The Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ) is a national survey program administered by the Admission and Enrollment Services Group of The College Board. Its purpose is to identify factors in the choices students make as they go through the process of applying to and enrolling in colleges and universities. The questionnaire is sent by participating institutions to prospective students, and asks about:

• the importance of such characteristics as quality of faculty and overall academic reputation in students' choice of college,
• which sources of information students consulted,
• the image students have of the institution,
• whether students' plans were influenced by the availability of programs such as financial aid and athletics,
• which other institutions the student had considered and how they compared to the home institution, and
• how students describe themselves with respect to certain demographics such as race and family income.

Completed surveys are returned to the College Board for processing, and reports and an analyzable datafile are returned to the participating institution.

FINDINGS

Admitted Students Questionnaire 2000

In June 2000, the University of Washington (UW) Office of Admissions sent the ASQ to approximately 1,000 students to whom offers of admission had been made for the 2000-2001 academic year. The sample was evenly divided between students who subsequently chose to enroll at the UW and those who did not. The datafile returned to the UW by The College Board was further analyzed by the Office of Educational Assessment (OEA) with respect to responses of under-represented minorities.

Analysis of the ASQ data indicated that the UW does not enroll the highest performing minority students. Minority students who chose to attend other institutions had higher SAT scores and self-reported high school grades than did students who enrolled at the UW. This trend was especially strong for Asian American, Hispanic, and African American students.

Personal finances were also related to students' enrollment choices, with minority students who chose to enroll at other institutions than the UW tending to report higher family incomes. Minority students who enrolled at other institutions also rated financial aid as significant to their choice of institution.

Parental opinion of the institution was a strong indicator for student enrollment. Minority students whose parents rated the UW as better than other institutions more often enrolled at the UW. Enrolled students of all ethnicities rated their opinion of the UW campus visit, meetings sponsored by the UW and high school visits by UW representatives as better than those of other institutions.

Analyses revealed that the UW is successful enrolling minority students with joint-admission to Western Washington University, the University of Oregon, and Washington State University. The UW was not as successful in enrolling minority students with joint-admission to Stanford, the University of California at Los Angeles or Berkeley.