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Author: Klassen, Peter T.
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Klassen, Peter T. |
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Placing the Community College Effect in Context: An Institution Serving Uncertainty and Marginality Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1990 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): College Dropouts; College Education; College Graduates; Colleges; Educational Attainment Studies of the educational attainment process cite an apparent negative effect on educational attainment of students beginning their college experience at the community college. This deficit has been labeled the "community college effect." Placing the community college effect in context requires examination of three problems. First, identify and describe high school students making the transition to two-year and four-year colleges, and identify how the students at two-year colleges differ from those at four-year colleges. Second, distinguish the effect of institutional type on college persistence of two-year and four-year students from the effect of individual input characteristics. Third, distinguish the effect of institutional type on educational progress of two-year and four-year students from the effect of individual input characteristics. Using data from the NLSY, the author analyzes (1) the high school to college transition for students graduating from high school in 1983 and (2) patterns of college persistence and educational progress between 1984 and 1985 for students at both community and four-year colleges. Descriptive statistics indicate that students attending two-year colleges are significantly different on nine characteristics from both individuals not attending college and students attending four-year colleges. Results indicate educational goals and high school educational achievement are more important than income and family background in determining high school to college placement; that the primary difference between two-year and four-year entering students is their educational achievement; that employment, residence, and aptitude are more important than college type in determining college persistence. In contrast to these findings, other results indicate college type, educational values, and aptitude are important in determining transfer versus continuation at the same school enrollment patterns. Finally, lower educational values and full-time employment are most important in increasing the probability of being a dropout versus being a stopout (leaving then returning). Results from a LISREL analysis indicate college type is significant as a determinant of college progress for non-minority males and Afro-American females, but not for their complements nor for Hispanics. These results provide a foundation for challenging interpretation of the community college in that this effect results from community college students' involvement in conflicting social role sets which result in marginal commitments to the student role rather than from an institutional process. |
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Bibliography Citation
Klassen, Peter T. Placing the Community College Effect in Context: An Institution Serving Uncertainty and Marginality. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1990. |