Research Description:

University of Florida Freshmen Recruiting Techniques

Does the University of Florida use effective tools in recruiting top notch students? My research under the guidance of Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa, associate director of the UF Honors Program, will hopefully reveal the answer to this and many other questions of higher education. The focus of my project will be directed towards the National Merit Scholarship Program at UF. I want to find out if the students receiving these vast sums of money contribute back to the university in some way.

My project will have two parts. First, I will collect data from the student records system on a sample of National Merit Scholars. The data will include information on retention rates, GPA (both cumulative and first semester), the average number of hours students enroll in and the majors they choose. I will then compare that data to a sample from a group of honors students that did not receive the National Merit Scholarship.

The second part of my research will be conducted with a survey of both past and present National Merit Scholars. The survey will include questions ranging from what organizations the students participated in while here at UF to what they are doing after graduation. I will also survey honors students that were not National Merit recipients and compare the results.

The purpose of my research is to discover if the University of Florida is effectively utilizing its recruiting resources. I hope to answer the question of whether National Merit worth the millions of dollars the university puts into it every year? I want to know if the students receiving the scholarship use it to develop themselves academically. If it is worth it, UF can continue the good work. If I find evidence to the contrary, though, I hope my research can be utilized to implement change.