| Ethical behavior in the college admission counseling profession is becoming more important given the increasingly competitive higher education marketplace. The popularity of the for-profit university, online degrees, tuition discounting, and financial aid cuts add to this competitive environment. These changes coupled with a recent decision by the Department of Education on admission counselor compensation, is causing concern and division among education sectors. This study examines the moral judgment (a component of ethical behavior) of admission counselors working in for-profit and not-for-profit colleges and universities in the U.S.; James Rest created the Defining Issues Test (DIT) in 1974 to measure moral judgment as an alternative to the lengthy and subjective interviews done by Lawrence Kohlberg. The Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2), as the updated version of the test, was used along with telephone interviews with members of the National Association for College Admission Counselors (NACAC) and a national, for-profit university to compare moral judgment scores ( n = 138). A p value of .05 was used in all statistical tests including t-tests, one-and two-factor ANOVA, and regression analysis. Comparisons to other professions show that admission counselors have a higher mean moral judgment score (P score) than the average adult population, lower scores than certain professions, and higher scores than other professions. Differences in moral judgment scores relating to employment at a for-profit or not-for-profit institution were found but were not significant.; Although several studies have found differences between moral judgment and age, gender, and educational level, this study shows no significant relationships between admission counselors and these variables. Further, no significant differences were found between the for-profit and not-for-profit colleges or university sectors studied. As the first study of this kind with the admission counseling profession, further studies are encouraged. |
