Pervasive Inequality in the Stratification of Four-Year College Destinations

Abstract

Rooted in sociological models of educational transitions and tracking, this study examines patterns of stratification in the educational trajectories of low-and high-socioeconomic students.Utilizing longitudinal data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study describes qualitative differences in students' choice sets based on a number of metrics obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). Additionally, multinomial logistic regression models are used to demonstrate the relative probabilities of attending a low, moderate, or highselectivity undergraduate institution between students of low and high-socioeconomic statuses.Overall, the results demonstrate the pervasiveness of inequality in the college choice decisions of low-and high-SES students and the continued stratification of opportunity for students based on their family background. The study concludes with implications for policymakers and practitioners working within secondary and postsecondary educational sectors.Educational access, particularly as it relates to postsecondary education, remains a critical social justice concern of the 21 st century. While numerous technical reports point to the opening of opportunity for all groups (NCES, 2007) and the concomitant attenuation of educational inequality (Arum, Gamoran, & Shavit, 2007), few studies have examined how more qualitative forms of stratification (e.g., selectivity of institutions) pervade the college choice process, especially among those students who go on to four-year institutions. Rather, most studies have 2 highlighted how social origins and access to capital manifest in the unequal distribution of lowincome and underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students within different hierarchical tracks (i.e., two-year versus four-year; Arum et al., 2007;Engberg & Allen, 2011;Perna & Titus, 2005).The expansion of higher education, however, has led to a graduation erosion of the value of a college degree (i.e., a baccalaureate degree no longer ensures a good job for all; Arum et al.,2007), placing an overall higher premium on qualitative differences in degree attainment.Research has demonstrated the benefits of attending a more prestigious college or university, particularly as it relates to labor market outcomes (Brewer, Eide, & Ehrenberg, 1999;Thomas, 2000) and social mobility (Breen & Jonsson, 2000). Other researchers have argued that the general expansion of higher education has led to a more differentiated and stratified system that continues to protect those institutions that enroll students of higher socioeconomic means (Thomas & Perna, 2004).The mechanisms that drive stratification in higher education have been explored through a number of different paradigms and institutional perspectives. Economic theories point to differences in access to information when determining the benefits and costs of attending college, whereas sociological theories highlight status attainment and access to social networks (Perna, 2006). These theoretical paradigms, howev...

Out of the Education Desert: How Limited Local College Options are Associated with Inequity in Postsecondary Opportunities

“…Thus, it matters where a student goes to college. Yet traditionally under-represented racial minority and lower-income students consistently enroll at less selective colleges than white and higher-income students (Alon and Tienda 2007;Astin and Oseguera 2004;Baker et al 2018;Bastedo and Jaquette 2011;Engberg 2012;Posselt et al 2012), setting up the potential for a reproduction of the existing income gaps.…”

Race and Stratification in College Enrollment Over Time

“…In addition to these general enrollment gaps, Black and Hispanic students are also much less likely than White students to be enrolled in 4-year colleges in general (Bozick & Lauff, 2007;Dalton, Ingels, & Fritch, 2015) and more-selective colleges in particular (Bowen & Bok, 1998;Hearn 1991;Reardon et al, 2012). Longitudinal studies of admission to "very competitive" 4-year colleges have shown increasing underrepresentation of minority students (Alon & Tienda, 2007;Engberg, 2012;Karen, 2002;Posselt, et al, 2012). We aim to add to this literature by measuring gaps in a way that is sensitive to all college types and levels simultaneously.…”

“…We regularly observe, for example, that access to selective colleges does not appear equal between groupsminority and low-income students attend selective colleges at disproportionately low rates (Alon & Tienda, 2007;Astin & Oseguera, 2004;Bowen & Bok, 1998;Engberg, 2012;Posselt, Jaquette, Bielby, & Bastedo, 2012;Reardon, Baker, & Klasik, 2012). However, these findings do not help us understand the overall distribution of minority and low-income students in American higher education.…”

College Enhancement Strategies and Socioeconomic Inequality

“…Among the most difficult challenges we face as a society is social inequality, for which our postsecondary education system acts at once as the problem, by propagating disadvantages through disparate access to opportunities, and the solution, by serving as the key mechanism for social mobility. Countervailing trends are apparent in the steady growth over the past three decades in postsecondary participation rates among students from all backgrounds and in the increasingly competitive process of gaining admission to college-specifically to selective colleges-which favors students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (Alon 2009;Engberg 2012;Hoxby 2009).…”

“…It is well documented that students from higher socioeconomic status (SES) families are more likely to attend college, and to attend more selective institutions (Engberg 2012;Grodsky and Jackson 2009;Karen 2002;Paulsen and St. John 2002).…”