A National Look at the High School Counseling Office

Transcription

1 A Ntionl Look t the High School Counseling Office Wht Is It Doing nd Wht Role Cn It Ply in Fcilitting Students Pths to College? by Alexndri Wlton Rdford, Nicole Ifill, nd Terry Lew Introduction Between Jnury nd October of 2013, nerly 3 million Americns between the ges of 16 nd 24 grduted from high school. By October of tht yer, just two-thirds hd enrolled in college. 1 This report uses recently relesed ntionlly representtive High School Longitudinl Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) dt from Spring 2012 to exmine Americn high schools counseling deprtments nd the fctors relted to high school juniors 2 ctions, plns, nd beliefs surrounding their eventul college enrollment. More specificlly, Prt I of this report focuses on wht high schools nd their counseling offices re doing to help students mke trnsition to postsecondry eduction. To do so, it presents dt on principls priorities for their counselors, how counselors re ssigned, whether schools hve college-focused counselors, counselors time commitments, counselors college preprtion ctivities, whether schools follow their students beyond high school, students nd prents interctions with counselors, nd students perceptions of counselors influence on their thinking bout postsecondry eduction. To better understnd the extent to which these counseling chrcteristics differ mong high schools, this study uses descriptive sttistics to compre these outcomes by severl key high school dimensions: school type (public or privte), school size, school locle, schools college dmissions test score quintile, 3 nd the percentge of the student body t public high schools receiving free or reduced-price lunch (s proxy for low-income students representtion). 4 The precise ctegories used for these school chrcteristics nd their percentges re noted in Appendix Tble 1. Prt II of this report ims to identify the fctors relted to students tking ctions, mking plns, nd hving beliefs by the spring of their junior yer tht my fcilitte their postsecondry enrollment fter high school. The first hlf of Prt II focuses on students ctions in exploring college options nd their plns to enroll. Specificlly, it discusses whether students 1) hd explored college options through the Internet or college guides; 2) hd ttended progrm t, or tken tour of, college cmpus; nd 3) plnned to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in Fll 2013 (which would be the fll fter their high school grdution ssuming norml cdemic progress). 5 Next, given tht perceptions bout college ffordbility, finncil id eligibility, nd finncil id receipt influence students college decisions, the second hlf of Prt II centers on students perceptions nd plns relted to the costs of college nd finncil id. More precisely, it exmines 1) students perceptions of college ffordbility; 2) their beliefs bout their bility to qulify for need-bsed finncil id; nd 3) their plns to file Free Appliction for Federl Student Aid (FAFSA). Prt II of this report first presents descriptive sttistics for ech outcome exmined. Then, in order to estblish which counseling chrcteristics nd other fctors pper to shpe these outcomes in the fce of less mutble student chrcteristics, it shows results from regression nlyses. 1 College Enrollment nd Work Activity of 2013 High School Grdutes, Wshington, DC: Bureu of Lbor Sttistics. Retrieved My 31, 2014, from 2 See the Dt nd Methods Appendix for more detil on the smple. 3 Schools college dmissions test score quintile results re bsed on the verge SAT or ACT score of the school s grduting senior test-tkers. ACT scores were converted to equivlent SAT scores, nd quintiles were clculted using the schools in the smple tht were not missing dt on this mesure. See Appendix Tble 1 for the scores tht fll within ech quintile. 4 Free nd reduced-price lunch informtion ws gthered from dministrtors. Anlyses were limited to public schools becuse some privte schools include lunch s prt of the cost of ttendnce, mking their responses less useful s n indictor of students poverty. 5 See the Dt nd Methods Appendix for more informtion on students grde level t the time of the survey.

2 Executive Summry PRINCIPALS PRIORITIES FOR COUNSELORS When sked to choose from four options, just over hlf of principls (55 percent) selected the option, helping students prepre for postsecondry schooling, s their top priority for their schools counseling office. ASSIGNMENT OF COUNSELORS AND COLLEGE-FOCUSED COUNSELORS About 57 percent of counselors reported tht their schools ssigned counselors to students by students lst nme. Less thn two-fifths of counselors indicted tht their school hd counselor whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions or hd counselor whose primry responsibility ws college selection. COUNSELORS TIME COMMITMENTS AND ACTIVITIES About hlf of counselors (54 percent) reported tht their counseling deprtment spent less thn 20 percent of their time on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions. Most counselors (90 percent or more) indicted tht their schools offered informtion on college dmissions tests, colleges, nd the bsics of the finncil id process. Tht sid, the percentge of students who took dvntge of these types of help ws fr lower. FOLLOWING STUDENTS OUTCOMES BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL About 58 percent of schools trcked wht their former students did fter high school in some wy. STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND HIRED COUNSELORS INFLUENCE Consistent with other reserch, students were most likely to select their prents s most influentil in their thinking bout their eduction fter high school (42 percent). While reltively few students chose high school counselor (3 percent) or hired counselor (less thn 1 percent) s most importnt in shping their eductionl vision, it is importnt to keep in mind tht counselors my be more influentil in providing informtion bout the steps required to relize this vision. THE ROLE OF COUNSELING CHARACTERISTICS IN STUDENTS ACTIONS, PLANS, AND PERCEPTIONS SURROUNDING COL- LEGE ENROLLMENT Controlling for multitude of fctors, students speking with counselor bout options for life fter high school ws positively relted to their hving serched for college options, hving visited college cmpus for progrm or tour, plnning to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm fter completing high school, nd plnning to complete FAFSA. Other fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence were lso sttisticlly significnt even fter controlling for numerous fctors. Students prticipting in progrm tht provides college preprtion, counting more thn hlf of their close friends s plnning to ttend four-yer college, nd hving prents who expected them to enroll in college fter finishing high school were ll positively ssocited with n rry of key outcomes tht could foster eventul college enrollment. Despite incresed ttention nd federl funding to help build nd develop stte longitudinl dtbses, it ws still much more common for schools to use student or lumni survey (49 percent) thn stte or ntionl dtbse (22 percent) to do so. Thirty-seven percent of schools collected informtion specificlly on whether their former students who enrolled in college persisted beyond their first yer. STUDENTS AND PARENTS INTERACTIONS WITH SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND HIRED COLLEGE COUNSELORS By the spring of students junior yer, lmost two-thirds of students (63 percent) nd just over hlf of prents (51 percent) hd tlked with school counselor bout (the student s) options for life fter high school. Fewer students nd prents hd spoken with hired counselor: 13 percent nd 15 percent, respectively. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 2 OF 33

3 Prt I Wht Is Hppening in High Schools Counseling Offices? This portion of the report provides picture of U.S. high schools counseling offices in 2012 by ddressing the following questions: Wht priorities did principls set for their schools counseling deprtments? How were counselors ssigned to students? How frequently did schools hve counselor whose primry responsibility is college pplictions nd/or college selection? How much of counselors time ws spent on college ctivities compred with other responsibilities? Wht services did counseling deprtments offer to help students prepre for their trnsition to college, nd to wht degree did students tke dvntge of these services? Did counselors or schools follow their students beyond high school to see how they fre? And, finlly, to wht extent did students nd prents report intercting with school counselors nd being influenced by them? PRINCIPALS PRIORITIES FOR COUNSELORS Principls set the tone for school nd cn shpe gols not just for techers but lso for counselors. Figure 1 presents principls rnkings of vrious priorities for the counseling progrm in their schools. When given the four options shown, smll mjority of principls (55 percent) selected helping students pln nd prepre for postsecondry schooling s their first priority. They selected ssisting students improve their chievement in high school next most often, t 28 percent, nd chose iding students with personl growth nd development or helping students pln nd prepre for work roles less frequently, t 12 percent nd 5 percent, respectively. About qurter of principls (24 percent) chose prepring students for postsecondry eduction s their second priority, nd 18 percent suggested it ws their third priority. Interestingly, principls rnking of postsecondry eduction s priority for their counseling deprtments did not differ significntly by ny of the school chrcteristics exmined in this report (school type, school size, school locle, schools college dmissions test score quintile, or, t public high schools, the percentge of the student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch). In ddition, sve one exception noted in footnote 8, ll of the subsequent outcomes nlyzed in Prt I did not differ significntly by this principl rnking either. ASSIGNMENT OF COUNSELORS The wy in which schools ssign counselors to students my lso influence counselors bility to dvise students well s they prepre for college. There re severl methods school might employ. For exmple, schools could ssign counselors to students lphbeticlly, ccording to students lst nmes; by grde level (counselor A counsels ninth grders ech yer, counselor B counsels tenth grders, etc.); by incoming clss (Counselor A hs the clss of 2013, Counselor B hs the clss of 2014, etc.); or by lerning communities within schools. 6 In schools with only one counselor, usully smll schools, ll students would be ssigned to tht counselor. Some schools, of course, combine these strtegies: for exmple, Counselor A is ssigned to students slted to grdute in 2013 whose lst nmes begin with A G nd works with these students throughout their high school creers. 7 Figure 1 Percentge of Principls Reporting the Following Priorities for Their School s Counseling Progrm: Helping Students First priority Second priority Third priority Pln nd prepre for postsecondry schooling Improve their chievement in high school With personl growth nd development Pln nd prepre for work roles fter high school NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. 6 Exmples of lerning communities provided in the survey question included schools-within--school, pods, nd houses. 7 About 2 percent of counselors indicted tht their school mde ssignments by lst nme nd grde level, nd nother 2 percent indicted tht their school used lst nme nd incoming clss. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 3 OF 33

