Promise lost: college-qualified students who don't enroll in college

The importance of promoting college access for all college-qualified students will continue to grow as the United States grapples with the challenges and opportunities of a global economy. This report provides an overview of the key factors in college access. The second chapter reports the results of the national survey of non-college-goers. It provides additional details on the definition of 'college-qualified' and the methodology used in the student survey. College-qualified students who enrolled in college are compared with those who did not enroll. The chapter also contains a discussion of differences among groups of non-college-goers. The third chapter presents the results of the national survey of counselors and discusses counselors' perceptions of the barriers to college enrollment. The chapter further analyses factors in college-going based on the demographic characteristics of the schools where the counselors worked. The final chapter concludes with a discussion of the results of both surveys, policy implications, and suggestions for further research. Perspectives from focus groups and the roundtable discussion are interwoven throughout the text.

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