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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 104.93. Sources of college information for spring 2002 high school sophomores who expected to attend a postsecondary institution, by highest level of education completed and socioeconomic status while in high school: 2013
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Socioeconomic status (SES) and sources of college information Percent of students obtaining college information from each source
All students who expected to attend a postsecondary institution Highest level of education completed through 20131
Less than high school completion High school completion Some postsecondary education (no credential) Postsecondary certificate Associate's degree Bachelor's or higher degree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Low SES2                                           
Information sources as of 2002                                          
School counselor 40.8   (1.43) 25.9   (5.37) 35.5   (3.17) 40.5   (2.23) 39.4   (3.88) 41.9   (4.68) 50.8   (2.59)
Teacher 35.5   (1.29) 31.0   (5.50) 29.7   (2.65) 37.5   (2.18) 34.7   (3.96) 37.2   (4.50) 37.7   (3.10)
Coach 7.5   (0.68)   (†) 6.4   (1.53) 10.4   (1.29) 3.1 ! (1.28) 6.4 ! (2.02) 6.5   (1.36)
Parent 42.0   (1.28) 29.8   (5.37) 36.9   (2.93) 42.7   (2.26) 41.7   (3.70) 48.8   (4.46) 45.6   (2.89)
Friend 39.5   (1.18) 30.0   (5.28) 35.9   (2.93) 40.8   (2.08) 41.3   (4.03) 31.2   (3.42) 46.0   (3.04)
Sibling 23.4   (1.13) 8.2 ! (2.86) 21.4   (2.70) 22.8   (1.91) 24.1   (3.81) 27.6   (3.86) 28.1   (2.64)
Other relative 27.2   (1.22) 26.3   (5.15) 21.9   (2.52) 29.2   (2.03) 29.2   (3.55) 28.8   (4.21) 26.6   (2.44)
College publication or website 29.9   (1.20) 12.8 ! (4.11) 21.8   (2.72) 30.3   (2.10) 22.0   (3.35) 36.4   (3.87) 43.1   (2.93)
College representative 15.2   (1.07)   (†) 13.4   (1.83) 15.8   (1.71) 13.5   (2.86) 21.0   (3.88) 16.3   (2.55)
College search guide 28.7   (1.23) 18.8   (4.94) 21.6   (2.65) 28.6   (2.09) 21.5   (3.14) 26.3   (3.60) 43.9   (3.05)
                                           
Information sources as of 2004                                          
School counselor 77.7   (1.41)   (†) 67.9   (3.96) 74.6   (2.44) 78.4   (3.54) 78.2   (4.23) 91.2   (1.81)
Teacher 46.1   (1.66)   (†) 39.8   (3.79) 43.1   (2.65) 49.0   (4.52) 39.3   (5.45) 56.3   (3.59)
Coach 9.0   (0.89)   (†)   (†) 12.6   (1.68) 8.1 ! (3.43) 6.2 ! (2.36) 9.5   (1.76)
Parent 42.8   (1.41)   (†) 36.7   (3.86) 41.7   (2.16) 47.7   (4.17) 40.2   (5.07) 47.4   (3.38)
Friend 25.9   (1.47)   (†) 17.7   (2.72) 24.1   (2.18) 32.4   (4.40) 25.2   (4.69) 30.9   (2.89)
Sibling 32.6   (1.44)   (†) 22.4   (3.42) 30.7   (2.01) 36.3   (4.05) 32.9   (4.91) 42.1   (3.10)
Other relative 53.1   (1.53)   (†) 44.4   (4.32) 51.1   (2.56) 50.7   (4.21) 48.1   (5.39) 65.9   (3.06)
College publication or website 53.9   (1.50)   (†) 36.8   (4.11) 52.9   (2.58) 56.1   (4.17) 53.5   (5.44) 67.8   (2.83)
College representative 50.7   (1.58)   (†) 31.1   (3.78) 49.6   (2.43) 40.2   (4.36) 48.9   (5.31) 73.0   (3.10)
College search guide 43.0   (1.73)   (†) 28.6   (3.51) 45.3   (2.59) 27.9   (4.02) 42.3   (4.65) 57.6   (3.03)
                                           
