Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You? Off-Campus Recruiting by Public Research Universities

Abstract

Scholarship on college choice largely focuses on how students search for colleges but less is known about how colleges recruit students. This article analyzes off-campus recruiting visits for 15 public research universities. We Web-scrape university admissions websites and issue public records requests to collect data on recruiting visits. Analyses explore the similarities and differences in off-campus recruiting patterns across universities in the study. Results reveal socioeconomic, racial, and geographic disparities in recruiting patterns. In particular, most universities made more out-of-state than in-state visits, and out-of-state visits systematically targeted affluent, predominantly White localities. We recommend that future research should exploit new data collection methodologies to develop a systematic literature on marketing and recruiting practices in higher education.

Keywords

admissions case studies colleges descriptive analysis diversity educational policy higher education organization theory/change

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrews

R. J.

Imberman

S. A.

Lovenheim

M. F.

(2020). Recruiting and supporting low-income, high-achieving students at flagship universities. Economics of Education Review, 74, Article 101923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.101923

Armstrong

E. A.

Hamilton

L. T.

(2013). Paying for the party: How college maintains inequality. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674073517

Avery

Kane

T. J.

(2004). Student perceptions of college opportunities: The Boston COACH program. In Hoxby

C. M.

(Ed.), College choices: The economics of where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it (pp. 355–394). University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226355375.003.0009

Bosshardt

D. I.

Lichtenstein

Palumbo

Zaporowski

M. P.

(2010). Optimization techniques for college financial aid managers. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 40(3),Article 3. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=jsfa

Bowen

H. R.

(1980). The costs of higher education: How much do colleges and universities spend per student and how much should they spend? (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Brewer

D. J.

Gates

S. M.

Goldman

C. A.

(2002). In pursuit of prestige: Strategy and competition in U.S. higher education. Transaction. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203788899

Brint

S. G.

Karabel

(1989). The diverted dream: Community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in america, 1900-1985. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195048155.001.0001

Burd

(2015). The out-of-state student arms race: How public universities use merit aid to recruit nonresident students. New America Foundation.

Campbell

(2017, May 15). Higher education marketing: How to master your admissions funnel. Hop Online. https://hop-online.com/blog/higher-education-marketing-admissions-process/

10.

Cheslock

J. J.

Kroc

(2012). Managing college enrollments. In Howard

Knight

McLaughlin

(Eds.), The handbook for institutional researchers (pp. 221–236). Jossey-Bass.

11.

Clark

B. R.

(1956). Organizational adaptation and precarious values: A case study. American Sociological Review, 21(3), 327–336. https://doi.org/10.2307/2089288

12.

Clinedinst

Koranteng

A.-M.

Nicola

(2015). 2015 state of college admission. National Association of College Admissions Officers. https://www.nacacnet.org/globalassets/documents/publications/research/2015soca.pdf

13.

Clotfelter

C. T.

(1996). Buying the best: Cost escalation in elite higher education. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400864270

14.

Clotfelter

C. T.

(2017). Unequal colleges in the age of disparity. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674982499

15.

Cottom

T. M.

(2017). Lower ed: The troubling rise of for-profit colleges in the new economy. New Press.

16.

Dache-Gerbino

Kiyama

J. M.

Sapp

V. T.

(2018). The dangling carrot: Proprietary institutions and the mirage of college choice for latina students. Review of Higher Education, 42(1), 29–60. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2018.0033

17.

DeCuir

J. T.

Dixson

A. D.

(2004). “So when it comes out, they aren't that surprised that it is there”: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033005026

18.

DesJardins

S. L.

(2001). Assessing the effects of changing institutional aid policy. Research in Higher Education, 42(6), 653–678. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012249427051

19.

DesJardins

S. L.

Ahlburg

D. A.

McCall

B. P.

(2006). An integrated model of application, admission, enrollment, and financial aid. Journal of Higher Education, 77(3), 381–429. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2006.0019

20.

Dixon-Roman

E. J.

Everson

H. T.

Mcardle

J. J.

(2013). Race, poverty and SAT scores: Modeling the influences of family income on black and white high school students’ SAT performance. Teachers College Record, 115(4).

21.

Doyle

W. R.

(2010). Changes in institutional aid, 1992-2003: The evolving role of merit aid. Research in Higher Education, 51(8), 789–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-010-9177-0

22.

Duffy

E. A.

Goldberg

(1997). Crafting a class: College admissions and financial aid, 1955-1994. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400864683

23.

