Examining the Postsecondary Decision-Making Behaviors of Rural Latina/o Youth and Factors That Predict Enrollment

• In Event: 29.037 - (In)Equities in College Access: A Focus on Latin America and the Latinx Diapsora

Abstract

Despite calls by policymakers and educators to increase college access, various student subgroups are often ignored by the research community. For example, the process through which rural Latino/a students choose to enroll in college and the types of colleges they matriculate to is understudied in the literature. This study addresses the limitations of the research literature by exploring enrollment rates and trends of rural Latino/a youth, comparing those rates to other rural racial and ethnic subgroups, and employing a college choice framework (Perna, 2006) to examine factors that predict enrollment. Preliminary analyses suggest that several individual and school characteristics affect the odds of enrollment for rural Latino/a students. The full paper will explore the types of institutions rural Latino/a choose.

Authors

• Nestor Alexis Ramirez, RTI International

• Judith L. Meece, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill