3. Studying College Access and Choice: a Proposed Conceptual Model

The student financial aid programs that were authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act were intended to ensure that inadequate financial resources would not limit access to college. Nonetheless, despite substantial investment in student financial aid not only by the federal government but also by state governments, colleges and universities, and other entities, college access and choice remain stratified by socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity. Although students received about $122 billion in financial aid from all sources in 2003–04 (The College Board, 2004), individuals with low family incomes, individuals whose parents have not attended college, African-Americans, and Hispanics are less likely than other individuals to enroll in college. When they do enroll, these groups are concentrated in lower price institutions, such as public two-year colleges and less selective four-year colleges and universities (Baum and Payea, 2004; Ellwood and Kane, 2000; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2003, 2004; Thomas and Perna, 2004). For example, although college enrollment rates increased over the past two decades for 18to 24-year-old high school graduates regardless of family income, college enrollment rates continue to be substantially lower for students in the lowest family income quartile than for students in the highest family income quartile (Mortenson, 2001). The current 30percentage point gap in college enrollment rates between low-income and high-income students is comparable to the size of the gap in the 1960s (Gladieux and Swail, 1999). Descriptive analyses show that smaller percentages of students with low family incomes than of students with high family incomes expect to graduate from college, take a college entrance examination, apply to a four-year college, and enroll in a four-year college,