College Attendance Research Articles

Race-blind admissions, school segregation, and student outcomes

In 2007, the Supreme Court declared race-conscious school admissions unconstitutional. This paper provides the first evaluation of a related federal mandate where the Columbus City School District was forced to adopt a race-blind lottery system for its magnet schools. I explore the impact of the dramatic increase in racial segregation resulting from the mandate. More segregated schools spend less per-pupil, enroll lower achieving students, employ lower value-added teachers, and perpetuate “White flight” out of the district. Ultimately, segregation arising from mandated race-blind admissions causes student achievement and college attendance rates to decline.

Measuring Geographic Opportunity for Higher Education in US Metropolitan Areas

AbstractResearch demonstrates that students who live closer to postsecondary institutions are more likely to attend college. Yet many communities offer few or no postsecondary options. In this study, we expand on prior research on the geographic distribution of postsecondary opportunity by developing a finer-grained measure that accounts for both the variety and density of college options in each metropolitan statistical area (MSA). Our estimates use several decay functions to measure the distance-weighted characteristics of institutions, allowing us to cross-validate different approaches and identify the most appropriate model to inform future analyses of geographic opportunity. The results of the cross-validation indicate that both the type of geographic measure used and the penalty in the inverse distance weighting function result in substantively different model fit. We find that each of the measures used in a spatial model—enrollment size, tuition, and net price—has a positive and statistically significant relationship with postsecondary enrollment at the MSA level, indicating the continuing importance of geographic opportunity for college attendance.

University students’ access and use of sexual and reproductive health services in Australia

University attendance can lead to changes in sexual behaviour that place people at increased risk of negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) experiences; however, relatively few studies have explored access to and use of SRH services by university students in Australia. A convenience sample of students (N = 4291) from five universities completed an online survey to examine barriers and facilitators to accessing SRH services. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse variations by gender, sexuality, and enrolment status. Content analyses were conducted on responses to two open-ended questions. Over half (59%, 2934) had never spoken to a health professional about SRH issues. Of the 41% (1357) who had, female, non-binary/gender diverse, and Australian-born students were significantly more likely to have done so than students identifying as male, heterosexual, or as an international student. Frequently reported barriers to use of SRH services were ‘feeling embarrassed’, ‘being judged’ and ‘not knowing where to go’. LGBTQIA+ students along with international and overseas-born domestic students faced specific access barriers. Recommendations targeting student-identified barriers to access are offered, calling for universities to support student wellbeing by providing supportive, non-judgemental, and inclusive SRH promotion and health services that cater to needs of diverse student cohorts.

Meningococcal Carriage in Children with Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Receiving Eculizumab Therapy.

Eculizumab is a first-line treatment for atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), and patients undergoing eculizumab therapy may become more susceptible to infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis (Nm). While meningococcal vaccination is required for patients undergoing eculizumab therapy, there is limited knowledge about meningococcal carriage in children with aHUS. We aimed to evaluate (1) the prevalence of Nm carriage, (2) serogroup distribution, and (3) the immunization status of children undergoing eculizumab treatment for aHUS. The Meningo-aHUS study is a prospective, multi-center study evaluating meningococcal carriage in children and adolescents in Türkiye receiving eculizumab for aHUS. We noted the age, gender, daycare, school, or university attendance, passive smoking status, previous infection and antibiotic use, and previous immunization history, including meningococcal vaccines, from the medical records of those children with aHUS. We collected nasopharyngeal samples, tested them for Nm using real-time polymerase chain reaction, and performed a serogroup analysis on the positive samples. We collected nasopharyngeal samples from 62 children with aHUS. Out of 62 children, 61 (98.4%) had received at least one dose of the meningococcal vaccine. The median time since the last meningococcal vaccine dose was 15 months (1-59 months). We detected meningococcal carriage in three (4.8%, 95% CI 1.0-13.5) children, and all three strains were non-groupable (NG). No other serogroups were detected. Almost all the children received their risk-group meningococcal immunization, including booster doses. A 4.8% of children with aHUS carried NG meningococci and, no vaccine serogroups were detected. Patients treated with eculizumab remain profoundly susceptible to IMD due to these NG meningococcal strains. The occurrence of breakthrough cases and carriage of Nm, especially NG strains, highlights the significance of maintaining a state of constant alertness, promptly seeking medical attention, and swiftly treating any symptoms that align with IMD, regardless of their vaccination status or antibiotic prophylaxis.

