The Unequal Benefits of College Completion – The Role of College Context

Citation

Gaydosh, Lauren & Harris, Kathie Mullan (2019). The Unequal Benefits of College Completion - The Role of College Context. Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. New York, NY.

Abstract

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we explore whether the health benefits of college completion vary by level of childhood disadvantage in early adulthood, and by race/ethnicity. We find that non-Hispanic black and Hispanic young adults from disadvantaged childhood environments do not realize the same physical health returns to college completion as non-Hispanic whites. We test the role of the college context in moderating this relationship, examining four characteristics: race/ethnic composition, socioeconomic composition, academic selectivity, and mobility. We find that disadvantaged minority students do experience health returns to college completion when they attend colleges with greater black and Hispanic student representation. Furthermore, the potential health costs of college completion among disadvantaged minority students is concentrated among those attending the most academically selective institutions.

Reference Type

Conference proceeding

Book Title

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association

Author(s)

Gaydosh, Lauren
Harris, Kathie Mullan

Year Published

2019

City of Publication

New York, NY

Reference ID

6756