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Although the positive relationship between social determinants and college attainment is well established, less is known about how social class specifically relates to the linear and timely completion of postsecondary degrees. In this paper, we empirically examine on-time completion of bachelor's degrees using social class proxies for a national sample of U.S. high school graduates, using the life course perspective and social selection hypothesis to contextualize social effects on the two key transitions--timely full-time enrollment and timely degree completion--that bound the traditional 4-year college pathway. We find strongly positive associations between several social indicators and attainment of both transition events, although effects are larger and more numerous for the initial transition, indicating social selection may be more influential in launching the 4-year college pathway than in completing it. Gradients of social advantage also appear more complexly gendered and racialized at the start of the college pathway than at the end. Finally, we confirm that parenthood is highly incompatible with a 4-year path to a degree regardless of social class and conspicuously more likely to interfere with the timely completion of a bachelor's degree than other major life transitions.

South Florida is experiencing an affordable rental crisis that is especially burdensome on those most vulnerable in society, low-income households. Rapid urbanization has resulted in inequitable land-use patterns that are a barrier to housing for the poor. As a solution to the crisis, local housing agencies seek to expand their affordable housing stock for vulnerable renters in opportunity-rich neighborhoods, but there is no standard framework for identifying properties for acquisition. Broward County serves as a case study to develop a housing acquisition tool. Using a combination of spatial statistics and principal components analysis, neighborhoods in which housing agencies may consider acquiring property are identified through the creation of an affordability surface in ArcGIS. Affordability is overlain by an opportunity surface derived from neighborhood quality and accessibility rankings. The results identify neighborhoods in Broward County that are both affordable and opportunity-rich, to better serve the county's most vulnerable renters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]