Combined Conceptual Models Attending to the limitations of both sociological and economic theoretical approaches, researchers suggest college choice decisions are not explained by one theoretical approach alone, but are best understood by integrated approaches which incorporate aspects of human capital models with sociological constructs (Freeman, 1997; Paulsen, 2001; Paulsen and St. John, 2002; Perna, 2000, 2006; St. John and Asker, 2001). In this section, I describe dominant conceptualizations of college choice focusing on limitations for students of color at the point in which students make key decisions. Three-Phase Model of College Choice. Integrating strengths and key constructs from the economic and sociological approaches, Hossler and …show more content…
Drawing from sociological constructs, the predisposition phase represents the period, generally between 7th and 10th grade in which students develop aspirations to attend college. Hossler and Gallagher (1987) posit students’ disposition toward college is shaped by socioeconomic status, academic achievement, and educational activities and initiates a trajectory that leads to students’ engagement in subsequent stages of the model, including a decision to continue formal education beyond high school (Bateman & Hossler, 1996). Both “aspirations” and “plans” have been used to model predisposition in quantitative studies, leading to difficulty in developing meaningful interpretations of this stage in the college choice process (Adelman, 1999; Deil-Amen & Tevis, 2010; Perna, 2006; Pitre & Pitre, …show more content…
216) as illustrated in the Appendix. Students’ preferences are a function of their background and individual characteristics (race, gender, and class, academic achievement, etc.), whereas attributes of the college may include tuition costs, selectivity, institution type, and campus environment (DesJardins et al., 2006). The authors conceive of courtship activities –merit aid awards and college recruitment--as being highly consequential in the enrollment decision and suggest non-aid courtship activities (e.g., recruitment events) “may be as important as actual financial aid awards” (p.
No matter whether it is a facility being upgraded or a volunteering opportunity being organized, a university primarily strives to stimulate students’ enthusiasm, find their real interests, and establish a careful view of the world. Edmundson claims that universities undergo such changes because “Schools want kids whose parents can pay the full freight” (43). Despite the construction projects and campus upgrades, the quality of educational diversity relies on the students, a group of talents that is carefully selected by the admission office. The admission rate for elite universities has remained low for years. With more competition in the educational market, universities are still strict on their principle of recruiting talents. The better resources provided the more quality that schools expect to see from their students. The quality of teaching and the standard of education do not decline as a result of funding
Obtaining higher education is regarded as the ultimate symbol of status in the United States (US). Access to a college education in this country is seen as an expression of academic excellence and can provide access to unlimited possibilities. In the US, Ivy Leagues are considered the elite and represent the most powerful ideogram of educational opportunity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] (2012), from 1999–2000 to 2009–10, the percentages of both master's and doctor's degrees earned by females increased from 1999–2000 to 2009–10 from 58 to 60 percent and from 45 to 52 percent. The NCES report (2012), found that in 2009-10, of the 10.3 percent Black students who earned Bachelor degrees; 65.9 percent were women. Of the 12.5% of Black students who earned Master’s degree in 2009-10, 71.1 percent were women; and of the 7.4 percent of Black students who earned doctoral level degrees (this includes most degrees previously regarded as first-professional, i.e. M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees), 65.2 percent were women (NCES, 2012)...
In my community, El Sereno, college is viewed as an option as opposed to it being the next step in life. Most people in my area either begin working or start a family after they graduate from high school. Not always by choice, but in some cases by circumstance. Students in my neighborhood either lack the knowledge, financial support, guidance or even legal status that would otherwise drive them to apply or even go to college. About eighty-percent of students graduated from my high school, but only about twenty-percent ended up attending a four-year university (NINCHE). One of the biggest reasons for student’s low college entrance rate has to deal with their family's socioeconomic
...alient factors that foster academic success for academically unprepared Black males at a Black college. The Journal of College Student Retention, 10(4), 465-482.
In “Is the College Admissions Bubble About to Burst?” Lindsey Cook (2014) discusses about why students are having hard time applying college. Cook expresses that high school students are concentrating too much on enrolling into the college. Two main issues in her idea that I want to discuss are that college application processes are too competitive and
This paper examines the struggle African American students are more likely to face at a predominantly white institution (PWIs) than at a historically black college or university (HBCUs). Each author has his or her own take on this hypothesis; most of the author’s studies suggest that African American students have a hard time adjusting to an environment at a PWI (Littleton 2003). However, African American students at HBCUs tend to be at ease with their learning environment. Though many of the author’s agree with one another there are other authors whose studies come to the conclusion that race is not a factor in college education anymore. That being the case on average African American population is approximately four percent at PWIs (Littleton 2003).
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
As the high school chapter is coming to a close, many students have to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives. Hopefully, for many that decision is to enroll in a college and attain a higher education. However, as tuition costs rise, students have to take a second look at their options for a better future. A community college is that second look for many because it is the less expensive option. From 2007-2009, enrollment for community colleges has increased by 24 percent (“College costs and the CPI”). Students aren’t choosing a college for educational purposes because they are overwhelmed by financial issues. They are attending community colleges so they will be able to graduate with a lower debt. Some seniors have wanted to attend a certain university all their life and they work toward that goal through grade school; however, they are hindered by soaring tuition for that college. Students should be able to attend a private university if they mee...
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
Everyone knows that person from high school that just wasn’t cut out for college. It’s not a bad thing by any means, but if you’re thinking about heading off to college like many American teenagers often do, think about this: going to college can be a waste of both your time and your money. I’m not the first to say it, and I sure as hell won’t be the last. In Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s essay, Should Everyone Go to College?, the two authors take a strong economic approach to justify going to college. Owen, an ex- senior research assistant at Brookings’ Center on Children and Families and current research associate at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan center for research on the problems of urban communities, and Sawhill, the co-director
middle of paper ... ...& Hart, M. (2013). Considering class: College access and diversity. Harvard Law & Policy Review, 7(2), 367–403. Hinrichs, P. (n.d.).
College life is a journey taken by many high school graduate in effort to explore a higher form of education, and most importantly build a new life outside the boundaries of their families to sustain a long path of toward successful career and to some, building a new family of their own. In the United State we are blessed with an education system that is never available worldwide. Laws are placed to allow every students regardless of ethnicity, gender or class a chance to pursue education in among the most prestigious universities in the world such as Ivy League school as well as many large public universities with many programs. This vast number of education institutions available of every type of students create this big diversity leading the U.S. to be the frontrunner of education in the world.
to about 83 percent of high school graduates enroll in some form of postsecondary education, but only about 52 percent of students complete their degrees. Further, a very small proportion of students complete a degree in four years—“among students starting at ‘four-year’ institutions, only 34 percent finish a B.A. in four years, 64 percent within six years, and 69 percent within eight and a half years.” Colleges always want students to graduate and support their alma mater. However this begins with deciding what student are mentally readiness and determination for the task that lies ahead, college. In today’s society we struggle trying to find a proper definition for college readiness. This is the main reason statistics and graduation rates suffer in the way that they do. Just because a high school student reaches the age of 18, obtains a high school diploma, and has functional literacy, does that really make students college ready?
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.
“A college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity. But the cost of going to college has never been so high, and the value of having that diploma has never been more in doubt,” Dan Rather wrote in a blog for the Huffington Post. This statement greatly resonates to the overwhelmed community of young people on their way to college. “Should you stay home or go away to college?” by Jon Fortenbury of USA Today and “Going to College: Close to Home Vs. Leaving the Nest,” by Emily Driscoll of Fox Business compare and contrast how young people go about attaining this opportunity that Dan Rather spoke of by sizing up going away to college and