To enroll more first-generation and financially needy students, colleges should entice more of those students to visit their campuses, according to a report released today by Eduventures, a company that does higher-education consulting. Using data culled from interviews with more than 8,000 high-school students, the Boston-based company found that members of those underrepresented groups of students were far less likely to make a trip to a college campus before applying.

Those students represent a missed opportunity for colleges, the report says, because a positive experience on a visit can have a tremendous influence on where a student decides to apply and enroll. To attract more low-income and first-generation students, the report says, colleges should make it easier for them to visit a campus by providing travel grants to cover their costs. —Elizabeth F. Farrell