College Knowledge of 9th and 11th Grade Students: Variation by School and State Context

Abstract

While college enrollment rates have increased over the last 40 years, gaps still exist across groups. College enrollment rates are lower for high school graduates whose parents have not attended those with low-incomes, as well as Black and Latino/a students than for other high school graduates (Baum & Ma, 2007; Ellwood & Kane, 2000; NCES, 2007; Thomas & Perna, 2004). Widening gaps in income and health insurance coverage between high school and college graduates (Baum & Ma, 2007) suggest the economic and social imperative of working to increase college-going rates among these underrepresented groups. One source of differences across groups in college-related outcomes is knowledge about college and financial aid. Research shows that the more information and guidance a student has, the more likely the student is to enroll in college (Berkner & Chavez, 1997; Hossler, Braxton, & Coopersmith, 1989; Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999; King, 2004; Perna, 2004; Plank & Jordan, 2001). But, research also shows that a lack of knowledge about specifically financial aid, is prevalent in society today (Cunningham, Erisman, & Looney, 2007; De La Rosa, 2006; Grodsky & Jones, 2004; Horn, Chen, & Chapman, 2003; Perna, 2004; Venegas, 2006). Often this lack of knowledge is most pronounced among Latino and Black students and parents (Grodsky & Jones, 2004; Horn et al., 2003; Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, 2004), low-income parents (De La Rosa, 2006) and parents who have no direct personal experience with college (Brouder, 1987; Cunningham et al., 2007; Hossler, Schmit, & Bouse, 1991), and students who aspire to attend a two-year versus a four-year institution (Goff, Patino, & Jackson, 2004). The limited available existing research focuses on describing the sources and timing of information about financial aid and college prices (Perna, 2004). This paper builds on prior research by exploring not only the sources of students' knowledge of college prices and financial aid, but also the nature and sources of other college-related knowledge and how this knowledge varies by school and state context. Specifically, our research extends prior work by assessing differences in student knowledge of financial aid, costs, college preparation and education needed, as well as the sources of this knowledge. We also examine how students' college-related knowledge varies based on particular aspects of the context, including the average SES of students served by schools and the state policy environment. Drawing on a multi-level model of college enrollment (Perna, 2006a) and data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, this study explores the following guiding questions: 1. What do 9th and 11th grade students know about college, including college prices, financial aid, academic requirements, and the type and amount of postsecondary education needed to fulfill their specific career aspirations? 2. How do 9th and 11th grade students acquire college-related information? 3. How do college-related knowledge and sources of information vary across high schools and states? Literature Review Students and parents tend to lack information or have mis-information about college. Students and parents tend to overestimate college prices (De La Rosa & Tierney, 2006; Grodsky & Jones, 2004; Horn et al., 2003; Ikenberry & Hartle, 2000), and large percentages of parents and high school students are unaware of sources of financial aid (Immer-wahr, 2003; Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, 2004) or underestimate the amount of financial aid available (De La Rosa & Tierney, 2006). Immer-wahr (2003) also found that Latino students often had bad or misinformation about careers, and the amount of education needed for specific careers. Research has shown that students with lower levels of information about especially information focused on cost and aid are less likely to expect to attend college (Flint, 1993; Horn et al. …