A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment

Autor/inn/en	Smith, Jonathan; Stange, Kevin
Titel	A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment
Quelle	In: Education Finance and Policy, 11 (2016) 4, S.369-403 (35 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1557-3060
DOI	10.1162/EDFP_a_00209
Schlagwörter	Educational Quality; Educational Attainment; Bachelors Degrees; Barriers; College Transfer Students; Two Year Colleges; Peer Groups; Aptitude Tests; High Schools; Achievement Gap; Role; High School Graduates; Two Year College Students; Comparative Analysis; Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; 'Bachelor''s degrees'; Bachelor-Studiengang; Hochschulwechsel; Schulwechsel; Studienortwechsel; Gleichaltrigengruppe; Peer Group; Aptitude test; Eignungsprüfung; Eignungstest; High school; Oberschule; Rollen; High schools; Graduate; Graduates; Absolvent; Absolventin
Abstract	Students starting at a two-year college are much less likely to graduate than similar students who start at a four-year college, but the sources of this attainment gap are largely unexplained. This paper investigates the attainment consequences of sector choice and peer quality among recent high school graduates. Using data on all Preliminary SAT (PSAT) test-takers between 2004 and 2006, we develop a novel measure of peer ability for most two-year and four-year colleges in the United States--the average PSAT of enrolled students. We document substantial variation in this measure of peer quality across two-year colleges and nontrivial overlap between the two-year and four-year sectors. We find that half the gap in bachelor's degree attainment rates across sectors is explained by differences in peers, leaving room for structural barriers to transferring between institutions to also play an important role. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	MIT Press. 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. Tel: 617-253-2889; Fax: 617-253-1709; e-mail: journals-rights@mit.edu; Web site: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/edfp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01