College Enrollment Rates Research Articles

Role of innovation and human capital in regional economic growth and progress

Since 1999, China’s higher education has experienced significant growth, with the government dramatically increasing college enrollment rates, thereby enhancing the overall quality of education. However, most existing studies have primarily focused on the quantity of education, with little attention having been given to the impact of higher education quality (HEQ) on economic growth. This study aims to explore how higher education quality (HEQ) contributes to regional economic growth through scientific and technological innovation (STI) and human capital accumulation. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from the period 1999 to 2022, panel regression models and instrumental variable methods were employed to analyze both the direct and indirect impacts of higher education quality (HEQ) on economic growth. The results confirm that improving higher education quality (HEQ) is crucial for sustaining China’s economic growth. More specifically, higher education promotes regional economic expansion both directly, by enhancing labor productivity, and indirectly, by facilitating scientific and technological innovation. Furthermore, the study suggests that the balanced distribution of educational resources across regions should be prioritized to support coordinated regional development. This research provides insights for policymakers on how balanced regional economic development can be achieved through educational and technological policies. This work also lays a foundation for future studies.

Upward Bound Program Supports Success of Low-Income and/or First-Generation College Students at a STEM-Focused HSI

A deeper understanding of low-income and first-generation college student experiences is essential to advancing diversity and equity in higher education. Due to a significant gap in college enrollment and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation college students, specifically after COVID-19, it is important to identify factors affecting their success. The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program at New Mexico Tech (NMT) supports high school students who are either first-generation college students and/or from low-income families to prepare them with the skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and enter and succeed in a program of postsecondary education. These students face unique challenges during their time at college. To identify the factors that affect the success of these students, we surveyed several of our UBMS program participants who chose to attend NMT after completing high school. All participants said support from UBMS staff was critical when starting college at NMT. Participants also mention building a support system with their fellow UBMS alumni to deal with the struggles that being at STEM-focused institutions brings. This study also resulted in several suggestions for faculty and staff members to improve academic outcomes for all students.

Человеческий капитал в теории и практике экономического роста (на примере Мурманской области)

Russia’s Arctic policy focuses on making large-scale progress in the Arctic’s social and economic domains, including the development of local natural resources and the Northern Sea Route and the establishment of high-tech centers that can create global value chains. One of the primary challenges and threats to the sustainable development of the Russian Arctic regions is the mismatch between regional higher education systems and the needs of the economy. The risks are significantly exacerbated by the global economic transformation and the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Therefore, when considering the prospects for the innovation-driven development of the Arctic’s economy, a critical issue is the accumulation of highly educated human capital, where higher education plays a key role. The article explores the issues surrounding the formation and accumulation of human capital from the perspective of regional economic growth. The goal of this work is to empirically test the theory of increasing returns on investments in education. The key premise is that human capital accumulation has constant returns and can therefore grow indefinitely. This made it possible to put forward the hypothesis that the better the population’s access to higher education, the bigger the human capital and, accordingly, the higher the growth of gross output per capita. An empirical assessment was conducted to check the test model of the influence of university enrollment rates on economic growth. The results indicated a high coefficient of determination from the regression of the time series of the studied indicators. Also, the model showed the presence of conditional convergence, which means that a decrease in university enrollment rates is compensated for by an increase in the return on human capital due to an increase in the quality of education.

Enhancing College Access in Zimbabwe: Impact of Student Loans and Grants

This study explores how government interventions, grants, and loans influence college access in Zimbabwe, focusing on understanding the factors affecting college access and retention rates. The research aims to inform evidence-based decision-making regarding college access through a mixed research approach integrating qualitative and quantitative methods. Combining both qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings. It analyses secondary data sources, such as literature, reports, and statistical datasets, to explore aspects like college access, enrollment trends, poverty rates, financial aid programs, and student loan systems in Zimbabwe. Triangulation techniques enhance the credibility of the study's findings by integrating evidence from various sources and employing diverse data collection and analysis methods, enriching perspectives and strengthening the validity and reliability of the study's conclusions. Key findings suggest that grants and loans significantly contribute to increasing college enrollment rates, particularly among economically disadvantaged groups. However, enrollment disparities persist, especially among marginalized populations like women. Despite a modest increase in government spending on education, concerns arise due to a slowdown in overall enrollment growth. Barriers to student loan uptake include complex application processes, concerns about debt burdens, and uncertainties regarding post-graduation employment prospects. The study emphasizes the importance of comprehensive policy interventions to simplify eligibility criteria, enhance financial literacy, and promote employment pathways. Using human capital and open systems theories, the research lays a groundwork for evidence-based decision-making to enhance access to higher education in Zimbabwe.