4 Figure 2 presents the ssignment method tht schools chose. The mjority of counselors (57 percent) reported tht their schools ssigned counselors to students by students lst nme. Two-fifths (39 percent) indicted tht one counselor ws ssigned to ll students in the school. Other pproches occurred less frequently. First, though counselors knowledge nd fmilirity with college dmissions nd finncil id might be better if counselors were ssigned to specific grde level nd thus more regulrly ddressed these specific grdelevel topics, only 27 percent of counselors were ssigned in this wy. And while ssigning counselors to n incoming clss throughout high school or by lerning community my help counselors get to know their students individul needs better, schools pursued these pproches even less often (16 percent nd 13 percent, respectively). The wys in which counselors were ssigned differed significntly by school type. Public schools were more likely thn privte schools to sort students by students lst nme or by lerning community, while privte high schools were more likely to ssign counselors to ll students or to specific grde level. Counselor ssignment strtegies vried with other school chrcteristics s well. Some of these school chrcteristics re correlted nd inform the results found in Appendix Tble 2. Smll schools nd rurl schools followed one pth, while lrger schools nd urbn nd suburbn schools followed nother. Specificlly, counselors were more pt to be chrged with seeing ll students in schools with fewer thn 500 students (compred with schools in generl) nd in rurl schools (compred with urbn nd suburbn schools). In contrst, ssigning counselors by students lst nme ws more common in the three lrger school size ctegories (thn in the two smller school size ctegories) nd in urbn nd suburbn schools (thn in towns nd rurl schools). Schools with higher college dmissions test scores nd lower poverty rtes were lso more likely to try certin methods of ssignment, while schools with lower test scores nd higher poverty rtes pursued other tctics. For exmple, schools in the second highest test score quintile (compred with schools in the bottom two quintiles) nd public schools in the lowest poverty rte ctegory (compred with the highest two ctegories) were more likely to ssign students by lst nme. Schools in the lowest test score quintile (compred with the second nd fourth quintiles) nd public schools in the highest poverty rte ctegory (compred with the second nd third ctegories) were more likely to ssign counselors by lerning community. COLLEGE-FOCUSED COUNSELORS Counseling deprtments tht include t lest one counselor who is specificlly focused on college pplictions or college selection my be better ble to smooth students pth to college thn counseling deprtments where ll counselors tke on ll of the issues tht come to the deprtment. Figure 3 sheds light on the percentge of schools tht hve counselors with specilized focus. Thirty-nine percent of counselors indicted tht their schools hd counselor whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions. When sked seprtely whether their school hd counselor dedicted primrily to college selection, 37 percent greed. To put those percentges into perspective, the figure illustrtes tht similr percentge of schools hd t lest one counselor focused Figure 2 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Counselors t Their School Were Assigned in Vrious Wys, by School Type 10 Totl Public Privte By students lst nme* To ll students* To speci c grde level* To n incoming clss throughout high school 2 By lerning community* *Di erences by school type tht re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. NOTES: Counselor respondents were ble to select more thn one ssignment method. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 4 OF 33

5 Figure 3 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Hd One or More Counselors Whose Primry Responsibility Ws Assisting Students with the Following, by School Type 10 Totl Public Privte College pplictions* College selection* Selecting courses nd progrms Preprtion for the workforce Plcement into the workforce *Di erences by school type tht re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. on helping students select courses nd progrms (34 percent). Tht sid, schools with counselor chrged minly with prepring students for the workforce or counselor dedicted minly to helping students get plced into the workforce were less common (18 percent nd 9 percent, respectively). Focusing on the first two college-relted mesures of interest shown in the figure, public schools were roughly 30 percentge points less likely thn privte schools to hve counselor focused on pplictions or counselor focused on selection. Also, s Appendix Tble 3 shows, urbn schools were bout 20 percentge points more likely thn schools in towns to hve counselor whose primry responsibility ws college selection. COUNSELORS TIME COMMITMENTS Counselors time commitments lso shpe their bility to dvise students on the trnsition to college. The study sked counselors to estimte the percentge of time the counseling deprtment in their school spent on vrious ctivities during the previous school yer ( ). The first br in Figure 4 shows tht 16 percent of counselors felt tht college rediness, selection, nd pplictions took up 10 percent or less of their deprtments time; 38 percent estimted it took 11 percent to 20 percent; nd just under hlf (46 percent) put tht figure t more thn 20 percent. While high school course choice/scheduling s well s cdemic development lso tended to tke up fir mount of counselors time (11 percent or more for t lest 70 percent of deprtments), the bottom ctegory in the rest of the brs highlights tht more thn 50 percent of counselors felt tht most other ctivities required 10 percent or less of their stff s totl work hours. The percentge of counselors reporting tht their schools counseling stff spent more thn 20 percent of their time on college-relted ctivities differed with regrd to just two of the school chrcteristics emphsized in this report: school type nd public schools poverty rte. 8 Public schools counseling deprtments were much less likely thn privte schools counseling deprtments to devote more thn 20 percent of their time to college rediness, selection, nd pplictions (Figure 5). Tht sid, counseling stff t public schools in the lowest poverty rte ctegory were more likely thn their counterprts in ech of the three higher poverty rte ctegories to use this proportion of their time on college preprtion. SCHOOLS HELP WITH COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TESTS AND STUDENTS USE OF THIS HELP Counselors reported tht their schools offered students severl types of help with college dmissions tests. As Figure 6 shows, ll counselors reported providing ccess to informtion bout when nd where dmissions tests were offered (100 percent), nd lmost ll offered ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee 8 The initil nlyses conducted for this study exmined whether the outcomes nlyzed in Prt I of this report differed by the priority tht principls plced on prepring students for postsecondry schooling. This ws the only outcome where significnt difference occurred by principls priorities, nd so it is only noted here. The higher principls prioritized prepring students for postsecondry schooling the more likely their school counselors were to report tht counseling stff spent more thn 20 percent of their time on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 5 OF 33

6 Figure 4 Percentge of Time Counselors Reported Tht Their Counseling Deprtment Spent on Vrious Activities % or more College High rediness/ school selection/ course pplictions choice/ scheduling Acdemic development 52 School/ personl problems Acdemic testing Personl development Occuptionl choice/ creer plnning Socil development Noncounseling plce- Job ctivities ment/job skill development NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 5 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their Counseling Deprtment Spent More Thn 20 Percent of Their Time on College Rediness, Selection, nd Applictions, by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Public Privte 0 19% 20 39% 40 59% 6 or more School type Among public schools, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 6 OF 33

7 Figure 6 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered Vrious Types of Help with College Admissions Tests Providing ccess to informtion bout when nd where exms re o ered 100 Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers 97 Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion 95 Providing ssistnce with exm preprtion such s o ering test-preprtion clsses or study mterils NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. wivers (97 percent) nd with exm registrtion more generlly (95 percent). In ddition, 90 percent of counselors reported tht their school offered test-preprtion clsses or study mterils. For two of these types of help (ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers nd ssistnce with exm registrtion), significnt differences occurred by school chrcteristics. Appendix Tble 4 indictes tht school size nd ffluence pper to influence school supports. Compred with public schools nd smll schools with fewer thn 500 students, privte schools nd schools with 2,000 or more students were less likely to provide ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers. As for providing ssistnce with exm registrtion more generlly, schools in the lrgest size ctegory (vs. the two smllest ctegories), urbn schools (vs. rurl nd town schools), nd schools with dmissions test scores in the highest quintile (vs. the three lowest quintiles) were less likely to offer such help. 9 While it is helpful for schools to offer vrious types of support, nother key fctor in their impct is whether students vil themselves of this help. Among schools tht provided given type of help, counselors estimted the percentge of juniors nd seniors who used this type of help in the cdemic yer. Focusing first on the totl columns in Figure 7 produces two insights. First, students tended to tke dvntge of the informtion tht schools provided bout when nd where exms were offered. Specificlly, 36 percent of counselors indicted tht lrge proportion of students (mesured s 75 percent or more students throughout this nd the next two sections of the report) mde use of this help. Tht sid, students use of other types of dmissions test support ws less common. Thirty-two percent of counselors reported tht smll proportion of students (mesured s 10 percent or fewer students in this nd the next two sections of the report) used their schools ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers; 19 percent indicted so regrding exm registrtion more brodly; nd 24 percent reported this low level of use for testpreprtion clsses or mterils. Students use of the four types of school help with college dmissions tests presented in the figure differed t public nd privte high schools. As the dt show, it ws much more common for counselors t privte schools thn t public schools to report tht high proportion of students took dvntge of schools ssistnce with when nd where exms re offered (78 percent vs. 33 percent), exm registrtion (48 percent vs. 21 percent), nd test-preprtion clsses or study mterils (39 percent vs. 12 percent). In prt, these results likely reflect privte high schools higher four-yer college ttendnce rte. 10 Tht sid, it ws fr less common for students t privte schools thn those t public schools to vil themselves of school help with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers. Specificlly, 63 percent of counselors t privte schools estimted tht just smll proportion of their students took dvntge of this support, while 30 percent of counselors t public schools reported doing so. 9 Schools college dmissions test scores nd the socioeconomic sttus of their students re highly relted nd my be influencing this nd other results. For exmple, mong ll public schools scoring in the highest test score quintile, 53 percent hd student bodies where less thn 20 percent of students qulified for free or reduced-price lunch nd only 2 percent hd student bodies where 60 percent or more students were eligible. Conversely, exmining ll public schools where 60 percent or more students received lunch, less thn 5 percent of these schools scored in the highest or second highest test score quintiles combined. 10 Anlysis of bse-yer HSLS dt using the ntionlly representtive school weight indicted tht the medin four-yer college ttendnce rte t privte schools ws 77 percent vs. 39 percent t public schools. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 7 OF 33

8 Figure 7 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of Help with College Admissions Tests, Their Estimte of the Percentge of 11th nd 12th Grders Who Used This Type of Help in , by School Type Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Providing ccess to informtion bout when nd where exms re o ered Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion Providing ssistnce with exm preprtion such s o ering test-preprtion clsses or study mterils % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 NOTES: Di rences by school type re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Students use of college dmissions test help lso differed by two other school chrcteristics. The first pnel of Figure 8 shows tht schools with college dmissions test scores in the lowest quintile were more likely thn schools in the two highest quintiles to report tht lrge proportion of students mde use of help with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers. This is not surprising given the ssocition between poverty levels in schools nd test scores noted in footnote 9. Further supporting the relevnce of schools socioeconomic composition, the next two pnels illustrte tht the higher schools poverty rte, the less likely they were to hve only smll proportion of students tking dvntge of help with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers nd with exm registrtion in generl. SCHOOLS HELP WITH COLLEGE INFORMATION AND STUDENTS USE OF THIS HELP Schools cn lso id students in their trnsition to life fter high school by providing informtion bout different types of colleges nd ssisting them with the college ppliction process. As shown in Figure 9, nerly ll schools helped students identify criteri in deciding where to pply (99 percent) nd provided ssistnce completing college or university pplictions (98 percent). Vst mjorities of schools lso provided ccess to informtion bout colleges or universities (96 percent), held informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college (94 percent), nd held or prticipted in college firs (92 percent). These percentges were similr cross schools, with two exceptions. As shown in Appendix Tble 5, schools in the smllest size ctegory were significntly less likely to hold informtion sessions bout colleges thn schools in the three middle school-size ctegories. And, while results differed significntly overll by test score quintile, the pprent lower percentge of schools in the highest quintile offering help with completing pplictions ws not significntly different from schools in ech of the other four quintiles when t-tests were conducted seprtely. Students use of their schools help with exploring college options is lso importnt in ssessing the ultimte vlue of these school supports. Agin exmining the responses of counselors t schools offering ech type of help, between 25 nd 30 percent reported tht t lest 75 percent of upperclssmen cpitlized on ech kind of college informtion help presented in Figure 10 except for holding informtion sessions bout college. Only 16 percent of counselors reported such high proportion of student use of tht support. The rtes t which students took dvntge of these school-provided sources of informtion bout college differed by severl school chrcteristics. First, for ech type of college informtion presented in Figure 10, public school counselors were significntly less likely thn A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 8 OF 33

9 Figure 8 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of Help with College Admissions Tests, Their Estimte of the Percentge of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Type of School Help in , by Other Sttisticlly Signi nt School Chrcteristics Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion Lowest Second lowest Middle Second Highest 0 19% 20 39% 40 59% 6 highest or more % 20 39% 40 59% 6 or more % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 Schools college dmissions test score quintile Among public schools, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 9 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered Vrious Types of Help with College Informtion Helping students identify criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply such s mjors o ered, cost, or entry requirements 99 Assisting students with completing college or university pplictions 98 Providing ccess to informtion bout colleges or universities 96 Holding informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college 94 Holding or prticipting in college firs NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 9 OF 33

10 Figure 10 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of College Informtion Help, Their Estimte of the Percentge of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Type of School Help in , by School Type % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Helping students identify criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply Assisting students with completing college or university pplictions Providing ccess to informtion bout colleges or universities Holding informtion sessions bout college Holding or prticipting in college firs NOTES: Di rences by school type re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. privte school counselors to report high use. Figure 11 highlights the three other significnt differences observed by school chrcteristics. Counselors from town schools were less likely thn counselors from urbn nd suburbn schools to report high student use of ccess to informtion bout colleges or universities. Also, compred with counselors t schools in the first nd third test score quintiles, counselors t schools in the two highest qurtiles were more pt to report high student use of school informtion sessions bout college probbly becuse greter proportion of their students hd the cdemic preprtion to go on to college. Lstly, the lrger their schools, the less likely counselors were to report high levels of student prticiption in college firs. SCHOOLS HELP WITH THE FINANCIAL AID PROCESS AND STUDENTS USE OF THIS HELP Counselors were lso sked bout the types of help their schools provided with the finncil id process. The vst mjority of counselors reported tht their school mde informtion bout id vilble for students to explore on their own (96 percent) nd offered informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process (95 percent) (Figure 12). A sizeble 88 percent of schools lso held informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id more brodly, nd 85 percent ssisted with completing finncil id pplictions other thn the FAFSA. Between four-fifths nd three-qurters of schools supplied the remining supports: individul counseling sessions to help students identify sources of finncil id (80 percent), computer ccess for completing the FAFSA (79 percent), ssistnce with completing the FAFSA (78 percent), nd FAFSA dedline reminders (76 percent). The percentge of schools offering mny of these types of finncil id help differed by three school chrcteristics, nd the results imply tht these differences my be driven in prt by the socioeconomic composition of their student bodies. To begin, privte schools were significntly less likely thn public schools to provide ll of the types of help with the finncil id process presented in Figure 12 except for sending out reminders of FAFSA dedlines where no significnt difference ws found (Appendix Tble 6). In ddition, schools in the highest college dmissions test score quintile were consistently less likely thn those in the lowest quintile to provide four forms of finncil id help. Keeping with this trend, counselors t public schools in the lowest poverty rte ctegory were less likely (thn those in the second highest nd/or highest poverty rte ctegory depending on the outcome) to offer five kinds of finncil id help. Students took dvntge of some types of finncil id help more thn others. Counselors were most likely to report high student use of the informtion tht schools mde vilble for students to explore A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 10 OF 33

11 Figure 11 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of College Informtion Help, Their Estimte of the Percentge of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Type of School Help in , by Other Sttisticlly Signi nt School Chrcteristics Providing ccess to informtion bout colleges or universities Holding informtion sessions bout college Holding or prticipting in college firs % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 Urbn Suburbn Town Rurl Lowest Second lowest Middle Second Highest highest 999 1,000 1,499 1,500 1,999 2,000 or more School locle Schools college dmissions test score quintile School size See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 12 Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered Vrious Types of Help with the Finncil Aid Process Mking informtion bout id vilble for students to explore on their own, such s yers nd pmphlets O ering informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process O ering informtionl meetings on sources of nncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts Assisting with completing nncil id pplictions other thn the FAFSA O ering individul counseling sessions to help students identify sources of nncil id Providing computer ccess for completing the FAFSA Assisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA Sending out reminders of FAFSA dedlines NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 11 OF 33

12 on their own (26 percent, Figure 13) nd FAFSA dedline reminders (32 percent, Figure 14). Eleven percent or fewer counselors reported tht similrly high proportions of students cpitlized on the other types of finncil id help tht their schools mde vilble. Students use of three types of finncil id help differed by school type. Compred with public schools, privte schools were less likely to hve low proportion of students tking dvntge of informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process s well s more likely to hve high proportion of students viling themselves of informtionl meetings bout sources of id nd FAFSA dedline reminders. In thinking bout why privte schools, which tend to hve more ffluent student bodies, hve greter use of finncil id supports, it is importnt to keep two things in mind. First, these differences my reflect the fct tht public high schools hve lower college-going rte. Second, it is lso essentil to remember tht these distributions of student use include only schools offering this type of help. Thus, privte schools where few students need these types of finncil id help, cusing their schools to not offer them, hve lredy been excluded from the distributions presented here. Given the lredy noted correltion between schools poverty nd chievement levels, it is not surprising tht the extent to which students took dvntge of school-provided finncil id help vried by these school chrcteristics s well. Figure 15 shows tht public schools in the highest poverty ctegory were more likely thn those in the lower ctegories to hve t lest 25 percent of students mking use of their schools ccess to computers for completing the FAFSA nd their schools help with FAFSA completion. In ddition, schools in the lowest college dmissions test score quintile were more likely thn schools in higher quintiles to hve 25 percent or more students tking dvntge of school ssistnce with FAFSA completion. FOLLOWING STUDENT OUTCOMES BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL Whether schools follow up with their students fter they leve high school my lso shed light on schools interest in nd emphsis on students postsecondry success. About 58 percent of counselors reported tht their schools trcked wht their students did fter high school in some wy (Figure 16). Despite incresed ttention nd federl funding to help build nd develop stte longitudinl dtbses, it ws still much more common for schools to use student or lumni survey (49 percent) thn stte or ntionl dtbse 11 (22 percent) to do so. Thirty-seven percent of schools collected informtion specificlly on whether their former students who enrolled in college hd persisted beyond their first yer. The percentge of schools trcking former students differed by school chrcteristics. Ptterns pper to be shped by schools resources nd/or the extent to which their connection with students Figure 13 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of Help with the Finncil Aid Process, Their Estimte of the Percentge Distribution of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Help in , by School Type Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Mking informtion bout id vilble for students to explore on their own, such s yers nd pmphlets O ering informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process* O ering informtionl meetings on sources of nncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts* 15 Assisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 * Di rences by school type tht re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. 11 The Ntionl Student Cleringhouse ws provided s n exmple of ntionl dtbse. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 12 OF 33

13 Figure 14 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of Help with the Finncil Aid Process, Their Estimte of the Percentge Distribution of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Help in , by School Type (Continued) % 25 49% 11 24% 0 1 *Di Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte Totl Public Privte O ering individul counseling sessions to help students identify sources of nncil id Providing computer ccess for completing the FAFSA rences by school type tht re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Assisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. Sending out reminders of FAFSA dedlines* SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 15 Among Counselors Reporting Tht Their School O ered This Type of Help with the Finncil Aid Process, Their Estimte of the Percentge Distribution of 11th nd 12th Grders Using This Help in , by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Providing computer ccess for completing the FAFSA Assisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA % % 20 39% 40 59% 6 or more 0 19% 20 39% 40 59% 6 Lowest Second or more lowest Middle Second Highest highest NOTES: Di Among public schools, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced price lunch See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. Schools college dmissions test score quintile rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. For smple size resons nd to better highlight ptterns, the top three ctegories shown in the previous two ctegories (25 49%, 50 75%, nd 75 10) hve been ggregted. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 13 OF 33

14 Figure Totl Public Privte Trcks in some wy Trcks using student or lumni survey* Trcks using stte or ntionl dtbse* Trcks persistence beyond the rst yer of college in some wy* All former students Former students who enrolled in college *Di rences by school type tht re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. nd fmilies enble them to secure survey responses. Compred with public schools, privte schools were more likely to use student or lumni survey nd were less likely to tp into stte or ntionl dtbse. Privte schools were lso 22 percentge points more likely thn public schools to trck their students persistence in college. This my occur becuse lower proportion of public school students enroll in college, 12 but privte schools my lso find it importnt to trck student outcomes in order to ensure tht future fmilies see vlue in pying to enroll. Among public schools, the lower schools poverty rte ws, the more likely schools were to trck ll students through student or lumni survey (Appendix Tble 7). In ddition, rurl schools were significntly more likely thn urbn nd suburbn schools to trck their students postsecondry persistence beyond the first yer. STUDENTS AND PARENTS INTERACTIONS WITH SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND HIRED COLLEGE COUNSELORS While counselors cn communicte with students nd prents en msse through written mterils or informtion sessions, individul converstions with students nd prents cn lso be importnt in students trnsition to college. 13 Almost two-thirds of ll students (63 percent) reported tht by Spring 2012 they hd tlked with their school counselor bout their options fter high school (Figure 17). Students ttending privte (vs. public) schools, suburbn (vs. urbn, town, nd rurl) schools, nd schools in the two lower poverty rte ctegories (vs. the higher two ctegories) were significntly more likely to hve spoken to counselor. While 63 percent of students hd spoken to their high school counselor bout their options, 51 percent of students prents hd done so (Figure 18). As with students, the percentge of prents who hd such converstions ws significntly higher t privte schools thn t public schools. Prents likelihood of speking with counselor ws lso significntly lower t schools with more thn 2,000 students thn t schools in generl. Fmilies lso cn hire privte counselors to help with college dmission, but doing so ws reltively rre: 13 percent of students (Figure 19) nd 15 percent of prents (Figure 20) reported ever speking with hired counselor. Among both students nd prents, the percentge speking with hired counselors ws significntly lower for fmilies t public schools thn for those t privte schools. Differences by schools college dmissions test quintile were lso significnt for both students nd prents, tking on u-shped pttern. Lstly, students who ttended urbn nd suburbn schools rther thn town nd rurl schools were more likely to hve spoken with hired counselor (Figure 19). 12 See footnote See the uthors prior NACAC report nd Prt II of this report for more informtion on the positive reltionship between communictions nd promising ctions nd plns in the pth to college. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 14 OF 33

15 Figure 17 Percentge of Students Reporting Tht They Hve Tlked with Their High School Counselor bout Options for Life fter High School, by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Totl Public Privte Urbn Suburbn Town Rurl 0 19% 20 39% 40 59% 6 or more School type School locle Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 18 Percentge of Prent Respondents Reporting Tht They Hve Tlked with High School Counselor bout Child s Options for Life fter High School, by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Totl Public Privte ,000 1,499 1,500 1,999 2,000 or more School type School size NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2PARENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 15 OF 33

16 Figure 19 Percentge of Students Reporting Tht They Hve Tlked with Hired Counselor to Prepre for College Admission, by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Totl Public Privte Lowest Second lowest School type Middle Second highest Schools college dmissions test score quintile Highest Urbn Suburbn Town Rurl School locle See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Figure 20 Percentge of Prent Respondents Reporting Tht They Hve Tlked with Hired Counselor to Help Child Prepre for College Admission, by Sttisticlly Signi cnt School Chrcteristics Totl Public Privte Lowest Second lowest Middle Second highest Highest School type Schools college dmissions test score quintile See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Di rences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly signi cnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2PARENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 16 OF 33

17 STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF COUNSELORS INFLUENCE Hving discussed wht school counselors provide nd the interctions tht students nd prents hve with both them nd hired counselors, it is worth exmining the overll influence students perceive counselors to hve on their postsecondry eduction plns. When sked who most influenced their thinking bout eduction fter high school, bout two-fifths of students (42 percent) chose their prents nd 28 percent picked themselves (Figure 21). Although the next most commonly chosen influencers nother fmily member, friend, nd techer were selected by between just 7 nd 4 percent of students, ech of these sources cme in hed of high school counselor, whom 3 percent of students chose. Prcticlly no students (less thn 1 percent) selected hired counselor s most influentil. In considering the low percentges of students who picked school nd hired counselors, it is importnt to keep in mind tht counselors my be more influentil in providing informtion bout the steps required to relize students eductionl vision thn in shping students vision itself. Focusing on the substntive ctegories nd excluding the smll mixed other ctegory, few differences occurred by school chrcteristics, prticulrly those shped by socil clss. Compred with public school students, privte school students were more likely to select prents nd were less likely to pick nother fmily member, friend, nd techer. In ddition, students t urbn nd suburbn schools were more likely thn those t town nd rurl schools to select hired counselor (Appendix Tble 8). Students who ttended schools in the highest or second highest test score quintile were less likely thn those in ech of the lower three quintiles to pick fmily member s most influentil. Finlly, exmining public school students, those ttending schools in the two lower poverty rte ctegories rther thn schools in the two higher poverty rte ctegories were less likely to select fmily member nd more likely to choose themselves s most influentil. Figure 21 Percentge Distribution of Students Selection of the Individul Tht Ws Most In uentil in Their Thinking bout Eduction fter High School, by School Type 10 Totl Public Privte Prents* Self Another fmily member* Friend* Techer* High school counselor Hired counselor Other Don t know or no one in prticulr * Other includes the options: Coch or scout, Militry recruiter, nd Employer. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to 100 due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 17 OF 33

18 Prt II Wht Cn Schools Counseling Offices Do To Fcilitte Students Actions, Plns, nd Beliefs Surrounding College Enrollment? Hving exmined wht schools were doing in 2012 to help students mke successful trnsition to college, this prt of the report exmines which counseling chrcteristics nd other fctors re relted to high school juniors ctions, plns, nd beliefs tht should fcilitte their college enrollment in the fll fter finishing high school. Using both descriptive sttistics nd regression nlysis, six outcomes will be discussed. They include whether students 1) hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides; 2) hd ttended progrm t, or tken tour of, college cmpus; 3) plnned to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in Fll 2013; 4) disgreed with the ide tht their fmily could not fford to send them to college; 5) believed tht they would qulify for need-bsed finncil id; nd 6) plnned to file FAFSA. The reserch literture suggests tht there re mny fctors tht influence whether students tke these steps, mke these plns, or hold these beliefs. For this report, these fctors hve been orgnized into three sets, identified in Tble 1. The first set, counseling chrcteristics, consists of such vribles s schools counselors cselod, the percentge of hours tht counseling stff spent on college ctivities, whether schools hd counselor whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection, whether the student reported hving spoken to counselor bout options fter high school, nd whether prent reported hving spoken to counselor bout the child s options fter high school. 14 Additionl chrcteristics focused on prticulr counselor ctions re lso included in this set of counseling chrcteristics when the reserch literture suggests they re highly relevnt to the specific outcome exmined. The vribles in the next set of fctors re slightly more removed from counselors direct purview: student s perceptions of college ffordbility, prticiption in progrm tht provides college preprtion, proportion of close friends who plnned to ttend four-yer college, nd prents eductionl expecttions for their child following the fll fter high school grdution. While these vribles cn be shped by mny fctors outside of counselors control, counselors still my be ble to influence them. For exmple, the uthors prior report showed tht the time counselors spent on college ctivities hd significnt positive effect on shping the college ffordbility perceptions of ninth grders who would be first-genertion college students. Counselors my lso be ble to encourge nd fcilitte school nd student prticiption in college preprtion cmps nd progrms like Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, Ger Up, AVID, nd/or MESA tht provide college preprtion. Becuse some of students close friends re likely to be school clssmtes, if counselors cn foster collegegoing culture t their schools or help connect students with cdemiclly mtched peers, counselors my be ble to influence students through their friendships. 15 Likewise, by providing informtion to nd/ or meeting with prents bout their child s cdemic nd finncil id eligibility for postsecondry eduction, counselors my be ble to influence prents eductionl expecttions nd plns for their child. 16 Finlly, in order to better identify which counseling chrcteristics nd chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence re relted to the outcomes of interest, it is importnt to control for other vribles tht reserch consistently finds to be relted to students pths to college. By incorporting these vribles into the regressions, the independent effects of school prctices nd counselor ctivities cn be better ssessed. Most of these control vribles re demogrphic, but students postsecondry plns s of ninth grde, 17 students Spring 2012 mth score, nd school type were dded here s well. In this wy, nlyses control for students preexisting plns for college, the fct tht students with higher test scores tend to be more oriented towrd postsecondry eduction, nd the reserch tht shows tht students who ttend privte schools rther thn public schools tend to receive different support s they mke their trnsition to college. 18 Students College Serch, Visits, nd Enrollment Plns STUDENTS SEARCHING FOR COLLEGE OPTIONS VIA THE INTERNET OR COLLEGE GUIDES By Spring 2012, over four-fifths (82 percent) of students hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides (Tble 1). Focusing on counselor chrcteristics first revels tht this percentge differed by whether students hd tlked with counselor. In the next set of vribles cpturing fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence, significnt differences occurred cross ll four mesures. Significnt differences were found cross ll of the controls presented in the tble s well. The logistic regression presented in the first pnel of Tble 2 indictes which of these fctors hve n effect on students behvior independent of the reltionships mong them. It shows tht student reports of hving tlked to counselors remins highly significnt. 19 Students who reported doing so hd 93 percent greter odds of hving strted serching thn their otherwise equivlent counterprts. 14 While informtion on who prompted communictions between students nd counselors nd between prents nd counselors is not vilble, it is importnt to note tht the survey questions for these items re not college specific; they sk bout ever discussing the student s options for life fter high school. Thus, there is reson to believe tht students nd prents with rnge of post-high school expecttions nd not just those who were lredy college oriented might hve spoken to the counselor. Furthermore, regressions control for students postsecondry spirtions s of ninth grde nd prents current postsecondry spirtions for their student. This suggests tht when these counselor communictions vribles re significnt, they re not merely cpturing individuls lredy predisposed towrd postsecondry eduction who initited converstions with counselors for this reson. 15 In results not shown, students proportion of close friends with four-yer college plns in 2012 ws significntly nd positively correlted with the four-yer ttendnce rte of the schools they hd ttended in Informtion bout the four-yer ttendnce rte of students 2012 schools ws not vilble nd is therefore not included in the nlysis, but even if correlted, the four-yer ttendnce rte is still fctor tht counselors my be ble to influence. 16 In fct, mong prents who in Fll 2009 expected tht their child would one dy receive bchelor s degree, those who hd spoken to counselor by Spring 2012 were more likely thn other prents to ssert tht they believed their child would be enrolled in four-yer institution in the fll fter finishing high school. 17 This is the only vrible included from the bse yer. All of the other vribles in this report come from the first follow-up. 18 Prt I of this report showed tht of ll the school chrcteristics exmined, differences in counselor chrcteristics most frequently occurred by school type. For more informtion on how the college choice process differs t public schools nd privte schools, see McDonough, P. (1997). Choosing Colleges: How Socil Clss nd Schools Structure Opportunity. Albny: Stte University of New York Press. 19 As in the descriptive results, in the regression results, only predictors tht re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level re discussed in the text. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 18 OF 33

19 Tble 1: Descriptive Sttistics: Students College Serch, College Visits, nd Enrollment Plns s of Spring 2012 Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Student hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides Student hd ttended progrm t, or tken tour of, college cmpus Student plnned to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in the fll of 2013 Percentge Percentge Percentge Totl School s counselor cselod 250 or fewer More thn Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions 3 1 or less % to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection 2 No Yes School held informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college 2 No Yes School offered students help identifying criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply, such s mjors offered, cost, or entry requirements No Yes School held or prticipted in college firs No Yes School offered informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts No 45 Yes 41 1, 2, 3 Student reported hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school No Yes Prent respondent reported hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school 2 No Yes , 2, 3 Student s perception of college ffordbility mesured s response to the sttement, Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you. Strongly gree Agree Disgree Strongly disgree Student hs prticipted in progrm 1, 2, 3 tht provides college preprtion No Yes , 2, 3 Proportion of student s close friends who plnned to ttend four-yer college Hlf or fewer More thn hlf , 2, 3 Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 High school Two-yer college or occuptionl school Four-yer college Don t know , 2, 3 In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school No Yes , 2, 3 Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics quintile Lowest Second lowest Middle Second highest Highest , 2, 3 Prents highest degree ttined High school diplom or lower Associte s degree or certificte Bchelor s degree or higher Rce/ethnicity 1, 3 White Blck Hispnic Asin Other rce b , 2, 3 Sex Mle Femle , 2, 3 School type Public Privte Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. b Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. 1 Differences in students plns to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in the fll of 2013 re sttisticlly significnt t the p<.05 level for this predictor. 2 Differences in students ttending progrm t, or tking tour of, college cmpus re sttisticlly significnt t the p<.05 level for this predictor. 3 Differences in students serching the internet for college options or reding college guides re sttisticlly significnt t the p<.05 level for this predictor. NOTES: As noted in the text, set of common counselor chrcteristics is included for ll three outcomes presented in this tble. For the first two outcomes focused on students explortion of college options, two dditionl counselor chrcteristics highly relted to explortion of college options were included. For the third outcome focused on enrollment plns, seprte counselor chrcteristic bout providing informtion on pying for college is included due to the influence college cost nd finncil id informtion hve been shown to hve on students decision to enroll. These dditionl counselor chrcteristics re gryed out when they re not included for the outcome of focus. Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 19 OF 33

