Higher education enrollment patterns by school district characteristics: An analysis of relationships between student educational contexts and postsecondary enrollment

Increasing postsecondary access and attainment for historically underserved students is an ongoing priority for states and higher education institutions, but the educational and community contexts informing student enrollment decisions needs to be better understood. This study used 2016-2017 K-12 district characteristics and postsecondary enrollment outcomes for 766 districts in the state of Texas to identify relationships between district-level factors and postsecondary enrollment. Findings indicate the district proportion of historically underrepresented students, especially economically disadvantaged students, is negatively associated with postsecondary enrollment in four-year institutions, but instructional and academic resources available in the districts were found to be more significantly associated with enrollment outcomes than demographic factors. Districts with higher proportions of economically disadvantaged students in this study had significantly higher percentages of teachers with less than five years of experience and lower percentages of students demonstrating college readiness in English and Math. Findings also indicate that district proximity in relation to higher education options, specifically location in an area identified as an education desert, was significantly related to lower rates of college readiness and four-year enrollment than districts with more higher education access.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Higher Education

Grantor

Texas Tech University

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Harwood, Yvonne Holly

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Garcia, Hugo

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• McNaughtan, Jon
• Almekdash, Mhd. Hasan

• Postsecondary Enrollment
• K-12 District Characteristics
• High-Poverty Educational Context
• College Readiness
• Education Deserts
• Rurality

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2346/87508

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/87508