Low-income students who are academically marginal are more likely to complete college when they forgo two-year institutions and choose higher-quality four-year institutions than they do ordinarily, according to a new study released recently by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The authors of the study—titled “College Access, Initial College Choice and Degree Completion”—say their research is consistent with prior research that found students suffer a graduation rate “penalty” that reduces their chances of graduation when they go to a two-year instead of a four-year college.
The study also found that academic high fliers aren’t the only ones who benefit when they seek to “overmatch”—that is, enroll in a college where their peer group is made up of students who are stronger academically.
“The key takeaway is precisely college quality matters to low-income, lower-performing students, not just high-performing ones,” Joshua Goodman, lead author of the study and Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, told Diverse.
He said the study—like others before it—suggests that students should “make choices that expand the set of college options available to them.”
“For many students, choosing a campus with a higher completion rate will increase the chance of completing their own degrees,” Goodman said.
The study comes at a time when scholars continue to probe the degree to which institutional quality impacts graduation rates for students from families of lesser economic means.