20 Tble 2: Logistic Regression Results: Students College Serch, College Visits, nd Enrollment Plns s of Spring 2012 Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Student hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides Student hd ttended progrm t, or tken tour of, college cmpus Student plnned to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in the fll of 2013 VARIABLE Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Intercept * ** <.0001 *** School s counselor cselod Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions (1 or less) 11% to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection School held informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college School offered students help in identifying criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply such s mjors offered, cost, or entry requirements School held or prticipted in college firs School offered informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school *** <.0001 *** ** Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school Student s perception of college ffordbility mesured s level of disgreement with the sttement, "Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you." Student hs prticipted in progrm tht provides college preprtion <.0001 *** A mjority of student s close friends plnned to ttend four-yer college ** *** Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 (High school) Two-yer college or occuptionl school * Four-yer college ** * Don t know In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school <.0001 *** Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics score *** <.0001 *** Prents highest degree ttined (High school diplom or lower) Associte s degree or certificte Bchelor s degree or higher * * Rce/ethnicity (White) Blck Hispnic Asin Other rce b Sex (Mle) Femle <.0001 *** School type (Public) Privte Reference ctegory, no estimte clculted. p<.1, * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. b Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. NOTES: As noted in the text, set of common counselor chrcteristics is included for ll three outcomes presented in this tble. For the first two outcomes focused on students explortion of college options, two dditionl counselor chrcteristics highly relted to explortion of college options were included. For the third outcome focused on enrollment plns, seprte counselor chrcteristic bout providing informtion on pying for college is included due to the influence college cost nd finncil id informtion hve been shown to hve on students decision to enroll. These dditionl counselor chrcteristics re gryed out when they re not included for the outcome of focus. Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 20 OF 33

21 A couple of the fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence were significnt s well. Students who counted more thn hlf of their close friends s plnning to ttend four-yer college nd students who hd prents who expected them to ttend four-yer college in Fll 2013 hd significntly greter odds of hving serched for informtion on the Internet or red college guides. Students with higher 11th-grde mth scores nd who were femle were lso more likely to hve serched, ll things equl. STUDENTS ATTENDING A PROGRAM OR TAKING A TOUR OF A COLLEGE CAMPUS Serching for college options vi the Internet or guidebooks is one step, but visiting college cmpus for progrm or tour requires n dditionl level of effort. Tble 1 shows tht by Spring 2012, just over hlf of students (52 percent) hd ttended progrm t college cmpus or tken cmpus tour. This percentge differed significntly by couple of school counseling chrcteristics. Students were more likely to hve ttended progrm t or toured college cmpus if they hd ttended schools tht hd counselor whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or selection or ttended schools tht held n informtion session for students nd prents bout college. Students nd prents who reported hving spoken to counselor bout post-high school options were lso more likely to hve tken this step. Differences by ll four vribles in the next set of chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence were significnt s well. Significnt differences by ll controls except rce/ethnicity lso occurred. After controlling for the influence of other vribles through regression nlysis, severl of these ptterns hold. To begin, student reports of hving tlked to counselor were ssocited with 76 percent greter odds of visiting cmpus for progrm or tour (Pnel 2, Tble 2). Two mesures tht counselors my be ble to influence remined significnt s well. Odds of tking the dditionl step of visiting college cmpus were 189 percent greter for students who prticipted in progrm tht includes college preprtion nd 98 percent greter for students whose prents expected they would ttend four-yer college in Fll As for controls, hving prents with bchelor s degree or higher lso hd positive significnt reltionship on tking this ction. STUDENTS PLANNING TO ENROLL IN A BACHELOR S DEGREE PROGRAM IN FALL 2013 The next nlysis exmines fctors significntly relted to students plnning to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in Fll 2013 the semester fter students who were juniors in 2012 would typiclly grdute from high school. Hving such plns by the spring of junior yer is helpful becuse students who wnt to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm t public four-yer or privte nonprofit four-yer institution usully hve college dmissions tests they need to tke nd fce erlier dmissions dedlines thn students seeking subbcclurete credentils. Almost two-fifths of students (40 percent) reported tht they plnned to enter bchelor s degree progrm in the fll fter completing high school (Tble 1). Exmining counseling chrcteristics first, the percentge of time tht counselors spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions nd whether the student hd spoken to counselor were both sttisticlly significnt. Ech chrcteristic tht counselors my be ble to influence ws lso significnt. Specificlly, students who disgreed tht their fmily could not fford to send them to college, prticipted in progrm with college preprtory component, hd higher proportion of close friends with four-yer college plns, or hd prents who expected them to ttend four-yer college 20 were more likely to report hving bchelor s degree plns. Finlly, differences occurred by ll control vribles s well. The lst pnel in Tble 2 highlights the fctors tht remined significnt fter controlling for other vribles including the postsecondry plns tht students held two yers erlier while in ninth grde. Students who hd spoken to counselor hd 41 percent greter odds of hving bchelor s degree plns in Spring 2012 thn did students who hd not spoken with counselor. Two dditionl vribles tht counselors my be ble to influence were significnt s well. Hving more thn hlf of their close friends who plnned to ttend four-yer college ws ssocited with students hving significntly higher odds of hving bchelor s degree plns. Students whose prents expected them to enroll in two-yer college or occuptionl school in Fll 2013, however, hd 52 percent lower odds of hving bchelor s degree plns. Three control vribles were significnt s well. Not unexpectedly, ninth-grde students who plnned to enroll in some postsecondry eduction hd greter odds thn those who did not pln to enroll of hving bchelor s degree plns two-nd--hlf yers lter. Students who hd higher mth test scores nd who hd prents with bchelor s degrees lso hd significntly greter odds of plnning to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm fter high school. 20 Interestingly, there ws nowhere ner perfect congruence between students nd prents expecttions. Only 58 percent of students whose prents expected them to ttend four-yer college indicted tht they plnned to be enrolled in bchelor s degree progrm in Fll A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 21 OF 33

22 Students Perceptions of College Affordbility, Beliefs bout Need-Bsed Finncil Aid Eligibility, nd Plns to Apply for Finncil Aid The next set of outcomes exmines students perceptions of college ffordbility, beliefs bout whether they will qulify for need-bsed finncil id, nd plns to file FAFSA. Perceptions of college ffordbility my shpe ll students thinking bout whether to continue their eduction, so ll students were included in nlyzing this outcome. Students who hve no intention of continuing their postsecondry eduction immeditely fter high school, however, re not likely to hve considered the more specific topics of need-bsed finncil id eligibility nd FAFSA filing plns. Therefore, to void muddying the results, investigtions of the ltter two outcomes were limited to students who plnned to continue their eduction in Fll As with the first set of outcomes explored in Prt II, descriptive sttistics re presented first, followed by regression nlysis. Almost ll of the predictors included re the sme, though certin school counselor ctions shown in Tble 1 hve been replced with school counselor ctions tht re more specificlly focused on finncil id. Becuse there re mny finncil id-oriented ctions tht counselors nd schools my tke nd they do overlp, only the ctions tht were sttisticlly significnt in the descriptive results for ech outcome were retined for tht outcome s regression nlysis. Students perceptions of college ffordbility, included in the prior section of Prt II s fctor tht counselors my be ble to influence, is not included here becuse it is the outcome of interest in our first nlysis nd is strongly interconnected with the subsequent two outcomes exmined. STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY About 69 percent of students hd positive views bout college ffordbility s mesured by their disgreement or strong disgreement with the ide tht their fmily cnnot fford to send them to college (Tble 3). The percentge of students with this outlook differed by severl school counseling chrcteristics: counselor cselod, whether schools ssisted students nd fmilies with FAFSA completion, 21 nd whether prents tlked to counselor. Two fctors counselors might be ble to influence (students hving greter proportion of friends with four-yer college plns nd prents eductionl expecttions for the student) were lso significnt. The sme is true for ll controls except for students sex. Tble 4 includes results once ll of these vribles re tken into ccount simultneously. Here, none of the counseling chrcteristics were significnt. Nevertheless, two fctors tht counselors might influence tht were significnt in the descriptive results continued to be positive nd significnt: students counting mjority of their close friends s plnning to ttend four-yer college nd prents hving four-yer college expecttions for their child. As for controls, students erning higher mth score nd prents possessing bchelor s degrees were ssocited with significntly greter odds of viewing college s ffordble, while being Hispnic rther thn white ws ssocited with significntly lower odds. STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF BEING ABLE TO QUALIFY FOR NEED-BASED FINANCIAL AID Among students who expected to continue their eduction fter high school in Fll 2013, little less thn hlf (45 percent) believed they would qulify for finncil id bsed on finncil need (Tble 3). About qurter (26 percent) did not believe they would qulify for needbsed id. For some ffluent students, the perception tht they will not qulify is ccurte, but for most students it is not. 22 Also highly relevnt is the fct tht while students were only roughly yer wy from selecting postsecondry institution, 29 percent indicted tht they did not know if they would qulify for this type of id. The percentge distribution for this outcome differed by multiple counseling chrcteristics s well s other fctors. Counselors cselod, the time counselors spent on college ctivities, schools ssisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA, nd students speking with counselor were ll significntly relted to students sense of their eligibility for need-bsed finncil id. All of the fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence tht re included in the college cost nd finncil id nlyses (students prticiption in college preprtion ctivities, their proportion of friends with fouryer college plns, nd prents eductionl expecttions for them) were significnt s well. Ech control except for rce/ethnicity ws significnt, too. A multinomil logistic regression ws used to ssess whether, ll else equl, these vribles were ssocited with students believing tht they would qulify for need-bsed finncil id versus believing tht they would not qulify (Pnel 1, Tble 5) nd students believing tht they would qulify for need-bsed finncil id versus not knowing if they would qulify (Pnel 2, Tble 5). While students who nswered No nd Don t know to this question could lso be compred, understnding the fctors ssocited with being in one group versus the other is less policy relevnt. It is more importnt to identify the fctors ssocited with hving greter odds of being in the Yes ctegory s compred with the No nd Don t know ctegories. Beginning with the results presented in the first pnel of Tble 5, ttending school tht hs counselor whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection ws ssocited with students hving 37 percent greter odds of believing they would qulify for need-bsed finncil id. Likewise, students tlking to counselor ws relted to 33 percent greter odds of believing they would qulify. Severl controls were lso sttisticlly significnt. The higher students mth score nd the higher their prents eductionl ttinment, the lower students odds were of believing they would 21 Somewht prdoxiclly, students ttending schools tht provide FAFSA completion ssistnce were less likely to disgree tht college is unffordble (i.e., more likely to gree tht college is unffordble). This result is probbly reflecting students socioeconomic bckground becuse Appendix Tble 6 showed tht schools with higher percentges of poor students were more likely to offer this service. The regression results presented in Tble 4 indicte tht this fctor hs no significnt reltionship once other vribles re included in the nlysis. 22 For discussion on students not knowing tht they will qulify for id nd filing to pply, see pges 3 4 in Simplifying Student Aid: The Cse for nd Esier, Fster, n More Accurte FAFSA. Retrieved My 31, 2014, from whitehouse.gov/ssets/documents/fafsa_report.pdf. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 22 OF 33

