Files
Abstract
This study assesses the relationship between local school context, family background, and state higher education policy in shaping the college-going behaviors of low-income high school students. Three discrete papers, all based on a multi-layer model of college going, take different approaches to the influence of the racial and socioeconomic composition of a students high school. In the first paper, NELS 88 is employed in a multi-level model to establish that school composition and the attendant availability of social capital at the school impact college expectations, academic preparation, and enrollment over and above family background variable such as race, socioeconomic status, and access to cultural and social capital. The second paper presents the findings from a college encouragement policy inventory in three states and how these policies fit into a typology based on components, target, implementing agency, and the extent to which local schools are involved in students accessing the policies. High school-level data in these states on the academic preparation and college enrollment of students at schools with different racial and socioeconomic compositions are examined over a five year window to explore the relationship between the state policies and the outcomes of students at different types of schools. Paper three is a qualitative analysis of the college-going processes at three low-income serving high schools in the same states, the adequacy and appropriateness of these measures to encourage college going for the specific population, and whether the school fulfils its role in helping students gain access to the state programs and policies designed to encourage college going. All three papers support the importance of high school context in shaping college access.