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Abstract
In our technological and information-based economy, more jobs are requiring postsecondary education, which has increasing the demand for a highly educated workforce (Carnevale, Jayasundera, & Gulish, 2016). Though rates of high school and postsecondary completion are at historic highs, many students, particularly students from minority and low-income households, drop out of postsecondary institutions within the first year (McFarland, Cui, & Stark 2018; Shapiro et al., 2014). This trend indicates early intervention is needed. In both the secondary and postsecondary literature, student engagement is identified as a promising point of intervention to prevent both high school and postsecondary dropout (Reschly & Christenson, 2012; Tinto, 1993), though a gap exists in the research literature for large-scale theory-driven student engagement research linking secondary student engagement to postsecondary outcomes.This study examines the role of secondary student engagement in postsecondary enrollment and persistence using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a large-scale, nationally representative study (NCES, 2018). Multilevel modeling is used to analyze the extent to which demographic, academic, financial, and engagement variables predict postsecondary enrollment and persistence. Results from the current study indicated that model fit improved with the addition of engagement variables for postsecondary enrollement and persistence for both the 9th and 11th grade cohorts. Students with higher scores on a measure of future goals and aspirations were significantly more likely to enroll in postsecondary institutions. Students reporting higher levels of peer support for learning were more likely to persist at postsecondary institutions. Directions for future research and limitations of the current study are discussed.