23 Tble 3: Descriptive Sttistics: Students Perceptions of College Affordbility, Beliefs bout Need-Bsed Finncil Aid Eligibility, nd Plns to Apply for Finncil Aid s of Spring 2012 Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Percentge of ll students Student disgreed or strongly disgreed with the sttement, Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you. Percentge of students who expect to continue their eduction fter high school in Fll 2013 Student believed he/she will qulify for finncil id bsed on finncil need Student plnned to complete FAFSA to pply for finncil id Yes No Don t know Yes No Don t know Totl School s counselor cselod 1, or fewer More thn Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions 2 1 or less % to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection No Yes School offered informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts No Yes School offered informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process No Yes School sent out reminders bout FAFSA dedlines No Yes , 2, 3 School offered students nd fmilies ssistnce with completing the FAFSA No Yes School offered individul counseling sessions to help students identify possible sources of finncil id No Yes Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school 2, 3 No Yes Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school 1 No Yes Student hs prticipted in progrm b tht provides college preprtion 2, 3 No Yes , 2, 3 Proportion of student s close friends who plnned to ttend four-yer college Hlf or fewer More thn hlf Prent s expecttion for the level of school student will ttend in Fll , 2 High school Two-yer college or occuptionl school Four-yer college Don t know , 2, 3 In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school No Yes , 2, 3 Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics quintile Lowest Second lowest Middle Second highest Highest , 2, 3 Prents highest degree ttined High school diplom or lower Associte s degree or certificte Bchelor s degree or higher Rce/ethnicity 1, 2 White Blck Hispnic Asin Other rce c Sex 2, 3 Mle Femle , 2, 3 School type Public Privte This don t know ctegory includes: Don t know wht FAFSA is, Hven t thought bout it, nd Don t know if will pply. b Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. c Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. 1 Differences in students perceptions of college ffordbility re sttisticlly significnt t the p <.05 level for this predictor. 2 Among students expecting to continue their eduction fter high school in the fll of 2013, differences in students believing they will qulify for finncil id bsed on need re sttisticlly significnt t the p <.05 level for this predictor. 3 Among students expecting to continue their eduction fter high school in the fll of 2013, differences in students plnning to complete FAFSA to pply for finncil id re sttisticlly significnt t the p <.05 level for this predictor. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 23 OF 33

24 Tble 4: Logistic Regression Results: All Students Perceptions of College Affordbility s of Spring 2012 Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Student disgreed or strongly disgreed with the sttement, Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you. VARIABLE Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Intercept ** School s counselor cselod Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions (1 or less) 11% to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection School offered students nd fmilies ssistnce with completing the FAFSA Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school Student hs prticipted in progrm tht provides college preprtion A mjority of student s close friends plnned to ttend four-yer college <.0001 *** Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 (High school) Two-yer college or occuptionl school Four-yer college ** Don t know In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics score ** Prents highest degree ttined (High school diplom or lower) Associte s degree or certificte Bchelor s degree or higher *** Rce/ethnicity (White) Blck Hispnic *** Asin Other rce b Sex (Mle) Femle School type (Public) Privte Reference ctegory, no estimte clculted. p<.1, * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. b Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 24 OF 33

25 Tble 5: Multinomil Logistic Regression Results: Among Students Expecting to Continue Their Eduction fter High School in Fll 2013, Students Beliefs s of Spring 2012 bout Whether They Will Qulify for Need-Bsed Finncil Aid Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Yes vs. No Yes vs. Don t know VARIABLE Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Intercept ** School s counselor cselod Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions (1 or less) 11% to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection * School offered students nd fmilies ssistnce with completing the FAFSA Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school * Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school Student hs prticipted in progrm tht provides college preprtion * A mjority of student s close friends plnned to ttend four-yer college Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 (High school) Two-yer college or occuptionl school Four-yer college Don t know In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school Student s spring 2012 mthemtics score *** Prents highest degree ttined (High school diplom or lower) Associte s degree or certificte ** Bchelor s degree or higher <.0001*** ** Rce/ethnicity (White) Blck * Hispnic *** Asin <.0001*** Other rce b * Sex (Mle) Femle * School type (Public) Privte Reference ctegory, no estimte clculted. p<.1, * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. b Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 25 OF 33

26 qulify. 23 On the other hnd, Hispnic nd Asin students hd greter odds thn white students of thinking they would qulify for needbsed id, nd femle students hd greter odds thn mle students. The second pnel of Tble 5 presents comprison of students who believed they would qulify for need-bsed id with those who did not know whether they would qulify. While none of the counseling chrcteristics were sttisticlly significnt independent of the other vribles, one fctor tht counselors my be ble to influence ws significnt. Students who prticipted in progrm tht provided college preprtion hd greter odds of believing they would qulify for need-bsed id. 24 Hving prent with bchelor s degree or higher ws ssocited with 44 percent lower odds of students believing they would qulify for id. 25 STUDENTS PLANS TO COMPLETE A FAFSA Filing FAFSA is criticl step towrd obtining need-bsed finncil id from the federl government, sttes, nd mny institutions. Yet even when exmining students who expected to continue their eduction fter high school in Fll 2013, only bout one-third (34 percent) plnned to complete FAFSA (Tble 3). Four percent sid tht they did not pln to file one, nd whopping 62 percent sid they did not know if they would. (This Don t know percentge includes 44 percent of students who did not know wht FAFSA ws, 11 percent who hd not thought bout it, nd 7 percent who did not know if they would pply.) The percentge of students in the three min ctegories for FAFSA filing plns presented in the tble differed by multiple fctors. Among the counseling chrcteristics presented, sttisticlly significnt differences occurred by whether schools ssisted fmilies with completing the FAFSA nd whether students hd spoken to counselor. There were lso significnt differences by two other fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence: students prticiption in college preprtion ctivity nd the proportion of their friends with four-yer college plns. All of the controls except for rce/ethnicity were significnt, too. A multinomil regression ws gin used to compre the effects of these vribles, net of their reltionships mong ech other, on whether students expected to complete FAFSA versus not complete one (Pnel 1, Tble 6) nd on whether students expected to complete FAFSA versus did not know if they would complete one (Pnel 2, Tble 6). Agin, students in the No nd Don t know ctegories could lso be compred, but the more relevnt policy issue is better understnding the fctors relted to odds of being in the Yes ctegory. For this reson, comprisons gin re only mde with the Yes ctegory. The first pnel shows tht students who ttended schools tht ssisted fmilies with completing the FAFSA hd lower odds of plnning to file one. This finding is counterintuitive nd my be n nomly. 26 The only other significnt fctors were being femle (ssocited with greter odds of plnning to pply) nd ttending privte school (ssocited with lower odds of plnning to pply). 27 Results compring students who sserted tht they would file FAFSA with those who indicted tht they did not know if they would cn be viewed in the second pnel of Tble 6. Here, students tlking to counselors ws highly significnt. Students who hd done so hd 57 percent greter odds of indicting plns to complete FAFSA. In ddition, prticipting in progrm or ctivity tht included college preprtion ws ssocited with greter odds of plnning to pply 43 percent greter odds to be precise. As for controls, femle students nd students who hd postsecondry spirtions by ninth grde hd greter odds of filing FAFSA, while students who hd prents with bchelor s degree hd lower odds of doing so. 28 INTEGRATING THESE REGRESSION RESULTS Exmining these regression results s whole is helpful in thinking bout the direction in which counselors, nd other prties interested in helping students mke successful trnsition into college, might focus their efforts. Tble 7 illustrtes tht students tlking to counselors bout their options fter high school ws the counseling chrcteristic tht ws repetedly sttisticlly significnt even fter controlling for multitude of fctors relted to students college ctions, plns, nd beliefs. This converstion hs significnt effect bove nd beyond specific counselor chrcteristics nd ctions. Also, it is significnt even when students re mtched for chrcteristics tht might be prticulrly likely to influence students seeking out counselor, including prents hving spoken to counselor, prents postsecondry expecttions for their child s of Spring 2012, nd students postsecondry spirtions s of ninth grde. Therefore, these results suggest tht fcilitting these converstions is potentil point of leverge in inducing positive college ttitudes nd ctions. The content nd length of these converstions should be exmined crefully on the ground to test the types of interctions tht re most beneficil. Severl fctors tht counselors my be ble to influence were sttisticlly significnt s well. First, the regressions suggest tht there re potentil lessons tht counselors cn lern from progrms providing college preprtion. Prticipting in these ctivities pper to influence whether students visit college cmpus for progrm or tour s well s their thinking bout qulifying for need-bsed finncil id. By investigting the fctors nd ctivities tht mke these progrms effective, it is possible tht these prctices could be scled up nd dministered by counselors to lrger numbers of students. Second, to the extent possible, exploring the most effective wy to foster college-going culture within school my be helpful, given the fre- 23 These results my be due in prt to these students greter ffluence. Reserch lso suggests tht in middle-clss nd upper middle-clss fmilies, prents often hndle the finncil id process, cusing students from these socil clss bckgrounds to be less focused on finding out finncil id detils themselves. For discussion of this finding, see Rdford, A. (2013). Top Student, Top School? How Socil Clss Shpes Where Vledictorins Go to College. Chicgo: The University of Chicgo Press. 24 While mny of the college preprtory progrms included in this mesure trget low-income students, 43 percent of students who prticipted hd prent with bchelor s degree or higher. This fct, combined with the fct tht this regression controls for prents socioeconomic sttus by using prents eductionl ttinment s proxy, suggests tht this mesure is not merely cpturing students who were more likely to qulify for need-bsed id nd tht these ctivities were hving positive reltionship in nd of themselves. 25 This ssocition likely occurs for the sme resons suggested in footnote It is importnt to keep in mind tht students would not receive school ssistnce with FAFSA completion until their senior yer, so perhps this finding merely indictes tht such efforts do not hve spill-over effect influencing the id ppliction plns of students in lower grdes. This result should not, in the uthors view, be interpreted s suggesting tht helping students complete the FAFSA reduces their likelihood of filing one. 27 The ltter result my be cpturing the greter welth nd/or income of students ttending privte schools tht is not cptured by the prents eductionl ttinment mesure. 28 Agin, this ssocition likely occurs for the sme resons suggested in footnote 23. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 26 OF 33