Dynarski

Libassi

C. J.

Michelmore

Owen

(2018). Closing the gap: The effect of a targeted, tuition-free promise on college choices of high-achieving, low-income students (NBER Working Paper Series No. 25349). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w25349

24.

Ehrenberg

R. G.

(2000). Tuition rising: Why college costs so much. Harvard University Press.

25.

Ehrenberg

R. G.

Sherman

D. R.

(1984). Optimal financial aid policies for a selective university. Journal of Human Resources, 19(2), 202–230. https://doi.org/10.2307/145564

26.

Eisenhardt

K. M.

(1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308385

27.

Epple

Romano

Sieg

(2003). Peer effects, financial aid and selection of students into colleges and universities: An empirical analysis. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 18(5), 501–525. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.737

28.

Epple

Romano

Sieg

(2006). Admission, tuition, and financial aid policies in the market for higher education. Econometrica, 74(4), 885–928. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0262.2006.00690.x

29.

Gerald

Haycock

(2006). Engines of inequality: Diminishing equity in the nation's premier public universities. Education Trust. https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/EnginesofInequality.pdf

30.

Grawe

N. D.

(2018). Demographics and the demand for higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.57044

31.

Hanson

(2017). Do college admissions counselors discriminate? Evidence from a correspondence-based field experiment. Economics of Education Review, 60(October), 86–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.08.004

32.

Hill

C. B.

Winston

G. C.

(2010). Low-income students and highly selective private colleges: Geography, searching, and recruiting. Economics of Education Review, 29(4), 495–503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2009.12.004

33.

Hillman

N. W.

(2012). Tuition discounting for revenue management. Research in Higher Education, 53(3), 263–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-011-9233-4

34.

Hillman

N. W.

(2016). Geography of college opportunity: The case of education deserts. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 987–1021. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216653204

35.

Holland

M. M.

(2019). Divergent paths to college: Race, class, and inequality in high schools. Rutgers University Press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813590288

36.

Hossler

Bean

J. P.

(1990). The strategic management of college enrollments. Jossey-Bass.

37.

Hossler

Gallagher

K. S.

(1987). Studying student college choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policymakers. College and University, 62(3), 207–221.

38.

Howard

T. C.

(2015). Why race and culture matter in schools closing the achievement gap in America's classrooms. Teachers College Press.

39.

Hoxby

C. M.

(1997). How the changing market structure of U.S. higher education explains college tuition (NBER Working Paper Series, No. 6323). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w6323

40.

Hoxby

C. M.

(2009). The changing selectivity of American colleges. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(4), 95–118. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.23.4.95

41.

Hoxby

C. M.

Avery

(2013). The missing “one-offs”: The hidden supply of high merit students for highly selective colleges. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2013(1), 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1353/eca.2013.0000

42.

Hurwitz

(2012). The impact of institutional grant aid on college choice. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 34(3), 344–363. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373712448957

43.

Jaquette

Curs

B. R.

(2015). Creating the out-of-state university: Do public universities increase nonresident freshman enrollment in response to declining state appropriations? Research in Higher Education, 56(6), 535–565. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-015-9362-2

44.

Jaquette

Curs

B. R.

Posselt

J. R.

(2016). Tuition rich, mission poor: Nonresident enrollment growth and the socioeconomic and racial composition of public research universities. Journal of Higher Education, 87(5), 635–673. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2016.0025

45.

Karabel

(2005). The chosen: The hidden history of admission and exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Houghton Mifflin.

46.

Khan

S. R.

(2010). Getting in: How elite schools play the college game. In Howard

Gaztambide-Fernández

R. A.

(Eds.), Educating elites: Class privilege and educational advantage (pp. 97–113). Rowman & Littlefield.

47.

Killgore

(2009). Merit and competition in selective college admissions. Review of Higher Education, 32(4), 469–488. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.0.0083

48.

Kirp

D. L.

(2003). Shakespeare, Einstein, and the bottom line: The marketing of higher education. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12129-003-1054-2

49.

Korzilius

(2010). Quantitative analysis in case study. In Mills

A. J.

Durepos

Wiebe

(Eds.), Encyclopedia of case study research (pp. 760–764). Sage.

50.

Lapovsky

(2001). Institutional financial health: Tuition discounting and enrollment management. In Cunningham

A. F.

Wellman

J. V.

Clinedinst

M. E.

Merisotis

J. P.

Carroll

C. D.

(Eds.), Study of college costs and prices, 1988-89 to 1997-98 (Vol. 2, pp. 57–76). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

51.

