Search

This study explores whether students from low-income families and racial/ethnic minority groups have the opportunity to benefit in what is arguably the most rigorous type of credit-based transition program: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The analyses first describe national longitudinal trends in characteristics of schools offering the IBDP and the characteristics of students within schools who enroll. The analyses draw on data from the International Baccalaureate database, which include individual-level data on more than 400,000 IBDP students from 1995 through 2009, as well as data from the Common Core of Data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The article also draws on data collected from a survey of IBDPs in Florida to document variations in the opportunity to benefit from available IBDPs.

Background/Context: Financial aid is a critical policy lever for increasing college access, choice, and attainment. Even with the substantial investment in financial aid programs, however, inadequate financial resources continue to limit postsecondary educational attainment. The persistence of financial barriers despite the substantial annual investment in student financial aid programs suggests the need to better understand the role of financial aid in promoting college opportunity. Purpose: The study explores three questions: What are high school students' perceptions of and expectations for financial aid? How do these perceptions and expectations inform college-related behaviors? How are perceptions and expectations for financial aid influenced by the state and school contexts in which students are embedded? Research Design: The study uses data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, three in each of five states: California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Within each state, we purposively selected three high schools. The three high schools, selected from one school district or metropolitan region, may be characterized as relatively "low," "middle," or "high" resource based on the demographic and academic characteristics of enrolled students. Conclusions/Recommendations: The results of this study suggest the importance of considering perceptions and expectations about aid, rather than actual amounts of available aid, when examining the relationship between financial aid and students' college-related decisions. The results also suggest that knowledge and understanding of aid are related to characteristics of the schools that students attend and characteristics of available aid (an aspect of the state context). In addition, the results indicate that perceptions of and expectations about aid may encourage students to engage in other behaviors that promote college access and success, particularly academic preparation. The article concludes by offering implications for future research.

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 college, those with low-incomes, as well as Black and Latino/a students than for other high school graduates. 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. But, research also shows that a lack of knowledge about college, specifically financial aid, is prevalent in society today. 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, this 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. It also examines how students' college-related knowledge varies based on particular aspects of the context, including the average socioeconomic status (SES) of students served by schools and the state policy environment. Drawing on a multi-level model of college enrollment 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?; and (3) How do college-related knowledge and sources of information vary across high schools and states? The findings from this study point to the lack of consistent mechanisms in most schools to channel information to students about the breadth of available educational opportunities available and the availability of financial aid and how to access it. The lack of sufficient structures to provide this information to students throughout their high school careers, while problematic for all students, is particularly likely to result in lower educational attainment for low-income students and those whose parents have not attended college. (Contains 1 figure.)

This study describes how parental involvement not only is shaped by the school context but also shapes the school context for college opportunity. The study also describes the ways other aspects of context, particularly the higher education context and the state and economic context, shape parental involvement. Although parental encouragement and involvement appear to be important facilitators of college enrollment, this study describes the barriers that limit parental involvement not only for low-socioeconomic status parents but also for middle-SES parents. The study relies on data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, three in each of five states: California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The five states were chosen based on their variation in economic, political, demographic, and educational characteristics. The authors developed data collection protocols based on the conceptual framework and a literature review of the predictors of college enrollment. Using the conceptual model as a guide, three themes emerge from the data: (a) parents shape college opportunity for their children, but involvement varies based on socioeconomic status; (b) parental involvement is shaped by, and also shapes, the school context for college opportunity; and (c) parental involvement is also shaped by the higher education context and the social, economic, and policy context. The findings from this study improve the understanding of the ways that parental involvement shape college enrollment for different families at different schools in different states. The findings suggest several implications for improving parental involvement.