Despite high aspirations, many students do not complete postsecondary education. Some scholars advocate for providing more college information to increase enrollment and reduce attainment gaps but this approach overlooks what school counselors and students do with information. Based on interviews and participant observations drawn from 20 urban high schools, this study explores how counselors and students make use of online college information in postsecondary education guidance. The findings reveal that counselors feel students hold responsibility for many aspects of their college searches. Students easily find college information online but experience challenges in understanding it, which leaves them with unanswered questions. Abundant college information may enable counselors to adopt the role of managing the college search process instead of directly guiding students. Scaffolding, active engagement, and additional resources are needed to support counselors and students in college guidance.
BellA. D.Rowan-KenyonH. T.PernaL. W. (2009). College knowledge of 9th and 11th grade students: Variation by school and state context. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(6), 663–685.
3.
BergerR. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219–234.
4.
BergersonA. A. (2009). College choice and access to college: Moving policy, research and practice to the 21st century [ASHE Higher Education Report (Vol. 35)]. Wiley Periodicals.
5.
BlaggK.ChingosM. M.GravesC.NicoteraA.ShawL. (2017). Rethinking consumer information in higher education [Research report]. Urban Institute.
6.
BlakeM. K. (2020). Other duties as assigned: The ambiguous role of the high school counselor. Sociology of Education, 93(4), 315–330.
7.
BloomJ. (2007). (Mis)reading social class in the journey towards college: Youth development in urban America. Teachers College Record, 109(2), 343–368.
8.
BourdieuP. (1986). The forms of capital. Greenwood.
9.
BryanJ.Moore-ThomasC.Day-VinesN. L.Holcomb-McCoyC. (2011). School counselors as social capital: The effects of high school college counseling on college application rates. Journal of Counseling and Development, 89(2), 190–199.
10.
BryantR. T. (2015). College preparation for African American students: Gaps in the high school educational experience. The Center for Law and Social Policy.
11.
CabreraA.BurkumK.La NasaS. (2005). Pathways to a four-year degree: Determinants of transfer and degree completion. In SeidmanA. (Ed.), College student retention: A formula for success (pp. 155–209). ACE/Praeger Series on Higher Education.
12.
CabreraA.La NasaS. (2000). Understanding the college-choice process. New Directions for Institutional Research, 107, 5–22.
13.
ChenX.WuJ.TasoffS. (2010). The high school senior class 2003–04: Steps toward postsecondary enrollment. Institute for Education Sciences.
14.
CookA. L.HaydenL. A.TyrrellR.McCannA. G. (2018). “Doing everything on my own”: Examining African American, Latina/o, and Biracial students’ experiences with school counselors in promoting academic and college readiness. Urban Education, 56(10), 1637–1667.
15.
CorwinZ. B.VenegasK. M.OliverezP. M.ColyarJ. E. (2004). School counsel: How appropriate guidance affects educational equity. Urban Education, 39(4), 442–457.
16.
CoxR. D. (2016). Complicating conditions: Obstacles and interruptions to low-income students’ college “choices.”The Journal of Higher Education, 87(1), 1–26.
17.
Farmer-HintonR. (2008). Social capital and college planning: Students of Color using school networks for support and guidance. Education and Urban Society, 41(1), 127–157.
18.
Farmer-HintonR. (2011). On being college prep: Examining the implementation of a “college for all” mission in an urban charter school. The Urban Review, 43(5), 567–596.
19.
HaskinsR.RouseC. (2013). Time for change: A new federal strategy to prepare disadvantaged students for college. Future of Children, 2, 1–5.
20.
HatchT. (2014). The use of data in school counseling: Hatching results for students. Corwin.
21.
HellerD. E. (Ed.). (2002). Condition of access: Higher education for lower income students. American Council on Education/Praeger Press.
22.
HershbeinB. J.HollenbeckK. (2014). College costs: Students can’t afford not to know. Upjohn Institute.
23.
HollandM. M. (2015). Trusting each other: Student-counselor relationships in diverse high schools. Sociology of Education, 88(3), 244–262.
24.
HollandM. M. (2020). Framing the search: How first-generation students evaluate colleges. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(3), 378–401.
25.
HollandN.Farmer-HintonR. (2009). Leave no schools behind: The importance of a college culture in urban public schools. The High School Journal, 92(3), 24–43.
26.
