College Choice in a Brand Elimination Framework: The High School Student's Perspective

Universities have belatedly recognized that they must consider their marketing strategies if they are to remain viable in the increasingly competitive market. In order to provide a logical framework through which to evaluate recruiting strategies, more needs to be known about the process which high school students utilize in college choice. This paper reports on two studies of high school students designed to examine college choice in a brand elimination framework. The paper then goes on to compare these results to what is known about the recruiting strategies of institutions of higher education. Recommendations are made to improve the effectiveness of these recruiting efforts.