A qualitative approach to understanding high school students' knowledge and perception of access to college

This qualitative study, conducted in a collaborative effort, explored high school students' knowledge about college and how they obtained their information about college. Specifically, it is built on current literature's findings that the rate of enrollment for high school students continues to exhibit a wide gap, with the predominant factor being whether high school students have sufficient information about college and financial aid. Through the use of focus groups, where participants engaged in interview questions in small assemblages, it was found that students were generally knowledgeable about college overall. However, the study also highlighted that various factors may explain the gap in college-related knowledge between students. Data analysis revealed three interrelated themes that may influence how the participants acquired college information: (a) common resources of information they have; (b) timing of access to college-related information; and (c) extracurricular resources and programs that are available to them. In addition, the current research discussed and compared AP participants and non-AP participants and discovered differences in relation to the three themes.