27 Tble 6: Multinomil Logistic Regression Results: Among Students Expecting to Continue Their Eduction fter High School in Fll 2013, Students Plns s of Spring 2013 to Complete FAFSA to Apply for Finncil Aid Yes vs. No Yes vs. Don t know Counseling chrcteristics Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls VARIABLE Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Odds rtio Pr > ChiSq Intercept *** School s counselor cselod Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions (1 or less) 11% to % or more School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection School offered students nd fmilies ssistnce with completing the FAFSA * Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school *** Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school Student hs prticipted in progrm b tht provides college preprtion * A mjority of student s close friends plnned to ttend four-yer college Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 (High school) Two-yer college or occuptionl school Four-yer college Don t know In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school <.0001 *** Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics score Prents highest degree ttined (High school diplom or lower) Associte s degree or certificte Bchelor s degree or higher ** Rce/ethnicity (White) Blck Hispnic Asin Other rce c Sex (Mle) Femle ** *** School type (Public) Privte * Reference ctegory, no estimte clculted. p<.1, * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 Don t know ctegory includes: Don t know wht FAFSA is, Hven t thought bout it, nd Don t know if will pply. b Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. c Other rce includes non-hispnic Americn Indin/Alsk Ntives, Ntive Hwiin/Pcific Islnders, nd students of more thn one rce. 1 As explined in footnote 26, this counterintuitive finding is believed to be n nomly. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2W1PAR. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. quently positive reltionship between hving mjority of friends with four-yer college plns nd the student outcomes exmined. Third, improving our understnding of how to increse prents eductionl expecttions for their child could hve pyoffs, becuse this fctor ws significnt cross four outcomes s well. Lstly, it is worth noting tht the vrible cpturing students postsecondry spirtions s of ninth grde ws significnt for two outcomes. While it is not prticulrly surprising tht it ws relted to students hving bchelor s degree plns by Spring 2012, the next outcome is less directly relted. Specificlly, hving these erly college spirtions shped FAFSA filing plns even fter controlling for prents eductionl expecttions nd limiting the smple to students who (s of 2012) plnned to continue their eduction beyond high school in Fll Perhps mking plns to pursue college in ninth grde induces students to find out bout the finncil id process or t lest find out bout it erlier in their college choice process. Further reserch should exmine the effect of erly college plns on when students cquire finncil id knowledge nd the qulity nd ccurcy of their knowledge. The extent to which erly nd better knowledge shpes college enrollment decisions should lso be explored. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 27 OF 33

28 Tble 7: Summry Tble: Significnt Predictors in Logistic nd Multinomil Logistic Regressions Exmining Students Actions, Plns, nd Beliefs s of Spring 2012 School s counselor cselod Percentge of hours counseling stff spent on college rediness, selection, nd pplictions School hd one or more counselors whose primry responsibility ws college pplictions nd/or college selection Student hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides Student hd ttended progrm t, or tken tour of, college cmpus All students Student plnned to enroll in bchelor s degree progrm in the fll of 2013 Student disgreed or strongly disgreed with the sttement, "Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you." Students who expect to continue their eduction fter high school in Fll 2013 Student believed he/she will qulify for finncil id bsed on finncil need Student plnnned to complete FAFSA to pply for finncil id Counseling chrcteristics School held informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college School offered students help identifying criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply such s mjors offered, cost, or entry requirements School held or prticipted in college firs School offered informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts School offered students nd fmilies ssistnce with completing the FAFSA * 1 Student reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school * * * * Prent respondent reports hving tlked with high school counselor bout child s options for life fter high school Chrcteristics tht counselors my be ble to influence Controls Student s perception of college ffordbility mesured s level of disgreement with the sttement, "Even if you get ccepted to college, your fmily cnnot fford to send you." Student hs prticipted in progrm tht provides college preprtion * * A mjority of student s close friends plnned to ttend four-yer college * * * * Prent s expecttion for the level of school child will ttend in Fll 2013 * * * * In ninth grde student plnned to enroll in n ssocite s or bchelor s degree progrm in the yer fter high school * * Student s Spring 2012 mthemtics score * * * * Prents highest degree ttined * * * * Rce/ethnicity * * * Sex * * * p<.05. School type Includes college preprtion cmp, Upwrd Bound, Tlent Serch, GEAR UP, AVID, nd/or MESA. 1 As explined in footnote 26, this counterintuitive finding is believed to be n nomly. NOTES: : Cells for chrcteristics not included in the regression nlyses for these outcomes re shded in gry. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Next Steps In the uthors lst NACAC report, the students nlyzed were in ninth grde. In this report, these students were now two-nd--hlf yers closer to being ble to enter postsecondry eduction, but they were still mking plns nd tking ctions tht precede ctul postsecondry enrollment. Counselors hd nother yer to influence these students trjectories, nd much of their work with students on their post-high school plns ws yet to be done. Our subsequent report will use the next round of HSLS:09 dt to exmine the reltionship between counseling chrcteristics nd more definitive outcomes on which schools nd counselors postsecondry success is often judged, such s students FAFSA filing nd the extent to which students enroll in degree progrms nd institutions tht mtch their level of cdemic preprtion. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 28 OF 33

29 Dt nd Methods Appendix A previous NACAC report, Prepring Students for College: Wht High Schools Are Doing nd How Their Actions Influence Ninth Grders College Attitudes, Aspirtions nd Plns, used dt from the bse yer of the High School Longitudinl Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). This current report nlyzes dt from the first follow-up of this study. HSLS:09 is the fifth in series of longitudinl studies conducted by the Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics (NCES) since NCES designed ech of these studies to provide dt on students pths through high school nd into the lbor mrket nd/or postsecondry eduction. In ech study, students, including those who leve high school without grduting, complete n initil cdemic ssessment nd survey in the bse yer of the study. They lso complete follow-up surveys multiple times during nd fter their high school yers. To obtin contextul dt regrding these students school nd fmily experiences, dt re lso collected from prents, techers, school dministrtors, nd school counselors during some wves of dt collection. This section briefly describes the design of HSLS nd the methods employed in these nlyses with the gol of providing reders with contextul informtion for interpreting the findings presented in the report. HSLS:09 DATA HSLS:09 begn with smple of 944 U.S. public nd privte high schools, ech of which provided list of ll ninth grders enrolled in Fll Students were then smpled from the complete enrollment list of ech smpled school. Dt collection in 2009 included questionnire nd mthemtics ssessment completed by ech student s well s questionnires completed by the student s prent, mthemtics nd science techers, school dministrtor, nd the led counselor in the school. The first follow-up, conducted in 2012, included mthemtics ssessment nd survey of students s well s survey of the principl nd counselor (typiclly the led counselor) of ech student s 2009 school. 29 Both the principl nd counselor surveys report on chrcteristics nd ctivities of the school, but not on individul smpled students. Prent surveys, providing dt on individul students fmilies nd home lives, were dministered for subsmple of students. Approximtely 21,000 students hve first follow-up student survey nd lmost 9,000 of them lso hve first follow-up survey from their prents. In ll of its smple surveys, NCES provides weights to be used in nlyses in order to ensure tht estimtes obtined from the smple respondents represent sttistics for the ntionl popultion. For exmple, becuse prent dt were vilble for only 40 percent of responding students in the HSLS:09 first follow-up, weight ws computed for ech student so tht estimtes generted from the dt tke into ccount whether tht student hd prent dt or not. For ech nlysis presented in this report, specific weight ws chosen depending on whether the dt nlyzed were collected in the bse yer, first follow-up, or both, nd whether the dt were provided by prents, students, dministrtors, or led counselors. Despite the different weights used, estimtes from ll nlyses represent Fll 2009 ninth-grde students s of Spring In Spring 2012, most of these 2009 ninth grders were eleventh grders (88 percent). 30 In order to understnd the wy questions were frmed nd the responses given, it is useful to view student respondents minly s students in the spring of their junior yer of high school. This mens tht ssuming norml cdemic progress, these student respondents will hve completed high school in Spring 2013, nd, ssuming they continue their eduction in the following cdemic yer, they will hve entered postsecondry eduction in Fll A number of nlyses in this report include dt provided by prents, school dministrtors, nd current counselors in students bse-yer schools. Although the report presents these findings in terms of wht prents, dministrtors, or counselors sid, the estimtes ctully represent students e.g., One-qurter of counselors reported tht three-qurters or more of their schools eleventh nd twelfth grders took dvntge of school-provided college firs, help in identifying criteri for selecting colleges to which to pply, nd completing college or university pplictions. This would be more ccurtely, but more clumsily, written s For one-qurter of students, the led counselors in the schools they ttended s ninth grders in 2009 reported tht, in 2012, three-qurters or more of their schools eleventh nd twelfth grders took dvntge of... To spre reders the mentl gymnstics needed to interpret the more ccurte description of the findings, we hve simplified the text t the expense of perfect ccurcy. ANALYSIS METHODS For ech of the vrious school, principl, counselor, student, nd prent ctions discussed, the nlyses presented in this report re designed to nswer one of two fundmentl questions: 1. How mny students re ffected by the counseling prctice or school chrcteristic in question? How mny students hve prticulr beliefs regrding postsecondry eduction or tke prticulr steps towrd enrolling while they re in high school? 2. Wht fctors re ssocited with the frequency or likelihood tht given ction is tken or tht given outcome occurs? In prticulr, wht is the reltionship between counseling prctices nd students ctions, plns, nd beliefs bout entering postsecondry eduction? The report ddresses these questions through two nlysis techniques. First, it presents the observed frequency of outcomes with 29 For students who hd trnsferred to different school since the bse yer, one school dministrtor from ech trnsfer school ws sked to complete n bbrevited version of the school dministrtor questionnire. Counselors t trnsfer schools were not sked to complete questionnire. 30 The remining 12 percent fll into the following ctegories: enrolled in nother grde or ungrded progrm (6 percent), homeschooled (1 percent), grduted erly (1 percent), left without diplom or other certificte of completion (3 percent), or unble to nswer the survey due to lnguge brrier or disbility (1 percent). 31 Further detil concerning the methods employed in collecting the dt nd weights is vilble in the dt file documenttion for the first follow-up. See High School Longitudinl Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Bse Yer to First Follow-Up Dt File Documenttion. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 29 OF 33

