The influence of self -efficacy on the college choice process: A comparative study of private four -year university, public four -year university, and community college students

Choosing a college is a complex and multi-faceted process that is influenced by many factors. Students are primarily influenced by the institutional characteristics of colleges themselves, parental encouragement and level of education, socioeconomic status, and their own ability and achievement in high school (Hossler, Braxton, Coopersmith, 1989). Self-efficacy is the confidence in one's ability to perform or be successful at a given task (Bandura, 1997). Sources of self-efficacy include past performance, vicarious experiences of others, and social persuasion or encouragement from others. Self-efficacy has been shown to play a critical role in academic motivation, learning, and achievement but its possible role in the college choice process has not been investigated. The present study sought to discover differences in the college choice process, and the possible role of self-efficacy therein, among students attending a community college, a public four-year university, and a private four-year university. A sample of 278 undergraduate students completed a college choice survey which included 12 items from the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (Solberg, O'Brien, Villarreal, Kennel, & Davis, 1993). Subsequently, 30 students from the original sample were selected for interviews. Quantitative results indicated that the sub-groups differed in their college choice processes but not in self-efficacy. Community college students conducted less thorough and extensive college searches compared to four-year university students; however, analysis of variance revealed that the sub-groups did not significantly differ in perceptions of their self-efficacy. Qualitative results indicated that, when sources of self-efficacy are taken into account, self-efficacy is an influential part of students' college choice choices and that the sub-groups differed in the degree to which self-efficacy influences their college choice processes. Namely, performance aspects of self-efficacy, like high school GPA, mattered more for four-year university student than community college students whose college choices were, in many cases, limited by their relatively lower high school GPAs. Recommendations for future study include investigating students' college choice processes while they are still in high school which could result in an additional sub-group of non-college goers. Furthermore, there is a need for more in-depth qualitative study into the phenomenon that found self-efficacy to be more influential in the college choice process for students with relatively higher academic performance.