A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Role of Geography in Community College Students' Decision Making About Transfer Institutions

• In Event: 42.059 - Policy, Politics, Choice, and Geography: How Place Matters Across the Pre-K–20 Spectrum

Abstract

New policy approaches to simplifying the transition from school to college have the potential to expand access for all students. These new initiatives are especially important to students from racial/ethnic minority and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, students who have traditionally experienced barriers to academic success and educational attainment (Nunez & Oliva, 2009). Community colleges, in particular, have received renewed attention from policymakers seeking to increase college attendance and completion rates at four-year institutions (Atkinson & Geiser, 2009), given their important “democratizing” role (e.g., Gonzalez & Hilmer, 2006; Leigh & Gill, 2003) by providing open access to postsecondary education for historically disadvantaged students (e.g., Schudde & Goldrick-Rab, 2014). Yet, inequities in opportunity that are compounded throughout early childhood and K-12 may also restrict higher education opportunities for low-income, first-generation college students.

While studies have examined the extent to which geography is a constraining factor in college choice, most existing studies focus on high school students’ initial decisions about higher education, not community college students (Cooke & Boyle, 2011; Hillman & Weichman. 2016; Turley, 2009; Vergolini & Zanini. 2015). Yet, community college students represent a different population than average high school students—less academically prepared, more likely to come from historically disadvantaged groups, and more financially and geographically constrained (Backes & Velez, 2014). Few studies have examined how they make transfer decisions, even though this could help explain why so few students successfully transfer. We highlight the role of geography, which may be a constraining factor (e.g., Turley, 2009).

This study analyzes the spatial distribution of community college students’ “choice sets,” the 4-year institutions that they are considering transferring to. Using mixed methods, we examine how these spatial patterns compare between two community-college systems in Central Texas, based on over 100 interviews. We perform transportation network analysis with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript to examine distances between students’ homes and universities they are considering, and we draw on in-depth qualitative interviews to unpack the ways in which geography plays a role in their decisions. Additionally, the survey data we collected provides demographic, enrollment, and employment information that supplements each interview. We explore whether the institutions selected are within students’ metro areas, within the state, or out of state.

We find that students’ choice sets are geographically constrained, but that for many students, these zones are geographically large, suggesting that interventions and targeted outreach from universities could help students identify and select from greater range of options to enhance higher educational opportunity. Our findings have important implications for college access and completion among first-generation college students, and for policies that seek to interrupt patterns of inequity tied to location. Understanding the complexity of students’ decisions, and the key role that geography plays, can help identify potential solutions to be implemented by state policymakers and higher-education institutional leaders to improve educational success in higher education, particularly for low-income, first generation students.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin

• Joanna Dolores Sanchez, Howard University

• Eliza Epstein, The University of Texas - Austin