There and Gone: How Inequality Shapes College Attrition

• In Event: 4451 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 20: Higher Education: Challenges and Barriers

Abstract

Previous research considers the degree to which social origins affect college completion, but few analyze the association of social class, high school composition, and neighborhood contexts with regard to four-year college attrition. To fill this gap, this study utilizes institutional data on first-time, full-time freshman cohorts (2007-2014) from a four-year Midwestern teaching university, including college and Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) information. In addition to the students’ demographic information, including race, parental education and income, and students’ academic performance, I supplement student records with secondary data on students’ county and high school socioeconomic characteristics. Using linear probability and survival analysis, I find that parental education, not income, most significantly predicts college attrition, net of students’ academic preparation and other demographic considerations. Consistent with previous research, being a first-generation student significantly and substantially increases the likelihood of dropping out, as does being male. Hispanic students are mostly likely to persist through at least year five then dropout, even when at least one parent has completed college. Less powerfully, county unemployment predicts withdrawal, suggesting the importance of neighborhood effects on educational attainment. Overall, results imply the value of cultural rather than economic capital transmission in students’ college success and provide further evidence for the widening SES gap regarding college completion. This study is especially significant for educational sociologists and higher education retention programs; empirical data on specific time-to-attrition trends for at-risk groups can support targeted efforts at retention for different student populations at precise stages of the educational process.

Author

• Joelle Spotswood, University of Kansas