Information sources used by high school students in the college degree choice.

INTRODUCTION: Searching for information is a necessary step for young people to decide what to study and prevent school drop-out. The aim of this study is to identify the main sources of information used by students in choosing a university career and to assess the degree of usefulness of these sources.

METHOD: A new measuring instrument to assess the use and usefulness of the information sources used in choosing university studies was developed. 2,005 high school students aged 17 to 24 (M = 17.56, SD = .77) participated in the study, representing 44.95 % of the total of school centers of the Principality of Asturias (Spain).

RESULTS: The new instrument has adequate psychometric properties and shows that the information from parents and web pages by universities are the most used and most useful information sources for pre-university students.

CONCLUSIONS: Obtaining this type of information is very important, as it encourages investing in those activities or resources that are important for pre-university students.