Material Hardship: An Overlooked Dimension of America's College Completion Problem

• In Event: 16.061 - Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: 16.061-10 - Complicating Identities in Higher Education

Abstract

Despite increases in college access, college completion rates have been stagnant over the past several decades and attainment gaps by race/ethnicity and income are large and persistent. Policies to promote student success, such as need-based aid, have fallen short and reports of hunger and homelessness suggest that material hardship may be inhibiting achievement. While lack of income and material hardship are related, they are distinct dimensions of poverty. This paper moves beyond standard measures on inequality to examine the role of material deprivation in college students’ academic pursuits. Results indicate that undergraduates’ experiences of material hardship are inversely related to academic achievement and degree attainment, above and beyond students’ background characteristics including measures of family income, race, and gender.

Author

• Katharine Broton, University of Iowa