Selection into higher education and subsequent religious decline in a United States cohort

Extant research reveals an inconclusive relationship between higher education and religiosity, which might be due to the selection effect, or to the different religiosity measures used. To address this, we analyze data of a cohort of adolescents from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth to investigate the association between religion and education. First, we assess the relationship between the child's religious environment and their likelihood of attending college. Second, we investigate how college attendance and completion affect subsequent changes in religiosity as they age into young adulthood. Results suggest that adolescent religious environment significantly predicts subsequent college enrollment. Completing college is associated with subsequent decline in private religiosity index, after accounting for adolescent religious influence, peer influence, and early family formation; suggesting robustness against selection effects. Enrollment or completion of college has a complicated association with subsequent religious attendance. Fundamentalist Christians do not experience the same declines in religious attendance as other religious traditions after enrolling in college, but additional research is needed to confirm the robustness of this finding. Our study contributes to the nuanced understanding of the relationship between higher education and religion by adopting a life course perspective that reveals the heterogeneity of the relationship by religious affiliations and the socio-cultural norms associated with them.

“A Circle of Positivity”: Adolescents' Perspectives on Meaningful Leisure Time and Good Health in Relation to School Performance

ABSTRACTIn Sweden, approximately a quarter of upper secondary school students leave school early or do not complete their studies with full grades. Structured leisure time activities have been associated with improved health, enhanced school performance, and future college attendance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how adolescents perceive the prerequisites for and the importance of meaningful leisure time. Qualitative interviews and focus groups with adolescents aged 16–19 were conducted and analyzed using content analysis. The results highlighted the importance of autonomy in leisure time, equal opportunities, and social relationships. Adolescents expressed that an optimal balance between leisure time and school can result in a circle of positivity, leading to better school performance, skills development, and overall well‐being.

Associations of schooling type, qualification type and subsequent health in mid-adulthood: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study

BackgroundEducation is thought to benefit health. However, existing studies have predominantly focused on educational attainment—the type of institution attended has been overlooked, despite being an important indicator of education resources,...

Help-Seeking from Victim Services, Personal Networks, and Reporting to Police: Stalking Victim Behaviors from the 2019 NCVS Supplemental Victimization Survey.

Understanding the predictors of stalking victimization, help-seeking behaviors of stalking victims, and their reporting to police can help law enforcement and advocates improve systems and ensure they are accessible and useful to victims. Existing stalking research focuses heavily on campus-based stalking, non-nationally representative populations, and/or dated data collection methods, such as the 2006 National Crime Victimization Survey, Supplemental Victimization Survey (NCVS-SVS), an instrument that has been updated according to current stalking definitions. This study employs the latest 2019 NCVS-SVS to analyze its new stalking screening questions and additional variables. We identified predictors of (a) stalking victimization, (b) help-seeking from victim-serving agencies, (c) help-seeking from personal networks, and (d) reporting to police. Predictors of stalking victimization included younger age, identifying as female, identifying as not heterosexual, household incomes below $50,000, and any college attendance. Victims who knew their offenders (intimate or non-intimate) were more likely than victims of stranger stalking to seek help from victim-serving agencies and personal networks. Younger victims were more likely to seek help from personal networks. None of the variables we examined predicted reporting to police. This study shows the characteristics of stalking victims have stayed consistent over time but highlights an ongoing need for resources for victims of stranger stalking, who may not know about or be able to access stalking services that are offered by intimate partner violence agencies. Future research around stalking victim characteristics should focus on populations that are newly included in national stalking data, such as those who identify as transgender and sexual identity minorities.

