EMERGING VARIATIONS IN POSTSECONDARY ATTENDANCE PATTERNS - AN INVESTIGATION OF PART-TIME, DELAYED, AND NONDEGREE ENROLLMENT

This research assessed hypotheses regarding several nontraditional styles of postsecondary enrollment: enrolling part-time, delaying postsecondary enrollment for a year or more beyond high-school graduation, and entering nondegree-granting programs. The research was conducted using a sample of 8,203 high-school graduates drawn from the national High School and Beyond data set. Among the findings of the multivariate statistical analyses is evidence that socioeconomically disadvantaged graduates have disproportionately pursued each of the nontraditional enrollment options, even in the context of controls for the respondents' differing academic characteristics. The theoretical, management, and policy implications of these results are discussed.