Social Class and College Costs: Examining the Financial Nexus Between College Choice and Persistence

Abstract

This study examined how students' enrollment responses to college costs--in both college choice and persistence decisions--vary by social class. Findings revealed substantial class-based patterns of enrollment behavior in response to prematriculation perceptions of college costs and actual postmatriculation costs, consistently restricting postsecondary opportunities for lower-income relative to higher-income students.