About 85% of high school juniors want to go to college, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. But one in six think that’s not a possibility for them.
Published in the journal Educational Policy, the study found that students with lower grades wanted to go to college but were less likely to believe they could attain a bachelor’s degree, as were those attending public high schools. Students from low-income families were also less likely to believe they could go to college, even though they desired higher education.
Male and Hispanic students were particularly likely to want to go to college but not expect to actually attend.
“In school, we often put kids on tracks and assume that once a student reaches high school, they’re either on the college track or they’re not on the college track,” said Robert Toutkoushian, corresponding author of the study and a professor of higher education at UGA. “We treat them as if they’re stuck on those tracks. And we often focus on the kids who aren’t on the college track and try to convince them to go to the other route.
“But I think our work also says you need to keep paying attention to the kids that say they’re on the college track because a substantial number of them at some point will fall off that track.”
The researchers found several factors affected students’ confidence in their ability to go to college. Taking advanced placement, or AP, courses and completing prep courses for college admission exams, such as the ACT or SAT, made students more confident in attaining higher education.
Going on college tours and positive peer pressure from friends planning to attend college also had a positive effect on students’ belief in their ability to be successful in college.
Students who don’t expect to go to college less likely to apply
The study uses data from the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study [HSLS:09], conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a nationally…
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