 to eligible students graduating from Pittsburgh public and charter schools who enroll at postsecondary institutions within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.\ud This phenomenological study explored how the Pittsburgh Promise award influenced the college choice processes of 17 eligible award recipients. Participants in this study represented a variety of demographic backgrounds, as well as made enrollment decisions across the postsecondary educational spectrum. Using Hossler and Gallagher’s (1987) three-stage model of college choice and Perna’s (2006) conceptual model of college choice to examine students’ college choice experiences, this study found both theories provided a useful framework for understanding the college choice experiences of the study’s respondents. However, Perna’s (2006) focus on the influence of contextual experiences better illuminate obstacles students from low-income and minority backgrounds face when navigating the college choice process. This study also explored the ways in which the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship promoted human agency in the college choice process. Using Bandura’s (2006) theory of human agency, respondent experiences were analyzed for examples where the Pittsburgh Promise promoted choices and actions related to college matriculation. This study found that the Pittsburgh Promise positively influences human agency in the college choice process in several ways. The Promise scholarship directly affects college choice through programmatic efforts and financial awards. The Pittsburgh Promise has\ud also likely positively influenced a college-going culture within the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the larger Pittsburgh community. Those least likely to be directly influenced by the Pittsburgh Promise were students opting to attend elite postsecondary institutions ineligible for Promise funding