The Relative Roles of Academic, Ascribed, and Socioeconomic Characteristics in College Destinations

Abstract

A multiple regression analysis using a large, natianally representative sample of college freshmen of 1975 suggests that educationally relevant factors have greater power in explaining the nature of college destinations than ascriptive or socioeconomic backgroundfactors, but the latter still play a significant role, net of educationalfactors. Specifically, it appears that both the academically and socioeconomically rich become richer (i.e., attend schools having superior intellectual and material resources) while the academically and socioeconomically poor become poorer. The net influences of the ascriptive factors of race, ethnicity, and sex are more mixed. The implications of these most recent findings on the topic of college destinations are discussed.