Increasing Access to a Four–Year College: Impacts of a California State University Guaranteed Admission Program on College Enrollment Rates

Guaranteed admission programs are a type of college access program that provide students who meet certain criteria (e.g., a minimum GPA) with guaranteed admission to one or more colleges. This paper studies guaranteed admission agreements between California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) and its local school district to evaluate if smaller scale, local guaranteed admission programs have comparable impacts on college enrollment rates to previously studied state-wide programs. Employing a regression discontinuity (RD) design around the program’s GPA cutoff conditional on students satisfying other program requirements, this paper finds that the program significantly increased enrollment at CSUSM and at any California State University (CSU) and increased (not significantly) the likelihood of students enrolling at four-year institutions compared to two-year alternatives. In addition, the program disproportionally affected students from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., first-generation, nonwhite, and low-income backgrounds), suggesting that local guaranteed admission programs also have the potential to increase representation at four-year public institutions and encourage underrepresented students to enroll at higher-quality postsecondary institutions. KEYWORDS: Guaranteed Admission; College Enrollment; College Admissions; College Access; Higher Education; California State University; Education Policy; Local Policy

The Relationship Between University Education and Pro-Immigrant Attitudes Varies by Generation: Insights From Japan

Abstract While there is lively debate on whether higher education cultivates support for immigrants in North America and Western Europe, there is little discussion on the extent to which the relationship generalizes beyond these continents. In light of Japan’s growing reliance on foreign workers, increase in university enrollment rates, as well as efforts to internationalize universities over the last half-century, we explore the relationship between university education and Japanese attitudes toward immigrants. Using two surveys asking an overlapping set of questions in 2009 and 2022, we find the relationship between university education and pro-immigrant attitudes varies by generation. Otherwise positive connections are significantly weakened for Japanese who entered universities in the 1990s through 2000s. Even though Japan is a modern democracy with well-developed higher education institutions, these institutions do not always correlate with more supportive attitudes toward immigrants. Our findings underscore the dynamic nature of higher education’s role in shaping public opinion outside of North America and Western Europe.

Determinants of Understanding of Labor Laws: Evidence from Japanese University Students

AbstractThis study investigates Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws using test theory and analyzes the determinants of understanding of labor laws. The college enrollment rate in recent years in Japan is over 50% of secondary education graduates, and as a result, college graduates are no longer considered elite employees. Rather, almost all graduates are merely ordinary workers. For that reason, students need to learn about their employment rights before obtaining initial employment to protect themselves and their future careers. However, there are few studies regarding Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws. This study, therefore, investigates their labor laws knowledge based on latent rank theory and analyzes the determinants by econometric analysis. Empirical results show that the average of correctly answered questions regarding Japanese labor laws is about 50%. I can view this record as not being positive because subjects start their job-hunting process with less than an ideal amount of legal knowledge. This research also confirms that there are positive correlations between some independent variables (for example, field of study, the number of credits regarding career education, experience with exploitive labor, and the number of friends who are older than a given subject) and the rank of labor law knowledge. This implies that education and experience regarding career development while enrolled in university correlates with better understanding of labor laws.

Higher Education in Post-Neoliberal Times: Building Human Capabilities in the Emergent Period of Uncertainty

This paper argues that the neoliberal consensus about education finance has broken down due to growing economic inequality. First, I use a comparative historical analysis of political alliances to examine patterns of world trade and nations’ policies for economic and educational development since World War II. The United States emphasized STEM-collegiate preparation for all students, while most countries continued the dual emphasis on technical-tertiary and higher education. Educational policy in the US and Pacific region also shifted towards a reliance on markets and student loans resulting in worsening economic inequality in access. Nations with dual technical and academic pathways in secondary and postsecondary education systems expand college enrollment rates more rapidly than the US. They also experience class conflict between the working–middle class and the new technological elite. Next, I examine how education policy shifted from national planning aligned with public funding to market-based incentives for institutional development, further exposing gaps in opportunity within nations. Finally, recognizing the variations in systemic causes of inequality, I argue that governments, education agencies, and civic activists can best promote equity by organizing to address barriers to opportunity for groups left behind in the wake of withering neoliberal education policy.

Navigating the Pandemic: Enrollment Decisions and Educational Experiences of Latino/x College Men Attending Hispanic Serving Institutions in the South Texas Region

The Covid-19 pandemic was a primary cause for the decline in college enrollment rates for Latino/x college men over the last two years. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how these students discussed their decisions to attend and enroll college since the onset of the pandemic. Using the Theory of planned behavior (Azjen, 1991), we tried to understand how Latino/x college men, who were first time in enrolled in college, navigated their educational experiences in South Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions. The findings revealed sobering realities that these students faced uncertainty, isolation, mental health concerns, but they also relied on faculty members, staff, and student peer groups to survive the pandemic. We conclude with recommendations that educational leaders, faculty members, and professional staff should consider to develop a college climate and classroom environment which values Latino/x college men and improves their educational outcomes.

Estimating a national college enrollment rate for youth with foster care histories using the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD): limitations of NYTD and a call to revise and relaunch

ABSTRACT The launch of the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) in 2011 was a watershed moment in the history of studying older youth in foster care. For the first time, there was the prospect of generating national estimates of key policy-relevant outcomes, such as the rate youth enroll in postsecondary education (PSE). However, flaws in NYTD’s survey items limit its usefulness. For example, NYTD’s education items only ask about current school enrollment, not past enrollment. We analyze NYTD data to estimate a national PSE enrollment rate at age 21. Youth with care histories are about half as likely as non-foster peers to be currently enrolled in PSE at age 21 (22% vs. 53%). We then compare NYTD findings in California with findings from a study of youth with care backgrounds in the same state that gathered more comprehensive data on PSE enrollment. This comparison quantifies the extent to which NYTD data undercounts PSE enrollment and demonstrates how this can lead to inaccurate conclusions about gender and racial disparities. We provide simple, feasible recommendations for improving NYTD education questions and call for a broader revision of NYTD so that it will generate data more useful to child welfare policy and practice.

장애친화적 캠퍼스를 위한 교육복지시설에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study is to provide design guidelines necessary for creating disability-friendly campuses. To this end, a literature survey and a survey on the current educational welfare facilities for disabled college students were conducted. The fact-finding survey was conducted in writing and visiting evaluations on 19 campuses located in Gangwon-do(province). The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1) The college enrollment rate of the disabled has doubled since 2000, but it was found to be half of the enrollment rate based on school enrollment, and the number of students who gave up in the middle is increasing. This is due to an obstacle in the learning environment, so it is necessary to improve welfare facilities. 2) As a result of evaluating the status of educational welfare support for students with disabilities, it was found that the overall evaluation result was improved, but the absolute evaluation result was less than 70%, and it was not improved. 3) As a result of evaluating the actual conditions of the intermediate facilities, indoor facilities, sanitary facilities, guidance and other facilities, and unit spaces, it is necessary to expand and improve them due to the lack of disabled parking marks, continuity of access roads, pedestrian safety passages, lifts, and rest areas for the disabled.

School Vouchers and College Enrollment: Experimental Evidence From Washington, DC

Washington, DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), the only federally funded school voucher program in the United States, has provided private school scholarships to low-income students in DC since 2004. From its inception, the program has received significant attention in national debates and has been the subject of rigorous evaluations mandated by Congress. We conduct an experimental evaluation of the effect of the OSP on college enrollment by comparing the college enrollment rates of students offered a scholarship in lotteries held in 2004 and 2005 with those of students who applied but did not win a scholarship. Students who won scholarships to attend private schools were not significantly more or less likely to enroll in college than students who did not.

Fairness Perception of Policy Stakeholders in College Admission in Korea

It has been known that Korea has the highest college enrollment rate due to the role that college entrance plays in determining the socioeconomic status of students in their future. About 10 years ago, the Ministry of Education in Korea initiated the Comprehensive School Report-based Admission (CSRA) under the recognition that the college admission system needs to be diversified. Since then, the fairness of the CSRA has been at the center of controversy. This study aimed to draw the implications for college admission policies by comparing the perception of the main stakeholders (students and parents, teachers, admission officers, and faculty admission committee) on the CSRA. The perception data of 150 participants on the six aspects of the CSRA were gathered through a questionnaire and the results were analyzed for group differences. A FGI was additionally administered with 12 participants. This study found that the stakeholders perceived the CSRA as important and necessary. However, the perception of the stakeholders on the fairness of the CSRA presented itself differently depending on the interests each group holds. The results of this study showed that close examination of the multifaceted perceptions and individualized experiences of the stakeholders should be taken into consideration when the perception of fairness in the CSRA is examined. It also implied that the government should provide stakeholders with the opportunities to be informed of the CSRA to promote trust in the policy.

Literature review on education expansion and income gap in China

Since the reform and opening up, China's per capita years of education and college enrollment rate have been greatly improved. The impact of educational expansion on China's income gap has aroused widespread concern in the academic community. In this paper, the theoretical research and empirical analysis of education expansion and income gap are sorted out, and the related theoretical research at home and abroad are classified into three categories: education expansion has inhibition, promotion and comprehensive effects on income gap. In the empirical analysis, the paper summarizes the functional relationship between education expansion and income gap in China, and the heterogeneity analysis of income of different groups due to the expansion of different education levels.

Robots and Non-Participation in the Us: Where Have All the Workers Gone?

