How Does High School Poverty Matter? High School Economic Composition and Postsecondary Outcomes

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  In Roundtable Session: Urban Secondary Student Cultural Capital, Socioeconomic Status, Preparedness, and Career Goals

Abstract

This paper adds to the body of work on “high school effects” by examining the role of high school economic composition on both, college enrollment and college graduation. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, I find that students who attend more affluent high schools are more likely to both, enroll in and graduate from college. In addition, I show that high school economic composition works through institutional mechanisms such as school practices and processes as well as through informal effects of peer behaviors or norms. Finally, my analyses show that the effects of high school economic composition tend to be much stronger for students at four-year institutions compared to their peers at two-year schools.

Author

• Zitsi Mirakhur, Princeton University