Since 1996, StudentPoll has chronicled the rapid growth in the uses of web technologies among college-bound high school students nationwide, and to a not inconsiderable degree, accelerated the pace of change by encouraging many colleges and universities to push their investments in these technologies forward.

Having already published longitudinal findings from four sequential studies on this critical issue, we are pleased to present the findings from our fifth study. Together, these reports represent the most comprehensive and longest-running national survey examining the role of technology in college choice.

Our current findings mirror many of the trends and patterns reported in our last study (e.g., near universal access to the Internet and a negligible digital divide by race, income, and academic ability).

But they also provide evidence that gives pause to the prevalent assumptions that web-based communications will soon replace more traditional modes of communication, such as print. A plateau in the use of on-line applications and a flattening of the hours spent by students on the Net are but a few of the signs that a large number of prospective college students prefer something other than digital communications channels.

Whether these plateaus represent a temporary pause in the meteoric climb of digital communications or the end of the growth spiral cannot be determined now, but they raise serious questions for colleges and universities worried about managing their communications investments. The expectation that the web would replace print seems premature, and it appears that for the foreseeable future, investments in both will continue to be an essential norm.