Research on factors that influence college choice, including sociologic and economic explanations, is reviewed. It is suggested that the following four factors strongly affect college choice: family background, student achievement or ability, some college attributes, and labor-market conditions. School context and college effects moderately affect college selection. The variables of family background, neighborhood context, school context, and student achievement or ability represent sociologic theory, as do college attributes and effects relating to status. Other college attributes and effects represent economic theory, including availability, price, and price adjustments, along with labor market conditions. The basic economic model of the decision to attend college, the human-capital model, considers the costs and benefits of working after high school versus completing various degrees. It is suggested that since student decisions about college are theoretically eclectic, policy and research should not rely on a single theoretical perspective. Omitting any of the variables from a choice model presumably will limit the model's applicability. The use of multivariate analysis of longitudinal data for research on college choice is also supported. (SW)