Health Status and Graduation Outcomes among Community College Students

• In Event: 168 - Section on Disability and Society Paper Session. Conceptual and Practical Challenges across Disabilities

Abstract

Community colleges have increased post-secondary educational access for youth who were denied access in past decades, including youth with stigmatized health conditions or disabilities. This study uses the nationally representative Add Health data (1995, 2001, 2008) to identify health conditions that predict lower educational attainment and tests one application of Tinto's hypothesis that health conditions that reduce social integration predict lower educational attainment. Our sample comprised respondents in 2001 whose highest degree was a high school diploma (n=9909), of whom 1494 were community college students. For each of 21 health conditions in 2001, we estimated the relative risk of earning a certificate, associates degree (AA), or bachelors degree (BA) in 2008 using a Poisson working model with robust standard-errors, controlling for pre-college factors measured in 1995, including high school grades, test scores, parents' household income, and school attachment problems. Two health conditions associated with social stigma predicted lower educational attainment: stuttering and obesity. Seven percent (7%) stuttered, which predicted 57% lower likelihood of BA, after adjusting for pre-college characteristics (incidence rate ratio 0.43 (0.22, 0.84)). Twenty-three percent (23%) were obese, which predicted 20% and 33% lower likelihood of an AA and BA, respectively, after adjusting for pre-college characteristics (IRR 0.80 (0.68, 0.93); 0.67 (0.49, 0.91)). Other health conditions that predicted lower educational attainment included hospitalization in the past 6 months and in the past year. Consistent with Tinto's theory, stigmatized health conditions may disproportionately reduce educational attainment by impacting students’ social integration.

Authors

• Janet Rosenbaum, State University of New York-Downstate Medical Center

• James Rosenbaum, Northwestern University