Recent studies have found a large earnings premium to attending a more selective college, but the mechanisms underlying this premium have received little attention and remain unclear. In order to shed light on this question, I develop a multidimensional signaling model relying on college grades and selectivity that rationalizes students' choices…

This report describes patterns of continuity and change over time in four areas of the transition to adulthood among young adults as measured 2 years after their senior year of high school. The four areas are postsecondary enrollment, labor force roles, family formation, and civic engagement through voting or military service. The analysis…

Path analysis was used to test the T into model of college dropouts using a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Findings support the notion that commitment to the goal of college completion has the strongest effect on persistence. (Author/GK)

The evolving influence of student financial aid on year-to-year persistence for three student cohorts, the high school classes of 1972, 1980, and 1982 are examined. A comparative analysis of the National Longitudinal Study and High School and Beyond Survey is presented. (Author/MLW)

Characteristics of graduates who completed bachelor's degrees within 4 years of high school graduation were compared with graduates who took longer than 4 years. Data were obtained from the Postsecondary School Transcripts Study, a supplement to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The sample consisted of 4,440…

Analysis of National Longitudinal Survey and of High School and Beyond data pinpoints the reason for a decline in the gender earnings gap, 1979-86 among college-educated workers. Changes in estimated effects of college grades and major for women account for almost all of the decline, indicating growth in the market price of women's skills. (SK)

Cricticizes use of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores for college admission decisions. Outlines research showing redundancy of estimating potential success of entering college freshmen by the use of SAT scores, high school grades, and class rank. The statistical difference between estimates without SAT scores is minimal and does not support…

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 with a model of educational attainment for whites (n=6,512) and blacks (n=699) that explicitly measured for a father's presence in the household. No substantial differences were found in the process of educational attainment between these groups when…

The different preferences for occupational roles and college majors of the recent college graduates in this study account for one-third to two-thirds of the gender differences in earnings three years after graduation. The implications for estimating labor market discrimination are discussed. (SK)

The National Longitudinal Survey of the high school class of 1972 was used to assess academic ability of elementary and secondary school teachers. Results are discussed. (Author/DF)

Drawing on data from a national longitudinal study (n=12,841), research examined the relationship of activities after college, particularly among students who spent the first year after college neither working nor in school, to later life. Results indicate that neither working nor attending school during this year had neither strong nor consistent…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972 were analyzed to determine the relationship between student achievement and self-attitudes. Indices of background and repeated measures of achievement and self-attitudes are available for 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1976 on 4,628 subjects as they moved through their undergraduate years. To…

An extension of the methods of path analysis to include studies of categorical data was described and exemplified in a causal study of college dropouts. The usual models and methods of causal (path) analysis were designed for the study of quantitative variables and are not appropriate when the variables under investigation are categorical.…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 indicate that women are more likely to withdraw only in two year colleges and that whites are more likely to withdraw than blacks. High school program, college grades, and educational aspiration are significantly related to withdrawal, but receipt of financial aid is not.…

The paper explores the role of higher education in the diffusion of cultural information. The paper analyzes the postsecondary curricular experience using data from the National Longitudinal Study for the Class of 1972 (NLS/72). Four stores of information are identified as the "primary" cultural store and secondary stores corresponding…