In an "edit article" page i have a select list which displays author first and last name, as well as authorId as the value. As well as the article context and headline and so on (fetched with a different method) - though this method also holds the authorId of the specific article. I need to have the Author of the Article selected in the option list, instead of it defaulting to the first option in the select list. what i have: echo''; //loop through author names in option list $authors_name foreach($authors_name as $nameRow){ echo'<option class="authorId" value = "' . $nameRow['AuthorID'] . '">'. $nameRow['FirstName'].' '.$nameRow['LastName'] .''; } echo'</select>'; and the jquery: var currID = ('#selectAuthor').val(); if(('.authorId').val() == currID){ $('.authorId').addClass('new_class') $('.new_class').prop('selected',true); } OR var currID = ('#selectAuthor').val(); if($("select option[value=currID]").attr('selected','selected')); Any help would be greatly appreciated, I hope what I am trying to do is clear. Thanks in advance I have simplified it with just regular input and checked it in jsfiddle.net here is the HTML '; <option value = "2">Name val 2</option> <option value = "5">Name val 5</option> <option value = "1">Name val 1</option> and here is the jquery var currID = $('#selectAuthor').val(); if($("select option[value='+currID+']").prop('selected',true));? and even then it doesn't apply selected="selected" to option with value="1"