College Choices among Students in a Housing Mobility Program: Social Integration, Cultural Capital, and Intensive Mentoring

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 14. Neighborhoods and Education

Abstract

College expectations have increased dramatically in the past few decades, particularly among low-income and minority students. The majority of low-income students and nearly three-quarters of Latino and African-American students now expect to complete a bachelor’s degree. Postsecondary enrollment among poor and minority students has also risen, with the majority of low-income high school graduates now enrolling in some sort of postsecondary institution. Unfortunately, low-income youth struggle during the college choice process, and often lack the information necessary for choosing colleges to best fit their needs. This study examines low-income students whose families participated in a housing voucher program and made a residential move from high-poverty, urban neighborhoods and schools to low-poverty, suburban neighborhoods and schools. Using in-depth interview data, we ask how attending low-poverty, high-performing schools might influence low-income students’ college choices. We found that attending low-poverty schools was not, on its own, sufficient to overcome the difficulties low-income students face in navigating the college choice process. Not all students adapted socially to their new schools, which curtailed their ability to benefit from their school contexts. Those who did become socially integrated at school often aspired to attend four-year colleges, but rarely applied. They most commonly attended for-profit colleges instead, where they rarely finished their programs and left with high levels of debt. Only a handful of students who received intensive mentoring and investments from teachers and counselors applied to and enrolled in four-year colleges.

Author

• Allison Young, Johns Hopkins University