Associations between Civic Engagement and Community College Completion in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT Educational attainment is associated with voting and political trust, but less is known about whether voting and political trust are associated with subsequently higher educational attainment. In a sample of voting-age two-year college students in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (n= 1212), this study identified three markers of civic engagement in 2001 associated with greater attainment of certificates, associates degrees, and bachelor’s degrees in 2008: voting, trusting the federal government, and affiliating with a political party. To minimize confounding, we used multivariate regression after exact and nearest-neighbor Mahalanobis matching within propensity score calipers on pre-college parent and adolescent socioeconomic status, demographics, educational expectations, health status, and parent civic participation. Voting in the 2000 presidential election was associated with greater likelihood of attaining a BA, or above; trusting the federal government was associated with greater likelihood of earning a certificate, associate’s degree, or BA or above; and affiliating with a political party predicted greater likelihood of earning an associate’s degree or BA, or above. These results suggest that two-year colleges that encourage voter registration and political activities may increase their students’ engagement and educational attainment.