FACTORS SHAPING THE PROBABILITY OF COMMUNITY VS 4-YEAR COLLEGE ENTRANCE AND ACQUISITION OF THE BA DEGREE

The author explores factors shaping community vs. four-year college entrance and acquisition of the B.A. degree for a sample of young men and women who entered college between the years 1966 and 1978. The sample was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experiences data. As expected, students coming from lower measured ability and from a less advantaged parental socioeconomic background have higher odds of entering a community than a four year institution. Living outside the South is also positively associated with community college entrance. This effect holds much stronger among blacks than whites. Women who perform well on IQ tests are more likely to enter a community college than comparable men. Community college entrants have lower odds of achieving the B.A. degree compared to comparable four year college entrants. An argument is made that community college entrance introduces a structural barrier to completion of the B.A. degree. This poses equality of opportunity questions as community college entrants are drawn from less advantaged segments,of our society.