A Chill From the Desert: How Education Deserts Shape Students' Pathway to College

• In Event: College Access and Geography

Abstract

Students in education deserts with few widely-accessible postsecondary options may struggle accessing the benefits of college given preferences to enroll in colleges close to home. I use a nationally representative survey of high school students to describe the relationship between education deserts and students’ path to college enrollment, including the ways these relationships might be mediated by how education deserts shape the opportunity structure of a region. Students in education deserts are less likely to expect to earn a college degree, and to apply to and enroll in college. This relationship is largely explained by lower parental and peer expectations for educational attainment and has implications for the support students in education deserts need on the path to college enrollment.

Author

• Daniel Klasik, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill