High School Economic Composition and College Persi

Authors: Sunny X Niu Marta Tienda

Publish Date: 2012/06/03

Volume: 54, Issue: 1, Pages: 30-62

PDF Link

Abstract

Using a longitudinal sample of Texas high school seniors of 2002 who enrolled in college within the calendar year of high school graduation we examine variation in college persistence according to the economic composition of their high schools which serves as a proxy for unmeasured high school attributes that are conductive to postsecondary success Students who graduated from affluent high schools have the highest persistence rates and those who attended poor high schools have the lowest rates Multivariate analyses indicate that the advantages in persistence and ontime graduation from 4year colleges enjoyed by graduates of affluent high schools cannot be fully explained by high school college orientation and academic rigor family background precollege academic preparedness or the institutional characteristics High school college orientation family background and precollege academic preparation largely explain why graduates from affluent high schools who first enroll in 2year colleges have higher transfer rates to 4year institutions however these factors and college characteristics do not explain the lower transfer rates for students from poor high schools The conclusion discusses the implications of the empirical findings in light of several recent studies that call attention to the policy importance of high schools as a lever to improve persistence and completion rates via better institutional matches

Keywords: