What's Taking You so Long? Examining the Effects of Social Class on Completing a Bachelor's Degree in Four Years

Autor/inn/en	Zarifa, David; Kim, Jeannie; Seward, Brad; Walters, David
Titel	What's Taking You so Long? Examining the Effects of Social Class on Completing a Bachelor's Degree in Four Years
Quelle	In: Sociology of Education, 91 (2018) 4, S.290-322 (33 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0038-0407
DOI	10.1177/0038040718802258
Schlagwörter	Time to Degree; Social Class; Bachelors Degrees; College Graduates; Longitudinal Studies; Nontraditional Students; Socioeconomic Background; Parent Background; Institutional Characteristics; Educational Attainment; Family Income; Intellectual Disciplines; Student Characteristics; Undergraduate Students; Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (NCES) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Social classes; Soziale Klasse; 'Bachelor''s degrees'; Bachelor-Studiengang; Hochschulabsolvent; Hochschulabsolventin; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Sozioökonomische Lage; Elternhaus; Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; Familieneinkommen; Geisteswissenschaften
Abstract	Despite improved access in expanded postsecondary systems, the great majority of bachelor's degree graduates are taking considerably longer than the allotted four years to complete their four-year degrees. Taking longer to finish one's BA has become so pervasive in the United States that it has become the norm for official statistics released by the Department of Education to report graduation rates across a six-year window. While higher education scholars have increasingly explored how social class impacts college dropout, attrition, and completion, they have yet to examine the role social class plays in completing a four-year bachelor's degree on time. In this paper, we draw on the most recent cohort of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Survey (2008-2009) to examine who completes their bachelor's degrees on time. Our results indicate that despite controlling for academic performance, educational behaviors, program characteristics, and institutional characteristics, graduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds do experience difficulties completing their degrees on time. Moreover, our results also reveal that the nature of these relationships vary for traditional and nontraditional students. Our findings highlight another important, albeit less obvious, way where inequality is maintained in expanded postsecondary systems. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01