Information sources used by high school students in the college degree choice

Searching for information is a necessary step for young people to decide what to study and prevent school drop-out. The aim of this study is to identify the main sources of information used by students in choosing a university career and to assess the degree of usefulness of these sources. A new measuring instrument to assess the use and usefulness of the information sources used in choosing university studies was developed. 2,005 high school students aged 17 to 24 (M = 17.56, SD = .77) participated in the study, representing 44.95 % of the total of school centers of the Principality of Asturias (Spain). The new instrument has adequate psychometric properties and shows that the information from parents and web pages by universities are the most used and most useful information sources for pre-university students. Obtaining this type of information is very important, as it encourages investing in those activities or resources that are important for pre-university students.