Building and Maintaining an Engineering Identity: How Engineering Students Navigate Community College Stigma Prior to Transfer

ABSTRACT This research brief outlines a phenomenological study which sought to understand how community college students made sense of their engineering identity as well as explore how outsider perceptions of community college attendance and transfer influenced their identities. The study used the Community College Stigmatization Model (CCSM) and elements of engineering identity theory to understand student experiences. Students shared how societal stigma and interactions with faculty, staff, and students at the high school and university levels complicated their ability to build strong engineering identities. However, they also described resistance against stigmatization and marginalization as community college engineering students and took actions to enhance their engineering identities. This study highlights the persistent nature of stigma and the need to create better partnerships and support systems as well as foster stigma resistance among community college engineering students.

Unraveling motives: identifying the impact of university attendance motives on learning behaviors among dental students

PurposeStudents report various motives for attending university (MAU) grouped under five categories, namely, personal–intellectual development (PER), humanitarian (HUM), careerist–materialist (CAR), expectation-driven (EXP), and uncertain motives. Although the literature demonstrates that these motives exert an influence on learning and achievement, relatively less attention is given to this issue in the context of dental students. This study aimed to examine the relationship among the mindsets, MAU, academic engagement (AE), and DAL of dental students and to test the mediating effect of AE on the relationship between MAU and deep approach to learning (DAL).MethodsThe study recruited 226 dental students at various levels of the curriculum, who responded to four questionnaires for measuring MAU, DAL, mindsets, and AE. The study employed structural equation modeling to analyze the mediation effects of AE on the relationship between MAU and DAL and to determine the influence of mindsets on MAU.ResultsThis model reveals the significant relationships of a growth mindset with CAR, PER, and HUM. Moreover, the study finds that a fixed mindset was associated with CAR, EXP, and uncertain motives. Furthermore, AE only fully mediated the significant positive relationship between PER and DAL, whereas CAR negatively predicted DAL without a mediator.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that administering the inventories in a dental school setting can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of students’ mindsets toward learning and effective processes related to learning. This understanding can inform instructors’ pedagogical practices, enabling them to provide more effective guidance to students navigating the complexities of academic coursework.

Time Required for Education Up to College Level

This study explores the imperative of mandatory college education in Indonesia, amidst recent protests against rising tuition fees. Despite higher education's recognized socio-economic benefits, Indonesia has yet to mandate college attendance, lagging behind global trends. Drawing on comparative analysis with Malaysia, South Korea, and European nations, the research underscores the potential of mandatory college education to enhance workforce skills, promote innovation, and reduce social disparities. Findings advocate for government commitment, increased funding, and collaboration with the private sector to ensure equitable access and quality in higher education, ultimately driving economic growth and social development. Highlights : Global Trends Comparison: Benchmarks Indonesia against leading nations for educational policy insight. Equitable Access and Quality: Ensuring fairness and standards for a skilled, diverse workforce. Government-Private Sector Collaboration: Partnerships vital for sustainable funding and educational enhancement. Keywords: Mandatory Education, Indonesia, Socio-Economic Benefits, Collaboration, Funding

Is getting hitched on the horizon? Examining predictors of cohabitation and early marriage in emerging adulthood

This study analyzes different factors predicting both cohabitation and early marriage among emerging adults. Using a large ( n = 1,510), national, longitudinal sample of emerging adults in the United States, predictors of cohabitation and early marriage were examined. Predictors included marital paradigms (marital salience and expected age of marriage) and sociodemographic characteristics (religious attendance, parents’ marital status, parents’ education, college attendance, income, gender, and race). We utilized a Cox proportional hazards model to run the analyses. Results showed that marital paradigms were the most consistent predictors of early marriage, while few sociodemographic factors were significant. On the other hand, cohabitation was most consistently predicted by sociodemographic factors, with no associations being significant with marital paradigms. These findings suggest that decisions to marry and cohabit may not be as closely interconnected as previously conceptualized. Future directions and limitations are also discussed.

Racial and Temporal Differences in Fertility-Education Trade-Offs Reveal the Effect of Economic Opportunities on Optimum Family Size in the United States.