30 Dt nd Methods Appendix descriptive sttistics e.g., the percentge of schools tht provided prticulr kind of ssistnce in pplying to college or the percentge of students who hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides. The HSLS:09 smple design nd weighting procedures ensure tht the estimtes derived from these dt ccurtely represent the prctices nd ctivities of U.S. high school students nd their schools, school counselors, principls, nd prents in 2012 nd differences in those prctices nd ctivities mong subgroups of students nd schools. To ssess whether observed differences were the result of chnce, Student s t-tests nd Ro-Scott Chi-squred tests were conducted to wrrnt ll clims of differences mde in the text. Differences tht were sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level bsed on Chi-squred tests re noted nd presented throughout the report. When comprisons between two specific estimtes re mde in the text, t-tests were used to confirm tht the prticulr difference of interest ws sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level. Decdes worth of eduction reserch hs demonstrted tht such subgroup differences e.g., differences between schools tht serve primrily low-income vs. middle- or high-income students re long stnding nd tht mny chrcteristics of students or schools ssocited with these differences re found together or covry. Fmily income nd student chievement, for instnce, covry: Low-income students often hve lower cdemic chievement levels thn their higher-income peers. To begin to tese prt the effects of chrcteristics tht covry, Prt II of this report includes the results of logistic regression nlyses, which estimte the effects of counseling or student chrcteristic on n outcome of interest while tking into ccount the effects of other vribles tht lso ffect the sme outcome, s well s descriptive sttistics. If school chrcteristic e.g., whether the school s counseling stff includes t lest one counselor who specilizes in helping students with selecting colleges nd completing pplictions is less likely to occur mong public schools, logistic regression estimtes the independent effects of these vribles on student outcomes e.g., whether students pln to enroll in postsecondry eduction immeditely fter high school. Logistic regression is used in this report becuse the outcomes nlyzed tend to be binry (i.e., either school did something or it did not), nd the results of the nlyses re expressed in terms of odds rtios. To understnd odds rtios, it cn be useful to review the concept of odds, which is relted to nd esily confused with percentges. This section explins the concepts of odds nd odds rtio using the percentges presented below: 87 percent of students who hd tlked with high school counselor bout options for life fter high school lso reported they hd serched the Internet for college options or red college guides. Among students who hd not hd such converstion, reltively fewer (75 percent) hd conducted n Internet serch or red guides. Odds, in simple terms, re the rtio of the number of times n event occurs to the number of times it does not (or vice vers). In this exmple, the odds tht the first group (those who spoke with counselor) conducted n Internet serch or red guides re 6.7 to 1 (i.e., 87/[100-87]), nd the odds for the second group re 3 to 1 (i.e., 75/ [100-75]). Thus, lthough both the observed percentges nd the odds indicte tht the first group ws more likely thn the second group to tke the step of serching the Internet or reding guides, the numericl vlues of these two mesures re very different, nd the reltionship between these two sets of vlues is not intuitive. An odds rtio cn be used to represent the reltionship between the odds tht the members of two groups experienced the sme outcome. The odds rtio is clculted by dividing the odds for the first group by the odds for the second group. An odds rtio of 1.0 indictes tht the odds of the two groups experiencing the outcome re the sme. An odds rtio greter thn 1.0 indictes tht students in the first group re more likely thn those in the second group to experience the outcome. Odds rtios of less thn 1.0 indicte tht the odds tht the outcome will occur for the first group re lower thn the odds tht it will occur for the second; in other words, the first group is less likely thn the second group to experience the outcome. In the exmple discussed bove, the odds rtio corresponding to whether the two groups of students conduct n Internet serch or red college guides is 6.7/3 or This odds rtio is bsed on simple percentges. In logistic regression, the odds rtio corresponding to n independent vrible is computed to tke into ccount, or djust for, the reltionships mong ll other independent vribles in the eqution or model. The djusted odds rtio for whether students spoke with counselor, (Tble 2), indictes tht once other vribles re tken into considertion, students who spek with high school counselor bout post-high school options hve 93 percent higher odds of conducting n Internet serch or reding college guides. The difference between these odds rtios, or 0.4, is ccounted for by the fct tht whether students spek with counselors covries with other vribles in the model tht lso hve positive reltionships with whether students conduct Internet serches or red college guides. The tbles in Prt II of the report present mny djusted odds rtios, ech of which hs been tested for sttisticl significnce t the 0.05 level. Sttisticlly significnt odds rtios re indicted with sterisks nd re discussed in the text. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 30 OF 33

31 Dt nd Methods Appendix Appendix Tble 1: Percentge Distribution of Schools with the Following School Chrcteristics School type Percentge Public 91 Privte 7 Missing 3 School size ,000 1, ,500 1, ,000 or more 22 Missing 4 School locle Urbn 30 Suburbn 28 Town 12 Rurl 28 Missing 3 Schools college dmissions test score quintile Lowest ( ) 11 Second lowest ( ) 14 Middle ( ) 10 Second highest ( ) 10 Highest ( ) 11 Missing 45 Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch 0 19% % % 25 6 or more 28 Missing 9 College dmissions test score quintile results re bsed on the verge SAT or ACT score of the school s grduting senior test-tkers. ACT scores were converted to equivlent SAT scores nd the scores presented in ech quintile represent combined verbl nd mth SAT scores. Quintiles were clculted using the schools in the smple tht were not missing on this mesure. NOTES: Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. Detil my not sum to totls due to rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Appendix Tble 2: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Counselors t Their School Were Assigned in Vrious Wys, by Other Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Appendix Tble 3: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Hd One or More Counselors Whose Primry Responsibility Ws Assisting Students with College Selection, by Other Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Percentge Totl 37 School locle By students lst nme To specific grde level Urbn 47 Suburbn 34 Town 27 Rurl 35 To ll students By lerning community Totl School size ,000 1, ,500 1, ,000 or more School locle Urbn Suburbn Town Rurl Schools college dmissions test score quintile Lowest Second lowest 50 5 Middle Second highest 76 6 Highest Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch 0 19% % % or more See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Counselor respondents were ble to select more thn one ssignment method. Differences within the school chrcteristics presented (not in gry) re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. NOTES: Differences by school locle re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 31 OF 33

32 Dt nd Methods Appendix Appendix Tble 4: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Offered Help with College Admissions Tests, by Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion fees nd fee wivers Providing ssistnce with exm registrtion Totl School type Public 97 Privte 82 School size ,000 1, ,500 1, ,000 or more School locle Urbn 89 Suburbn 94 Town 98 Rurl 99 Schools college dmissions test score quintile Lowest 99 Second lowest 96 Middle 97 Second highest 94 Highest 83 Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch 0 19% % % 96 6 or more 97 See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. Appendix Tble 5: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Offered This Type of College Informtion Help, by Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Holding informtion sessions for students nd prents bout college Percentge Totl 94 School size ,000 1, ,500 1, ,000 or more 94 Assisting students with completing college or university pplictions Totl 98 Schools college dmissions test score quintile Lowest 99 Second lowest 97 Middle 99 Second highest 98 Highest 90 See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Differences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. NOTES: Differences within the school chrcteristics presented (not in gry) re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Appendix Tble 6: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Offered This Type of Help with the Finncil Aid Process, by Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Mking informtion bout id vilble for students to explore on their own, such s flyers nd pmphlets School type Totl Public Privte Lowest Schools college dmissions test score quintile Second lowest Middle Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch Second highest Highest 0 19% 20 39% 40 59% Offering informtionl meetings bout the FAFSA process Offering informtionl meetings on sources of finncil id, such s scholrships, lons, or grnts Assisting with completing finncil id pplictions other thn the FAFSA Providing computer ccess for completing the FAFSA Assisting students nd fmilies with completing the FAFSA Sending out reminders of FAFSA dedlines See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Differences within the school chrcteristics presented (not in gry) re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. 6 or more A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 32 OF 33

33 Dt nd Methods Appendix Appendix Tble 7: Percentge of Counselors Reporting Tht Their School Trcked Students in the Following Wys, by Other Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Trcks ll former students using student or lumni survey Percentge Totl 49 Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch 0 19% % % 46 6 or more 38 Trcks college enrollees college persistence beyond the first yer in some wy Totl 37 School locle Urbn 32 Suburbn 32 Town 38 Rurl 46 NOTES: Differences within the school chrcteristics presented re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Appendix Tble 8: Percentge of Students Selecting n Individul s Most Influentil in Their Thinking bout Eduction fter High School, by Other Sttisticlly Significnt School Chrcteristics Hired counselor Fmily member Totl School locle Urbn 0.4 Suburbn 0.4 Town 0.0 Rurl 0.0 Schools college dmissions test score quintile Lowest 8.7 Second lowest 7.8 Middle 6.2 Second highest 4.4 Highest 4.4 Among public schools only, percentge of student body receiving free or reduced-price lunch 0 19% % % or more See Appendix Tble 1 for more detils bout this vrible. NOTES: Differences within the school chrcteristics presented (not in gry) re sttisticlly significnt t the.05 level or below. Estimtes re weighted by W2STUDENT. SOURCE: U.S. Deprtment of Eduction, Institute of Eduction Sciences, Ntionl Center for Eduction Sttistics. High School Longitudinl Study of 2009, First Follow-Up Restricted Use File. Self A NATIONAL LOOK AT THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING PAGE 33 OF 33