GKristine Rosales and Giambattista Davis (Educational Leadership and Policy)
Erin Macdiarmid (Educational Leadership and Policy)
Zoom Link https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/99476713057?pwd=S2RqZ2tSZUQ4Sm5iWi96QTIwVjVkZz09
Abstract:
First-generation colleges students are a unique population of students on campus whose parents have not completed a 4-year degree. The literature describes how the potential risk faced by first generation students is greater due to the significant difference in experiences and needs that these students have. Institutions of higher education must evolve to be able to tailor their services and resources to help students, administrators, and faculty to be prepared to work with first-generation students. Students who are first-generation at times lack the guidance to navigate the environments and hidden curriculum of higher education thus resulting in higher drop out rates, longer times spend to graduate and less sense of community at the institution (Davis, 2010; Gofen, 2009; Ward et al., 2012). Ward et al. (2012) argued for the need for higher education to help first generation students in that “First-generation students need to be more visible to educators, and they require a unique support system to prosper and succeed in college,” (Ward et al., 2012, p. 3).
There is an increased awareness to the opportunities in assisting first-generation students in making the most out of their college experience, but institutions must welcome positive change that can affect these populations on campus. We intend to examine the relationship between family background, such as parental educational attainment and income, H.S. academic performance, SAT scores, with Time to Graduation and Employment/Salary 1-year post-graduation. Our theory is related to the first-generation college students from low-income households who will struggle more in their college performance. As many colleges go through a decrease in enrollments and funding, important decisions are made in support services for students. We hope to make the case for the need to keep support services for those who may potentially struggle more and better understand the relationship between variables affecting the time it takes students to graduate and the job outlook they have the first year after graduation. Utilizing the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we intend to examine the Family Background, Parental Educational Attainment, Familial Income, Immigration Status, H.S. GPA, SAT scores effect on Post Graduation Employment Income and Time to graduation. The data utilized will include Base Year (2002) , first Follow-up (2004), Third Follow-up (2012), and Postsecondary Transcripts (2013) data.Rationale: As many colleges go through a decrease in enrollments and funding, important decisions are made in support services for students.
Abstract:
With the rising costs of higher education, states are creating tuition guarantee policies for students who enroll at state public institutions. These policies are mitigating the cost of a four-year degree for middle income families, who previously may have sought out community colleges for an affordable start to higher education. New York State introduced an income-based college scholarship to benefit middle class families in 2017 titled the Excelsior scholarship. The Excelsior scholarship is a last dollar scholarship and can be used at any two or four-year public institution to fund the cost of tuition up to four years. State operated financial aid programs in the form of grants, whether they be income based or merit based, positively impact student enrollment in higher education, but also might negatively impact enrollment trends at community colleges and non-selective private institutions. This study aims to understand whether the Excelsior scholarship is negatively affecting NYS community college enrollment, as well as non-selective NYS private college enrollment.
Research from other state income and merit-based grant programs demonstrate a price response to student enrollment decisions. The New Mexico Lottery scholarship offers all residents a last dollar scholarship at any public institution of higher education if enrollment is initiated within sixteen months from graduation, and this scholarship led to a significant increase in minority and low-income student enrollment at the four-year state institutions (Binder & Ganderton, 2004). The Indiana Twenty Century Scholars, an income-based program, this scholarship increased college access and enrollment at both state public and private institutions (St. John, 2004). The Georgia HOPE scholarship, a merit-based scholarship, increased public college enrollment, but may have not increased college access as the scholarship did more to keep Georgia’s top students in the state (Conwell & Mustard, 2004). Finally, the Tennessee promise, offers state residents a last dollar scholarship at two-year institutions, resulting in an increase in enrollment at its two-year institutions (Meehan, Hagood, Callahan & Kent, 2019). These state income and merit based financial aid programs increase the college going expectation among students and impact college enrollment; however, the enrollment at the institution is influence by the financial cost to the student.
This study is an institutional level analysis of student enrollment trends in NYS over a ten-year period, specifically looking to see if the enrollment trends at two-year colleges and private non-selective institutions decrease after the introduction of the Excelsior scholarship in 2017. A fixed effects analysis will be conducted, controlling for the effect of time due to the pandemic of 2020. NYS public, private, four-year, and two-year student enrollment data from the years of 2010 through 2021 will be reviewed using the variables of year, applications, enrollment, sector, and tuition. In NYS it is expected that the enrollment patterns over the ten-year period will follow a parallel trajectory up until the introduction of the Excelsior scholarship, it is at that point we anticipate the enrollment pattern at NYS community colleges and non-selective private colleges will decrease. To serve as a control for our study, the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania will be included in our analysis. These states share similarities in higher education to NYS, and it is expected their enrollment patterns will continue on the same trajectory throughout the ten-year period.