STUDYING COLLEGE ACCESS AND CHOICE: A PROPOSED CONCEPTUAL MODEL

Abstract

This chapter provides a comprehensive review, synthesis, and critique of the approaches that researchers have used and offers recommendations, based on this review, to guide future research. A primary contribution of this chapter is to propose a conceptual model for studying student college choice. Recognizing that neither approach alone is sufficient for understanding differences across groups in student college choice, the proposed conceptual model integrates aspects of economic and sociological approaches. The model assumes that an individual’s assessment of the benefits and costs of an investment in college is shaped by the individual’s habitus, as well as the family, school, and community context, the higher education context, and the social, economic, and policy context.