Middle SES2                                           
Information sources as of 2002                                          
School counselor 44.3   (1.06) 26.0   (6.59) 40.5   (2.83) 43.1   (1.41) 42.9   (2.72) 39.3   (2.77) 49.0   (1.64)
Teacher 31.6   (0.91) 41.4   (7.34) 32.0   (2.64) 32.0   (1.42) 31.0   (2.76) 24.1   (2.22) 32.9   (1.50)
Coach 9.3   (0.55)   (†) 12.0   (1.86) 8.7   (0.81) 8.9   (1.66) 8.0   (1.56) 9.5   (0.96)
Parent 55.2   (0.90) 49.1   (8.17) 48.1   (2.89) 55.0   (1.39) 52.6   (3.23) 54.5   (2.60) 58.6   (1.51)
Friend 39.2   (0.86) 36.1   (9.25) 39.3   (2.89) 36.5   (1.50) 41.4   (2.81) 38.3   (2.71) 41.7   (1.40)
Sibling 23.6   (0.71) 20.8 ! (6.99) 17.4   (2.19) 20.7   (1.13) 24.0   (2.46) 23.9   (2.50) 28.3   (1.24)
Other relative 26.5   (0.84) 24.6   (6.88) 29.1   (2.46) 26.8   (1.47) 28.3   (2.72) 20.9   (2.11) 26.5   (1.34)
College publication or website 33.5   (0.86) 22.1   (5.71) 23.8   (2.58) 30.5   (1.32) 29.6   (2.81) 28.7   (2.62) 42.1   (1.44)
College representative 14.3   (0.67) 16.0 ! (6.32) 14.5   (1.87) 14.3   (1.05) 14.9   (1.94) 14.4   (2.24) 14.0   (1.04)
College search guide 31.0   (0.80) 30.5   (7.15) 20.8   (2.33) 28.4   (1.22) 28.8   (2.39) 28.3   (2.65) 37.8   (1.30)
                                           
Information sources as of 2004                                          
School counselor 79.6   (0.97)   (†) 67.4   (3.23) 78.6   (1.44) 74.5   (3.09) 77.4   (2.86) 84.6   (1.23)
Teacher 43.6   (1.03)   (†) 38.0   (3.39) 42.8   (1.97) 45.9   (3.48) 38.1   (3.05) 46.6   (1.71)
Coach 12.1   (0.77)   (†) 8.2   (2.03) 11.8   (1.21) 6.9   (1.70) 11.5   (1.90) 14.2   (1.39)
Parent 58.5   (1.04)   (†) 44.4   (3.47) 56.7   (1.89) 64.1   (3.33) 57.7   (2.98) 62.2   (1.48)
Friend 25.2   (0.81)   (†) 22.9   (2.73) 20.9   (1.36) 21.9   (2.68) 23.7   (2.38) 30.1   (1.31)
Sibling 28.6   (1.00)   (†) 28.3   (3.15) 27.8   (1.67) 34.6   (3.58) 26.2   (2.69) 28.8   (1.53)
Other relative 52.0   (0.97)   (†) 45.8   (3.69) 49.7   (1.89) 50.6   (3.23) 47.8   (2.74) 56.7   (1.52)
College publication or website 59.3   (1.16)   (†) 37.7   (3.47) 56.9   (2.01) 48.5   (3.49) 54.6   (2.91) 69.3   (1.72)
College representative 65.1   (1.01)   (†) 38.6   (3.30) 58.4   (1.75) 49.6   (3.54) 64.9   (2.75) 79.6   (1.45)
College search guide 48.2   (1.11)   (†) 31.8   (3.32) 41.1   (1.89) 42.7   (3.55) 45.7   (2.88) 59.3   (1.43)
                                           
