Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Student and Parent Perceptions of College
The students attending middle- and high-achieving high schools that we inter-
viewed were generally well informed about academic and nonacademic require-
ments for admission to colleges and universities. This was especially true of those
students enrolled in schools with counseling offices focused on college entrance.
Most of these schools had high school counselors who maintained a resource
room of materials related to college entrance, including information about college
entrance requirements, test preparation for the ACT and SAT, and a selection of
college and university catalogs. Counselors also often helped students by admin-
istering skills and interest inventory tests.
Another important source of information and encouragement regarding college
enrollment was the home environment. Particularly at those high schools and mid-
dle schools with large segments of high-achieving students, parents themselves
had earned college or professional degrees and had high expectations that their
children would also attend college. These parents often gave us the academic his-
tory of all of their children, including those who had finished high school and
gone off to some prestigious college or university.
While parents of students from middle- and low-achieving high schools also fre-
quently aspired to send their children to college, they were likely to mention the
financial cost involved and were supportive of vocational training programs. In
addition, some parents at these schools indicated they knew little about the proc-
ess of college admission or the courses students should take in high school to best
prepare themselves for college. A few indicated that they thought there was too
much emphasis on college as a necessity. A parent of a student at King Junior
High said: ‘‘To me schools in America are aimed toward college. If I were to
change anything as a policymaker, I’d have a lot more emphasis on the trades.’’
Several students, whom we interviewed at Uptown High School, where parents
were unlikely to be able to afford college tuition, had plans for attending local
colleges after graduation. All were relying on scholarships and were aware of the
necessity of earning good grades in high school to achieve this goal. This percep-
tion was particularly common among immigrant students at both Uptown and
West High, the majority of whom were Asians or Hispanics with strong family sup-
port for higher education. These students saw higher education as the way to im-
prove their economic situation and assist their families.
At South Central a student whom we interviewed spoke longingly of his dream
of attending a southern university renowned for its athletic achievements on
either a scholarship or financial aid, although it was unclear whether either of

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these would be available to him. He had no personal financial resources to sup-
port studies at a university.
Through our interviews, we found that most high schools offered courses and
services that were geared toward preparing students for admission to college or
university studies, although the level of preparation a student received often var-
ied. Differences in preparation sometimes began as early as the middle school
years, when students in some schools had access to higher-level courses. High
school students interested in college generally tried to prepare themselves by tak-
ing honors or advanced-placement-level courses, but students who were enrolled
in general-level and vocational courses were also often interested in college as an
option following high school.
All of the high schools we visited had counseling offices to assist students with
academic decisions following high school. In most cases, the counseling offices,