Determining Fit: The Role of Matching Procedures in Prospective Students' Program Choice and Admission Behavior

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: Readiness, Fit, and Match: Implications for College Access

Abstract

Recent European research indicated the need to improve the decision process of prospective university students. This should foster the student-program fit and decrease dropout. In the Netherlands, attempts to improve such fit were made through the implementation of matching procedures, a final check on students’ program choice. We argue that prospective students who lack feelings of fit during these matching procedures are less likely to enroll. Therefore, we hypothesized that enrollment percentages decreased since the implementation of matching and that the more matching procedures allow for testing fit, the lower the enrollment percentages will be. Using registration data from 13 programs at 4 different Dutch universities, we found support for both hypotheses. Matching procedures can thus decrease dropout rates.

Authors

• Karlijn Soppe, Utrecht University

• Theo Wubbels, Utrecht University

• Irene Klugkist, Utrecht University

• Leoniek Wijngaards-de Meij, Utrecht University