College Attendance among Low-Income Youth - Explaining Differences across Wisconsin High Schools

Oct 15, 2026

Bolstering low-income youths’ postsecondary participation is essential to reduce educational disadvantages and raise overall societal attainment. This study examines why low-income students’ college attendance differs across Wisconsin high schools, even when academic achievement is accounted for. Using population-level data, it first documents sizable income-based disparities in postsecondary participation, then links between-school variation to several geographic school characteristics. Organizational features explain virtually no additional differences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Low-income participation gap

School-level variation and research gap

Study approach and findings

doi: 10.26529/cepsj.1047 College Attendance among Low-Income Youth: Explaining Differences across Wisconsin High Schools Christian Michael Smith*1 and Noah Hirschl2 • Bolstering low-income students’ postsecondary participation is important to remediate these students’ disadvantages and to improve society’s overall level of education. Recent research has demonstrated that secondary schools vary considerably in their tendencies to send students to postsecondary education, but existing research has not systematically identified the school characteristics that explain this variation. Identifying these characteristics can help improve low-income students’postsecondary outcomes. We identify relevant characteristics using population-level data from Wisconsin, a mid-size state in the United States. We first show that Wisconsin’s income-based disparities in postsecondary participation are wide, even net of academic achievement. Next, we show that several geographic characteristics of schools help explain between-secondary school variation in low-income students’postsecondary outcomes. Finally, we test whether a dense set of school organisational features explain any remaining variation. We find that these features explain virtually no variation in secondary schools’ tendencies to send low-income students to postsecondary education. Keywords: college attendance, educational inequality, geography, low-income students, school effects 1 *Corresponding Author. University of California Merced, United States of America; [csmith97@ucmerced.edu](csmith97@ucmerced.edu). 2 Doctoral Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States of America. 34 college attendance among low-income youth: explaining differences across ... Obiskovanje srednjih šol med mladimi z nizkimi dohodki: pojasnjevanje razlik med srednjimi šolami v Wisconsinu Christian Michael Smith in Noah Hirschl • Spodbujanje udeležbe dijakov z nizkimi dohodki v posekundarnem iz-obraževanju je pomembno za odpravo pomanjkljivosti teh dijakov inizboljšanje splošne ravni izobrazbe v družbi. Nedavne raziskave so pokazale, da se srednje šole precej razlikujejo v svojih težnjah po vključevanju dijakov v posekundarno izobraževanje, a obstoječe raziskaveniso sistematično opredelile značilnosti šol, ki bi pojasnile te razlike. Opredelitev teh značilnosti lahko pomaga izboljšati dosežke dijakov znizkimi dohodki v posekundarnem izobraževanju. Ustrezne značilnostismo opredelili s podatki na ravni prebivalstva iz Wisconsina, srednje velike zvezne države v Združenih državah Amerike. Najprej smo pokazali, da so razlike med učenci v Wisconsinu glede na dohodek pri udeležbiv posekundarnem izobraževanju velike, tudi če ne upoštevamo učnih dosežkov. Nato smo pokazali, da več geografskih značilnosti šol pomaga pojasniti razlike med srednjimi šolami v rezultatih učencev z nizkimi dohodki v posekundarnem izobraževanju. Nazadnje smo preverili, ali gost nabor organizacijskih značilnosti šol pojasnjuje preostale razlike. Ugotovili smo, da te značilnosti ne pojasnjujejo skoraj nobenih razlik v težnjah srednjih šol, da bi dijake z nizkimi dohodki vključile v posekundarno izobraževanje. Ključne besede: obiskovanje srednjih šol, neenakost v izobraževanju, geografija, učenci z nizkimi dohodki, učinki šole Introduction [In the U.S. at](In the U.S. at) large, low-income youth are far less likely to participate in postsecondary education than their more economically advantaged counterparts. A low-income individual is less likely to attend postsecondary education (college in the U.S.), especially a baccalaureate college,3 than even economically advantaged individuals with the same level of academic achievement (Belley & Lochner, 2007). At minimum, this disparity is important because baccalaureate college attendance is associated with a hefty wage premium. The value of attending a baccalaureate college for the typical secondary school graduate is estimated to be between $85,000 and $300,0

FAQs

Why does the study focus on college attendance among low-income youth?

It addresses the importance of increasing postsecondary participation to remediate disadvantages and improve society’s overall educational level, since low-income youth are less likely to attend college.

What does the study find about income-based disparities in Wisconsin?

It finds that Wisconsin’s income-based disparities in postsecondary participation are wide, even after netting out academic achievement.

Do school organizational features explain differences in low-income students’ college attendance across schools?

No. The study tests a dense set of organizational features and concludes they explain virtually no remaining variation across secondary schools’ tendencies to send low-income students to postsecondary education.

Oct 15, 2026

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