I analyze the impact of one of the leading automation technologies of the last decades – industrial robots – on the declining labor force participation in the US. Exploiting exogenous variation in the adoption of robots across local labor markets and over time, I find that, on average, one additional robot drives two workers out of the labor force. The massive increase in robot adoption between the mid-1990s and 2014 explains about 15 percent of the decline in labor force participation in these years. I next investigate the channels through which automation affects nonparticipation and find that robot adoption leads to rising university enrollment rates among the young, early retirement of older workers and a considerable fraction of middle-aged workers enrolling in disability insurance.

Black and Latino Adolescents’ Self-Regulation: Placing College Preparedness in Context

Students from minoritized backgrounds, who disproportionately face higher poverty rates, are more likely to encounter risk factors, which tend to undermine individuals’ broader well-being by compromising self-regulatory processes. Yet, sociocultural theory highlights the presence of minoritized families’ cultural wealth. Consistent with a focus on assets, it is notable that college enrollment rates have increased among Black and Latino students in the U.S. Using a mixed methods approach, the current study integrated asset and risk frameworks, in order to advance knowledge on the context of minoritized teens’ college preparedness, defined here as making decisions and taking action steps toward college. Participants included low-income, predominantly Black and Latino families with adolescents ( n = 344). First, drawing from the voices of families, we examined responses to open-ended questions about aspirations, supports, and challenges. Salient themes included social-emotional and social-cultural factors. Indicators of cumulative contextual risk and cumulative individual risk were based on the qualitative data. Second, we tested whether the linkage from cumulative risk indices to teens’ college preparedness occurred via various dimensions of self-regulation (i.e., lower impulsivity, more cognitive control, and better organization skills), net of background characteristics. Adolescents’ organization skills were a significant mediator. Possible next steps for research are discussed.

The Impact of State Drug Laws on High School Completion and College Enrollment for Latino Young Men

Although college enrollment and completion rates have increased over the past 30 years, access to higher education has not been uniform across racial groups. In addition to racial gaps, differences in tertiary education outcomes exist by gender. Gender gaps in college enrollment are larger in the Latinx community than in other racial or ethnic groups. In this paper, we use the October Current Population Survey (CPS) supplements for the years 1984–1992 and state and federal drug laws to measure the impact of the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act on the likelihood of college enrollment for young Latino men. Following the passage of the federal law, some states changed their drug laws around marijuana and cocaine possession and distribution. We use this variation in state law in order to explore whether states that have more lenient marijuana and cocaine laws also have a higher likelihood of college enrollment. We find that there was a four percentage point decline in both the likelihood of high school completion and that of college enrollment for Latinx men after the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Findings have implications for modifications to state drug laws and addressing the ways in which these laws impact educational attainment for students underrepresented in higher education.

Accountability and (In)Congruence in a No-Excuses School College-Going Culture

This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students’ worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the transmission of dominant cultural resources. Alignment between a student’s worldview and the school’s approach mediated their ability to draw on their full range of resources to participate in the college choice process and forge postsecondary trajectories they believed in. These findings foreshadow the potential impacts of “College for All” accountability structures and underscore the importance of cultural congruence in college-going cultures.

Equality of opportunity and human capital accumulation: Motivational effect of a nationwide scholarship in Colombia

We study the ex ante motivational effect of a nationwide merit and need-based scholarship in Colombia, which granted full scholarships to low-income students at high-quality universities. Specifically, we analyze how the opportunity to receive the scholarship, influenced the performance of low-income students in the national high-school exit and 9th grade exams, and their university enrollment rates. Following a differences-in-discontinuity design, we find that the opportunity to receive the scholarship significantly increased test scores at the national high school exit exam at the top of the distribution. At the 90th percentile of the distribution, eligibility for the scholarship reduced the socioeconomic achievement gap by 16 percent. We also document an increase in the post-secondary enrollment of low-income students at the top of their score distribution, even for the non-recipients of the scholarship. Finally, we estimate a positive effect on the test scores of younger 9th grade students, affecting a broader range of the distribution. Our results highlight how opportunities for social mobility encourage human capital accumulation by low-income students, thus contributing to breaking the persistence of poverty and inequality.

Informing students about college: Increasing enrollment using a behavioral intervention?

This study sheds light on whether the provision of information on costs, financing options, and returns of college education results in higher application and college enrollment rates. Based on a behavioral intervention with more than 1,000 high school students in Germany, we provide evidence that the provision of such information increases college application and enrollment rates, in particular for students with a pre-treatment study intention. The size of the enrollment effect becomes larger for students if neither of the parents has a college degree. Treated students are slightly more likely than those in the control group to persist in college for two years after enrollment. In contrast to other studies, our results indicate that a low-cost intervention, with a bundle of various information on college education, can be an effective tool to encourage students to translate their college intentions into actual enrollment. We show this in a setting without tuition fees.