Virtual Reality College Tours: An Examination of Technology for Improving College Choice and Enrollment Decisions

• In Event: Probing the Pipeline: Admissions and Enrollment With Higher Education

Abstract

This presentation will report on a virtual reality (VR) innovation to increase college access and enrollment of underserved high school students in Mississippi. Eleventh-grade students from two high schools downloaded a VR app to their smartphones and explored its content under the guidance of a college advisor. Drawing on college access research, a theoretical framework was developed and used to examine relations between students’ field-test participation to key measures of college-related motivation, knowledge, and expectations. Findings revealed high levels of motivation, knowledge, and support for college, but lower levels of knowledge regarding various sources of financial aid. Implications for future development and implementation of the VR innovation will be discussed.

Authors

• Carol Cutler White, Mississippi State University
  Presenting Author

• Elaine Wei, Mississippi State University
  Presenting Author

• Judith L. Meece, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author