Student Attitudes Toward 2- and 4-Year Colleges

This study compared the attitudes of high school juniors toward three types of institutions: 4-year colleges, 2-year colleges, and the "ideal college." Students rated each institution on forty attitude dimensions. Attitudes toward 4-year colleges were more favorable than attitudes toward 2-year colleges on twenty-seven of the forty dimensions; fifteen of these differences were statistically significant. In contrast, 2-year colleges received more favorable ratings on twelve dimensions, with only five of the differences being significant. The correlation between ratings of the 4-year college and the ideal college was + .601, which was significantly higher than the cor relation of + .437 between ratings of the 2-year college and the ideal college. When student attitudes were factor analyzed, three dimensions were identified: Social Activities, Supportive Interpersonal Environment, and Intellectual Climate. The data indicate that high school students have more favorable attitudes toward 4-year than 2-year colleges, and that they do not share the perceptions of community college proponents concerning certain advantages of attendance at 2-year colleges. These findings may have implications for college attendance plans made by students, and for their performance in college.