When Did Public Become the New Private?Grappling with Access to Postsecondary Education for Low-Income Students.

Postsecondary Access;Social Justice;Low-income;Privatization;Academic Preparation;Education;Social Sciences;Higher Education

Fisher, Amy S.Feldman, Naomi E. ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Postsecondary Access;    Social Justice;    Low-income;    Privatization;    Academic Preparation;    Education;    Social Sciences;    Higher Education;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/102467/asfisher_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

The shift to a knowledge economy has increased numbers of individuals pursuing postsecondary education.Low-income students do not access this process as high-income students do.Framed within a philosophy of justice, this three-study dissertation examines privatization and how one state increases postsecondary opportunity for low-income students.Fixed effects regression results from the first study (using public databases such as IPEDS, ICPSR, and Census) indicate that poverty rate is positively related to privatization, and per capita tax revenue and liberal ideologies are negatively associated with privatization.Indiana’s Twenty-first Century Scholars program guarantees financial aid and provides support services at regional centers if low-income students maintain a minimum high school GPA and satisfy other Scholar’s pledge components.Using data from the State Student Assistance Commission in Indiana and Student Information Systems on the 2004 high school cohort, two multinomial logits estimate academic preparation outcomes (honors or college preparatory versus a regular diploma) and college choice (four-year or research institutions versus two-year colleges), and a logit predicts college enrollment decisions.Compared to Pell recipients, Scholars whose parents participated in visits/events had higher odds of graduating with honors, and Scholars who visited regional centers increased their odds of completing the college preparation diploma.Logistic regression of all Scholars indicates that student counseling and parent participation in visits/events increase, and parent participation in academic preparation decreases, odds of enrolling.Compared to Pell recipients, the results of the college choice model demonstrate that Scholar participation in counseling decreases the odds of enrolling in four-year and research institutions.Parent participation in academic preparation increases the odds of enrolling in four-year and research institutions when adding academic preparation control variables; parent participation in visits/events and in career planning lose significance with those controls.Thus interventions (typically tax-supported) designed to build social capital increase academic preparation and college participation by low-income students.The three studies reveal a clash among the public and private goals of postsecondary education and equality of opportunity.Consequences of privatization include: reduced access, breakdown of the implied social contract, and increased social stratification.The dissertation concludes with recommendations for policymakers and future research.