Leeds

D. M.

DesJardins

S. L.

(2015). The effect of merit aid on enrollment: A regression discontinuity analysis of Iowa's National Scholars Award. Research in Higher Education, 56(7), 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9359-2

52.

Leins

(2020, Febuary 20). How much does your state spend on college education? U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/states-that-invest-the-most-in-higher-education

53.

McDonough

P. M.

(1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. State University of New York Press.

54.

McPherson

M. S.

Schapiro

M. O.

(1998). The student aid game. Princeton University Press.

55.

Meyer

J. W.

Rowan

(1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

56.

Miller

Skimmyhorn

(2018). I want you! Expanding college access through targeted recruiting efforts. Education Finance and Policy, 13(3), 395–418. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00232

57.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Sage.

58.

Posecznick

(2017). Selling hope and college: Merit, markets, and recruitment in an unranked school. Cornell University Press. https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501708404

59.

Reardon

S. F.

Galindo

(2009). The Hispanic-White achievement gap in math and reading in the elementary grades. American Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 853–891. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209333184

60.

Rhoades

(2014). The higher education we choose, collectively: Reembodying and repoliticizing choice. Journal of Higher Education, 85(6), 917–930. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2014.11777353

61.

Rothschild

White

L. J.

(1995). The analytics of the pricing of higher education and other services in which the customers are inputs. Journal of Political Economy, 103(3), 573–586. https://doi.org/10.1086/261995

62.

Ruffalo Noel

Levitz

. (2017). 2017 marketing and student recruitment report of effective practices. http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-977/images/2017RecruitmentMarketingEffectivePracticesReport.pdf

63.

Ruffalo Noel

Levitz

. (2018). 2018 marketing and student recruitment report of effective practices. http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-977/images/RNL_2018_Student_Recruitment_Marketing_Report_EM-19.pdf

64.

Sheperd

D. A.

Sutcliffe

K. M.

(2011). Inductitive top-down theorizing: A source of new theories of organization. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 361–380. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0157

65.

Slaughter

Leslie

L. L.

(1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies, and the entrepreneurial university. Johns Hopkins University Press.

66.

Slaughter

Rhoades

(2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state, and higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press.

67.

Stevens

M. L.

(2007). Creating a class: College admissions and the education of elites. Harvard University Press.

68.

Stevens

M. L.

Armstrong

E. A.

Arum

(2008). Sieve, incubator, temple, hub: Empirical and theoretical advances in the sociology of higher education. Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 127–151. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134737

69.

Stevens

M. L.

Gebre-Medhin

(2016). Association, service, market: Higher education in american political development. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, 121–142. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081715-074240

70.

Thompson

J. D.

(1967). Organizations in action: Social science bases of administrative theory. McGraw-Hill.

71.

Thornhill

(2018). We want black students, just not you: How white admissions counselors screen black prospective students. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 5(4), 456–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649218792579

72.

Turley

R. N. L.

(2009). College proximity: Mapping access to opportunity. Sociology of Education Sociology of Education, 82(2), 126–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070908200202

73.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1994). Geographic areas reference manual. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geographic-areas-reference-manual.html

74.

Van der Klaauw

. (2002). Estimating the effect of financial aid offers on college enrollment: A regression-discontinuity approach. International Economic Review, 43(4), 1249–1287. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2354.t01-1-00055

75.

Weber

Davis

G. F.

Lounsbury

(2009). Policy as myth and ceremony? The global spread of stock exchanges, 1980–2005. Academy of Management Journal, 52(6). https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2009.47085184

76.

Winston

G. C.

(1999). Subsidies, hierarchy and peers: The awkward economics of higher education. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 13(1), 13–36. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.13.1.13

77.

Winston

G. C.

(2004). Differentiation among us colleges and universities. Review of Industrial Organization, 24(June), 331–354. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:REIO.0000037539.78539.02

78.

Winters

J. V.

(2012). Cohort crowding and nonresident college enrollment. Economics of Education Review, 31(3), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.01.001

79.

Wolniak

G. C.

Engberg

M. E.

(2007). The effects of high school feeder networks on college enrollment. Review of Higher Education, 31(1), 27–53. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2007.0054

80.

Yin

R. K.

(2014). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Sage.

81.

Zimmerman

D. J.

(2003). Peer effects in academic outcomes: Evidence from a natural experiment. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(1), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465303762687677

82.

Zinth

Smith

(2012). Tuition-setting authority for public colleges and universities. Education Commission of the States. http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/04/71/10471.pdf

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

1.14 MB