Giving Compass' Take:

• A working paper out of the University of Arkansas's College of Education and Health Professions found that visiting college campuses can boost preparation for high school students. 

• In what ways can donors support college-readiness resources?

• Here is an innovative approach to preparing students for college and careers. 

Visiting a college campus can sometimes impact students' views on higher education, but it can also affect a student's decisions in high school, according to a working paper out of the University of Arkansas's College of Education and Health Professions.

The working paper's findings, released in February, found that about half of middle-schoolers living near the University of Arkansas had ever visited a college campus. Doing so boosted their chances of talking to a school staff member about college, along with the rate at which they took higher-level courses in 9th grade — but it didn't raise the rate at which they planned to enroll in a four-year college, researchers found.

While this study shows visits didn't necessarily boost students' plans to enroll in a four-year college, it did prove college visits can be valuable in preparing students for higher education. College can be intimidating and foreign for middle- and high-schoolers, and offering an opportunity for students to visit long before they have to apply can make the idea feel less scary and more appealing.

In addition, learning more about a school — and about college in general — means students are more likely to be informed about the application process, what programs a school offers, and how they can boost their chances of getting in.

While the study highlighted ineffectiveness in getting more students to plan to go to college, this data also reveals an opportunity for more active recruitment efforts, as well as efforts to ease the transition to college during a student's middle or high school years. For rural and first-generation college students, this is oftentimes even more important.

Read the full article about college applicants by Jessica Campisi at Education Dive.