HornL. J.ChenX.ChapmanC. (2003). Getting ready to pay for college: What students and their parents know about the cost of college tuition and what they are doing to find out. NCES-2003-030. National Center for Education Statistics.
27.
HosslerD.GallagherK. S. (1987). Studying student college choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policymakers. College and University, 62(3), 207–221.
28.
KlasikD. (2012). The college application gauntlet: A systematic analysis of the steps to four-year college enrollment. Research in Higher Education, 53(5), 506–549.
29.
LareauA.WeiningerE. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment. Theory and Society, 32(5), 567–606.
30.
LincolnY. S.GubaE. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
31.
LongB. T. (2010). Grading higher education: Giving consumers the information they need. Center for American Progress and The Hamilton Project.
32.
McDonoughP. M. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. State University of New York Press.
33.
McDonoughP. M. (2005). Counseling matters: Knowledge, assistance, and organizational commitment in college preparation. In TierneyW. G.CorwinZ. B.ColyarJ. E. (Eds.), Preparing for college: Nine elements of effective outreach (pp. 69–87). State University of New York Press.
34.
McKillipM. E.RawlsA.BarryC. (2012). Improving college access: A review of research on the role of high school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 16(1), 49–58.
35.
MilesM. B.HubermanA. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Sage.
36.
MorganJ. M.SoaresL. (2010). The social life of college information: Relationships and experiences as tools for enhancing college decision making. Center for American Progress.
37.
National Association for College Admission Counseling & American School Counselor Association. (2021). State-by-state student-to-counselor ratio report. National Association for College Admission Counseling.
38.
National Office for School Counselor Advocacy. (2010). Eight components of college and career readiness counseling. College Board.
PernaL. W. (2004). Impact of student aid program design, operations, and marketing on the formation of family college-going plans and resulting college-going behaviors of potential students. The Education Resources Institute.
41.
PernaL. W. (2006). Studying college access and choice: A proposed conceptual model. In SmartJ. C. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 21, pp. 99–157). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
42.
PernaL. W.Rowan-KenyonH. T.ThomasS. L.BellA.AndersonR.LiC. (2008). The role of college counseling in shaping college opportunity: Variations across high schools. The Review of Higher Education, 31(2), 131–159.
43.
PlankS. B.JordanW. J. (2001). Effects of information, guidance, and actions on postsecondary destinations: A study of talent loss. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 947–979.
44.
ReidM. J.MooreJ. L.III. (2008). College readiness and academic preparation for postsecondary education: Oral histories of first-generation urban college students. Urban Education, 43(2), 240–261.
45.
RobinsonK. J.RoksaJ. (2016). Counselors, information, and high school college-going culture: Inequalities in the college application process. Research in Higher Education, 57(7), 845–868.
46.
RoderickM.NagaokaJ.CocaV. (2009). College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high schools. The Future of Children, 19, 185–210.
47.
RosenbaumJ. E.MillerS. R.KreiM. S. (1996). Gatekeeping in an era of more open gates: High school counselors’ views of their influence on students’ college plans. American Journal of Education, 104(4), 257–279.
48.
ShamsuddinS. (2016). Taken out of context: Piecing together college guidance information in urban high schools. The Urban Review, 48, 101–122.
49.
SnyderT. D.de BreyC.DillowS. A. (2018). Digest of education statistics 2016 (NCES 2017-094). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. U.S. Department of Education.
50.
Stanton-SalazarR. D. (2011). A social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. Youth & Society, 43(3), 1066–1109.
51.
Stanton-SalazarR. D.DornbuschS. M. (1995). Social capital and the reproduction of inequality: Information networks among Mexican-origin high school students. Sociology of Education, 68(2), 116–135.
52.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage.
53.
Talbert-JohnsonC. (2004). Structural inequities and the achievement gap in urban schools. Education and Urban Society, 37(1), 22–36.
54.
TerenziniP. T.CabreraA. F.BernalE. M. (2001). Swimming against the tide: The poor in American higher education (No. 2001-1). College Entrance Examination Board.
55.
VenegasK. M. (2006). Internet inequalities: Financial aid, the internet, and low-income students. American Behavioral Scientist, 49, 1652–1669.
56.
WoodsC. S.DominaT. (2014). The school counselor caseload and the high school-to-college pipeline. Teachers College Record, 116(10), 1–30.
