Project Title
College Access & Student Knowledge: Sources of Information Within Georgia Military College
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Stephanie McClure
Abstract
Over the years, public higher education enrollment has increased, but certain students are not offered the same advantages, or susceptible to consuming the same information for success within the college access process. About 87% of high school students dream of attending college, but only about 52% of low-income students apply to college whereas about 82% of students who come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds end up applying to college (Deslonde and Becerra 2018). Although it may seem that as time goes on, more students have access to post-secondary education, there remain gaps in student’s knowledge which impacts their college choice. (Kimura-Walsh et al., 2009). For instance, Harper & Griffin’s (2011) study on low-income high achieving Black males noted that many of these students were successful “prepped for the elite” (p. 51) having been primed by college preparatory and leadership development programs like Prep for Prep and Posse scholar. Having attended elite high schools, the students in their study felt a strong connection to attending Ivy-league and other prestigious options. Strayhorn (2010) noted that “Black males from low-SES families are at risk for failure in college because the sociocultural capital that they inherit (e.g., caring, community, giving back) is less valued and often unacknowledged or underprivileged in school settings by teachers and counselors” (p. 320). In order to help fill these gaps, Strayhorn (2010) discussed how pre-college programs impact application and success in college. Private prep high schools provide similar college preparatory resources for their students which passively opts-in students to the college process (Tierney and Venegas 2009). Preparatory schools adopt and promote college-culture to students, and in order to be successful this culture must be equitable and accessible to all students through efforts of all faculty consistently. Counselors that passively opt students into the college conversation causes students who do not want to pursue college to actively opt-out of this process which could lead to a difference in treatment by counselors and teachers who openly encourage attending post-secondary education. Although the counselor-to-student ratio is much smaller at private schools, counselors are not guaranteed to be beneficial during the college process (Goings and Sewell 2019). Utilizing a qualitative case study method, we are analyzing the college counseling process experienced by current high school students in one rural county. Partnering with the private high school, Georgia Military College, we will compare the outcomes of students' access and college decisions to their college advising experiences to uncover any gaps or influences that create a disconnect for students during the Three Phase Model for Student College Choice (Hossler and Gallagher 1987). We anticipate that the different outcomes of students' college access and choice will heavily depend on the structure of the counseling program as well as the impact of family as an external factor of influence. This research may provide data for future research regarding the disproportionate resources for college access students may receive, even within schools that attract students with the promise of college prep.
College Access & Student Knowledge: Sources of Information Within Georgia Military College
Over the years, public higher education enrollment has increased, but certain students are not offered the same advantages, or susceptible to consuming the same information for success within the college access process. About 87% of high school students dream of attending college, but only about 52% of low-income students apply to college whereas about 82% of students who come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds end up applying to college (Deslonde and Becerra 2018). Although it may seem that as time goes on, more students have access to post-secondary education, there remain gaps in student’s knowledge which impacts their college choice. (Kimura-Walsh et al., 2009). For instance, Harper & Griffin’s (2011) study on low-income high achieving Black males noted that many of these students were successful “prepped for the elite” (p. 51) having been primed by college preparatory and leadership development programs like Prep for Prep and Posse scholar. Having attended elite high schools, the students in their study felt a strong connection to attending Ivy-league and other prestigious options. Strayhorn (2010) noted that “Black males from low-SES families are at risk for failure in college because the sociocultural capital that they inherit (e.g., caring, community, giving back) is less valued and often unacknowledged or underprivileged in school settings by teachers and counselors” (p. 320). In order to help fill these gaps, Strayhorn (2010) discussed how pre-college programs impact application and success in college. Private prep high schools provide similar college preparatory resources for their students which passively opts-in students to the college process (Tierney and Venegas 2009). Preparatory schools adopt and promote college-culture to students, and in order to be successful this culture must be equitable and accessible to all students through efforts of all faculty consistently. Counselors that passively opt students into the college conversation causes students who do not want to pursue college to actively opt-out of this process which could lead to a difference in treatment by counselors and teachers who openly encourage attending post-secondary education. Although the counselor-to-student ratio is much smaller at private schools, counselors are not guaranteed to be beneficial during the college process (Goings and Sewell 2019). Utilizing a qualitative case study method, we are analyzing the college counseling process experienced by current high school students in one rural county. Partnering with the private high school, Georgia Military College, we will compare the outcomes of students' access and college decisions to their college advising experiences to uncover any gaps or influences that create a disconnect for students during the Three Phase Model for Student College Choice (Hossler and Gallagher 1987). We anticipate that the different outcomes of students' college access and choice will heavily depend on the structure of the counseling program as well as the impact of family as an external factor of influence. This research may provide data for future research regarding the disproportionate resources for college access students may receive, even within schools that attract students with the promise of college prep.