Contemporary trends in low fertility can in part be explained by increasing incentives to invest in offspring's embodied capital over offspring quantity in environments where education is a salient source of social mobility. However, studies on this subject have often neglected to empirically examine heterogeneity, missing out on the opportunity to investigate how this relationship is impacted when individuals are excluded from meaningful participation in economic spheres. Using General Social Survey data from the United States, I examine changes in the relationship between number of siblings and college attendance for White and Black respondents throughout the 1900s. Results show that in the early 1900s, White individuals from larger families had a lower chance of completing four years of college education than those from smaller families, whereas the likelihood for Black individuals was more uniform across family sizes. These racial differences mostly converged in the later part of the century. These results may help explain variations in the timing of demographic transitions within different racial groups in the United States and suggest that the benefits of decreasing family size on educational outcomes may be conditional on the specific economic opportunities afforded to a family.

Experimental Estimates of College Coaching on Postsecondary Reenrollment

Abstract College attendance has increased significantly over the last few decades, but dropout rates remain high, with fewer than half of all adults ultimately obtaining a postsecondary credential. This project investigates whether one-on-one college coaching improves college attendance and completion outcomes for former income state aid recipients identified as low- and middle-income who attended college but left prior to earning a degree. We conducted a randomized control trial with approximately 8,000 former students in their early to mid 20s. Half of the participants assigned to the treatment group were offered the opportunity to receive coaching services from InsideTrack, with all communication done remotely via phone or video. Intent-to-treat analyses based on assignment to coaching show no impacts on college enrollment and we can rule out effects larger than a 2 percentage point (5 percent) increase in subsequent Fall enrollment.

Facial Recognition Student Attendance System Web Application

Abstract: In the digital era, facial recognition technologies are indispensable in almost every business. Face is one biometric that is commonly used. Acknowledgement. In addition to being helpful for identification, security, and authentication, it offers a host of other advantages. Despite their increased accuracy, fingerprint and iris recognition technologies are still widely used because of their non-invasive and contactless nature. Facial recognition systems may also be used to show attendance in offices, classrooms, universities, and other contexts. This system's objective is to develop a facial recognition-based class attendance system because the manual method now in use takes a lot of time and work to maintain. Through the use of this structure, it issimple to resolve the issue of proxies and students receiving present grades even when they are not there in person.

Metamorphoses of the University and the Pathways of Indigenous Students in Quebec: Issues of Accessibility to Studies and Academic Persistence from a Perspective of the Decolonization of Education — A Secondary Publication

In connection with the historical context of social segregation and the assimilative aim of formal education imposed on them, the Indigenous Peoples of Québec have long been excluded from higher education. Today, even if their graduation rates are increasing, a persistent gap with the non-Indigenous population is maintained. The data in this article are drawn from 23 interviews with students and university graduates of the First Nations of Québec, as part of a thesis in educational sciences. Our paper analyzes how these students manage to combine the contributions of Indigenous education with those of Western education by developing paths that are part of the decolonization movement of education. Their relationship to Indigenous identity and cultures clearly influences their educational background and is analyzed taking into account power relations with the dominant culture. Our paper emphasizes more particularly the relationship to studies, the adaptation to the student profession, and the balance between studies, work, and family among Indigenous students, in a context of transition from university to multiversity which contributed to the increase of Indigenous university attendance.

Examining the Relationship between Vaccine Utilization and Educational Attainment in Southeast Los Angeles

