This research analyzes the determinants affecting access to postsecondary education with particular attention to the role of college preparation information. Prior research on the college choice process and college access has primarily been conducted in two spheres: academic preparation and financial aid. While these two strands of literature are often treated as oppositional hypotheses, they need not be. This article fuses the two bodies of research while discussing the relatively untreated role of information concerning both academic preparation and financial aid as an important determinant in a students probability of accessing postsecondary education. The evolution of empirical models regarding important determinants in postsecondary access are presented with the proposition of next steps, including the role of information, that allows for a more fully specified model in studying the variables that affect whether a student continues her education after high school graduation.
Prior research has treated educational expectations and academic performance as static elements in the college choice process. This dissertation analyzes the impact of college preparation information on evolving educational expectations and academic performance throughout students secondary schooling. Furthermore, I analyze the direct role of academic and financial aid information on the probability of enrolling in various levels of postsecondary education. As information is discovered to have an influence on changing educational expectations, this suggests that the influence of student expectations on postsecondary enrollment is an indirect avenue through which college preparation information may yield influence. Results indicate that the reception of early and late college preparation information possesses explanatory value in models that predict the probability of postsecondary attainment for high school graduates.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-11092006-225240 |
| Date | 13 November 2006 |
| Creators | Zeidner, Timothy Lanse |
| Contributors | David S. Cordray, James C. Hearn, Thomas M Smith, William R. Doyle |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11092006-225240/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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