College Choice, Interrupted: Understanding the Postsecondary Transitions of Puerto Rican Students Displaced by Hurricane Maria

• In Event: 47.045 - How Place and Time Shape the College Choice Process

Abstract

Thousands of students who moved from Puerto Rico to the US mainland as a result of Hurricane Maria in the fall of 2018 experienced major educational disruptions. This study looks to understand the postsecondary choice processes of recently-arrived Puerto Rican high school students (as they changed homes, schools, postsecondary landscapes, and state policy contexts) by examining potential changes in academic identities, information sources about college, and postsecondary choice sets. We found students who were from affluent families were more insulated from these shocks, as they likely attended private schools with English instruction and had well-formed postsecondary prior to moving. Less affluent and non-English dominant students were likely to rely on their host high schools to help inform their choice processes.

Authors

• Awilda Rodriguez, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Enid Marie Rosario-Ramos, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Ana Mireya Diaz, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Jennifer Sawada, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Paula Clasing-Manquian, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor