DEGREE ASPIRATIONS OF TWO-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

The nation's 1,100 public and private two-year colleges play a critical role in providing educational opportunities to a diverse population. Today, a large proportion of students begin their education at two-year colleges and take advantage of the academic transfer function. Many of these students aspire to transfer to four-year colleges or universities to pursue bachelor's degrees. Using the status attainment and undergraduate socialization process frameworks, this study examined the extent to which both internal and external factors influence, or explain, the educational aspirations of students at public and private two-year colleges. Specifically, this study examined a sample of over 13,000 college freshmen students' educational aspirations separately for two groups, students enrolled in public and private two-year colleges around the nation. For each group, analyses addressed the extent to which highest academic aspirations are associated with factors such as background characteristics, high school experiences, and selected affective measures. The findings suggest differences in how these factors operate for students at public and private two-year colleges. Finally, this study raises important policy implications and presents suggestions for future research.