Study On University Image And College Choice Of High School Graduates

With China’s higher education system being transformed and developed from a planned system to a market-based system, from being elite education to mass education, universities have taken various strategies and measures, putting emphasis on promoting university image and enhancing competitiveness in the hope of attracting talented students in the fierce competition. High school graduates, on the other hand, are trying to make the best choice of universities and majors in consideration of their personal preference, strong points, academic performance as well as their career planning.By combining qualitative with quantitative research methods through focus group interview, individual interview and survey, this study has been conducted from the perspective of high school graduates-the demand side of education-focusing on the constitution and transmission mechanism of university image, the role of university image factors that influences high school graduates’college choice and finally how high school graduates find the right university image that matches best their characters and expectations.This study shows that parents and university students/graduates among relatives are significant persons, social networks and university websites are main media to high school graduates in the forming of their idea of university image, during which the role of university websites is extremely important. Being faced with university image factors, high school graduates have first manifested a mixed feeling of confusion, reason and propensity for consumerism in the course of college-choosing due to their age and experience; secondly, in addition to personal preference and strong points, career planning is also an important factor in the act of their college-choosing; last but not least, the reputation of a university and the recognition of its graduates in the job market both are highly valued in college-choosing according to high school graduates. Therefore, to promote the university image, what universities should do is just" to return to the nature of a university", which means focusing on academic affairs and cultivating talents; meanwhile, universities should also pay attention to the effects of market mechanism in higher education, providing comprehensive and updated information to the public, following closely the factors that influence the college-choosing of high school graduates, and paying more attention to the role of university’s official websites in the course of establishment and propagation of university image.