Rural students enroll in college at lower rates than nonrural students. This has been partially attributed to lower average socioeconomic status (SES) in rural areas. However, this assertion tends to ignore heterogeneity that may mask how SES shapes rural students' college-going experiences. Utilizing a geography of opportunity framework, this…

Even the least severe forms of exclusionary discipline are associated with detrimental effects for students that attend schools that overuse them. With a nationally representative longitudinal study of high school students, we utilize propensity score weighting to limit selection bias associated with schools that issue high numbers of in-school…

The demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in education aligns with the need to advance society through innovation and research. Proficiency in STEM courses and curriculum is critical for nations to become global economic leaders. However, the majority of students in high school do not participate in STEM…

A primary rationale for public provision of K-12 education and state financing of school spending is that education fosters civic engagement and the development of social capital. However, limited evidence exists on whether and how school spending affects civic engagement. Virtually all studies focus on the impact of educational attainment (as…

Due to the model minority myth, scant attention has been given to the college preparation of Asian American (AA) students. Using the national sample of High School Longitudinal Study of 2009-2013, this study examined associations among student-counselor interactions, school connectedness, and college enrollment of AA students. The results of the…

We examined the relationships between high school CTE participation and indicators of career and college readiness using 2009 High School Longitudinal Study restricted-use data. Regression analyses of 2009-2018 data revealed significantly lower dropout rates for CTE participants, but only White CTE participants experienced better employment…

This study focuses on the disparities between the educational aspirations and expectations of high school students in the U.S., and explores why students do not expect to earn a bachelor's degree despite their aspirations. Using a national dataset and logistic/multinomial logistic regression analyses, the study identified the factors associated…

This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the college-related outcomes of high school students including students of color. With data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, we investigated two major steps in the college-going process: (a) whether students see the counselor for financial aid…

This study explored the transition from secondary to postsecondary education among a national sample of students who had or had not studied music in high school. Using evidence from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, a nationally representative longitudinal study of 21,440 American high school students who were ninth graders in the…

This Data Point examines postsecondary education enrollment rates overall and in occupational areas of study, among 2013 public high school graduates as of 2016. The report uses data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:2009), which initially surveyed a nationally representative sample of grade 9 students in 2009, with follow-up…

Asian Americans are generally perceived to be disproportionately enrolled in four-year postsecondary education institutions despite evidence of Asian Americans being concentrated at both two-year and four-year postsecondary education institutions. This perception of Asian Americans has contributed to limited attention to Asian Americans'…

We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children's college enrollment in a sample of 357 Asian parents from various ethnic subgroups using the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. A multinomial logistic regression indicated differences in Asian students' college enrollment by ethnic subgroup and income and in…

This study considers whether participation in several out-of-class high school experiences increased the odds that a student would aspire to earn a bachelor's degree, whether these relationships were moderated by the student's race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status, and whether these experiences, considered together, had a cumulative influence on…

Undocumented children have a right to a public k-12 education in the United States, however there is no standard approach to higher education. About half of states allow undocumented immigrants to attend public colleges and universities at in-state rates of tuition (ISRT) and a subset of these also allow them access to state financial aid. This…

This study extends prior work on the college-going efforts of Latino boys and adolescents (Latinos) by examining the extent to which meeting with a school counselor is related to their college-going aspirations and whether they apply to and ultimately matriculate to college. The study utilizes social capital and social reproduction theories to…