The Southeast Los Angeles cities of Maywood and Bell have educational attainment (bachelor’s degree or higher) rates of 8.7% and 8.8%, respectively, relative to California’s state average of 37.0% (U.S. Census Bureau 2022). The goal of this study is to evaluate the relationship between educational attainment and vaccine utilization in Southeast Los Angeles to inform future policies aimed at improving long-term health outcomes. For this study, the International Collegiate Health Initiative (ICHI), a 501(c)-3 nonprofit focused on providing multicultural low-income, immigrant, and refugee populations with educational, nutritional, and medical health services, conducted extensive surveying of the patient population at its mobile community health clinic events at the Maywood YMCA and the Bell Community Health Center. The data reveals significant differences in vaccine use between college- and non-college-educated individuals. 68.75% of college-educated respondents reported receiving a COVID-19 booster shot, whereas 56.82% of non-college-educated respondents reported the same. Similarly, college-educated respondents had a 62.5% flu vaccination rate in the 2022 flu season, compared to 47.7% for non-college-educated respondents. The trend of college attendees being more likely to use vaccine services than non-college attendees is corroborated by a longitudinal study of Wisconsin high school graduates. This study determined that college attendance was correlated with higher probability of vaccine utilization in general, and increased flu shot usage in particular (Fletcher & Frisvold, 2009). The study also indicates that there is causation, rather than simply correlation, between increased college attendance and use of vaccines. Moreover, an empirical assessment of OECD countries for the period 1995–2015 found that well-educated adults have better health relative to adults who are less-educated (​​Raghupathi & ​​Raghupathi, 2020). This underscores the need to support increased educational attainment in underserved communities in order to increase vaccination rates in the United States.

“He Was Able to Rely on Me”: Negotiating the Sibling Intragenerational Bargain among Latino First-generation College Student Families

Though some frameworks suggest that siblings deplete family resources, alternative conceptualizations suggest that siblings, particularly in working-class and minoritized families, are pivotal sources of educational support that may replenish familial capital. Drawing on 41 in-depth interviews with Latino first-generation college students, this study addresses how siblings negotiate educational support. This study builds and extends prior literature on familial capital by proposing that college attendance generates additional resources that (re)shape family obligations and expectations, a process I refer to as the sibling intragenerational bargain. In negotiating the sibling intragenerational bargain, Latino students seek to (1) contribute to the family’s intragenerational mobility by providing educational support and/or (2) repay sibling sacrifices and help with their academic success. Furthermore, birth order and sibling educational attainment shape how students negotiate the sibling intragenerational bargain. This study shows how Latino first-generation siblings (older and younger) are agentic producers of familial capital.

Emotional fatigue, academic engagement, and satisfaction with studies during the return to post-pandemic university attendance

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly transformed various sectors, including higher education, exposing structural weaknesses and fostering the adoption of innovative teaching methods. This situation has created the need to understand how these changes have affected the academic satisfaction, academic engagement, and mental well-being of university students during the return to in-person education at universities.MethodsIn this explanatory study, 1,321 Peruvian university students (52.1% women) aged between 18 and 35 years old (M = 20.16, SD = 3.04) participated. Participants were selected through a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method, recruited from the 3 regions of Peru (88.7% from the highlands, 76.2% from private universities), from faculties such as business sciences, humanities and education, engineering, and health sciences. Data were collected using the Emotional Exhaustion Scale (EES), the Brief Scale of Satisfaction with Studies (BSSS), and the Academic Engagement Scale (UWES S9).ResultsThe model relating the study variables showed an adequate fit: χ2(4) = 31.5, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.986, RMSEA = 0.072, SRMR = 0.017. The hypotheses were supported, showing the effect on satisfaction with studies both from emotional exhaustion, β = −0.11, p < 0.001, and from academic engagement, β = 0.61, p < 0.001. Additionally, a 43% variance was explained in satisfaction with studies.ConclusionThis study evidence that, in the post-pandemic context, emotional exhaustion is a negative predictor of academic satisfaction, while academic engagement is positively associated with it. These findings suggest the need for educational strategies that mitigate emotional exhaustion and promote academic engagement to improve student satisfaction and well-being in the new educational normality.

Süddeutsche Reichsstädter an der Universität Basel (1460–1802)

This article examines the attendance at the Basel University by students from 42 imperial cities from the Upper Rhine, Swabian, Franconian and Bavarian imperial circles in the period 1460 to 1802. The analysis focuses on the chronology of these students’ university attendance and their educational goals. The author also tries to identify particular urban and regional educational patterns. In the concluding part, results of this research on attendance at the Basel University in the 17th and 18th centuries are compared with the results of this author’s earlier research on attendance at the University of Strasbourg by students from the same imperial cities.