High SES2                                           
Information sources as of 2002                                          
School counselor 46.3   (1.24)   (†) 45.9   (7.73) 44.9   (2.32) 51.8   (6.69) 41.0   (5.26) 47.0   (1.41)
Teacher 30.7   (1.10)   (†) 37.8   (8.19) 31.1   (2.36) 27.7   (6.30) 24.5   (3.78) 31.0   (1.32)
Coach 10.8   (0.70)   (†) 14.9 ! (6.09) 10.2   (1.43) 12.5 ! (4.59) 5.4 ! (1.84) 11.2   (0.89)
Parent 68.4   (1.10)   (†) 61.2   (8.52) 61.4   (2.54) 57.8   (6.34) 67.0   (4.61) 71.6   (1.22)
Friend 42.1   (1.09)   (†) 45.4   (7.68) 37.4   (2.54) 36.8   (6.26) 43.5   (4.77) 43.5   (1.46)
Sibling 29.2   (0.94)   (†) 23.7   (6.84) 26.1   (2.12) 20.5   (5.23) 29.8   (4.23) 30.7   (1.17)
Other relative 26.3   (0.97)   (†) 37.1   (8.57) 26.8   (2.20) 23.2   (5.38) 23.6   (4.21) 26.0   (1.20)
College publication or website 44.4   (1.18)   (†) 28.6   (7.35) 35.6   (2.52) 38.4   (6.87) 42.1   (4.83) 48.4   (1.49)
College representative 15.3   (0.78)   (†) 10.9 ! (4.79) 17.9   (1.69) 23.7   (6.40) 14.2   (3.24) 14.4   (0.93)
College search guide 39.7   (1.13)   (†) 21.1 ! (6.65) 34.2   (2.33) 29.4   (6.33) 33.5   (4.47) 43.3   (1.53)
                                           
Information sources as of 2004                                          
School counselor 80.9   (1.12)   (†) 74.9   (8.21) 79.3   (2.48) 75.4   (6.62) 78.5   (4.24) 81.9   (1.23)
Teacher 42.7   (1.23)   (†) 43.0   (8.66) 40.3   (2.97) 39.5   (7.32) 36.1   (5.21) 44.0   (1.45)
Coach 14.9   (0.88)   (†)   (†) 12.0   (1.82) 7.3 ! (3.50) 11.7   (3.23) 16.4   (1.13)
Parent 72.7   (1.29)   (†) 69.5   (9.34) 65.9   (2.88) 61.4   (7.59) 67.0   (5.16) 75.5   (1.33)
Friend 30.0   (1.09)   (†) 21.0 ! (7.21) 27.1   (2.34) 31.5   (6.84) 24.4   (4.56) 31.4   (1.20)
Sibling 28.0   (1.09)   (†) 32.4   (8.55) 27.6   (2.89) 21.2   (5.48) 27.7   (4.46) 28.2   (1.35)
Other relative 53.2   (1.28)   (†) 46.9   (8.79) 51.0   (2.78) 47.6   (7.90) 43.5   (4.84) 55.0   (1.48)
College publication or website 64.0   (1.23)   (†) 40.2   (8.41) 55.5   (3.03) 49.4   (7.54) 44.7   (5.27) 69.0   (1.44)
College representative 79.5   (1.03)   (†) 44.7   (9.51) 71.7   (2.75) 52.7   (8.05) 71.4   (4.38) 84.5   (1.10)
College search guide 59.6   (1.38)   (†) 31.1   (8.61) 53.2   (3.12) 37.6   (7.23) 55.5   (4.71) 63.5   (1.52)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Postsecondary transcripts from 2013 were used to update self-reported attainment of highest degree for all respondents with complete transcripts as well as for respondents whose partial transcripts indicated higher attainment than was self-reported in 2012.
2 Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score on parental education and occupations, and family income in 2002. The "low" SES group is the lowest quartile; the "middle" SES group is the middle two quartiles; and the "high" SES group is the upper quartile.
NOTE: Students who reported that they planned to attend postsecondary education were asked, "Where have you gone for information about the entrance requirements of various colleges?" Because each student could indicate multiple sources, percentages do not sum to 100. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), Base Year through Postsecondary Transcript Study. (This table was prepared June 2016.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest