 Complicating Conditions: Obstacles and Interruptions to Low-Income Students' College “Choices”Rebecca D. Cox The Journal of Higher Education, 2016, vol. 87, issue 1, 1-26 Abstract: Although a major focus of current research and policymaking efforts involves understanding and minimizing the barriers to postsecondary access, conventional reform strategies do not appear to be effecting substantial change in the college-going opportunities for students from low-income and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. This article presents the results of a qualitative, longitudinal study of the high school-to-college transition for a sample of 16 low-income, Black and Latino students at two inner-city high schools in the Northeastern United States. Drawing on interviews with students over a three-year period—from their junior year of high school through one year after high school graduation—this analysis highlights the interruptions to students' postsecondary plans. In this sample, students' actual postsecondary paths, which included delayed college enrollment and two-year college matriculation, diverged substantially from the initial plans participants developed during high school. Ultimately, the findings illustrate how these students' life circumstances engender decisions that preclude the kinds of choices assumed in the college choice model. Date: 2016 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:uhejxx:v:87:y:2016:i:1:p:1-26 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2016.11777392 Access Statistics for this article The Journal of Higher Education is currently edited by Mitchell Chang More articles in The Journal of Higher Education from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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