Selection and Context as Factors Affecting the Probability of Graduation from College

Eldon L. Wegner, William H. Sewell American Journal of Sociology, Volume 75, Issue 4, Part 2: Status and Achievement in the U.S.: 1969 (Jan., 1970), 665-679.

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Selection and Context as Factors Affecting the P Graduation from College' Probability o
Eldon L. Wegner University of Hawaii William H . Sewell University of Wisconsin This study focuses on the relation of type of college attended to graduation as a factor in the educational selection process. The analysis is based on a sample of Wisconsin males who were followed up seven years after graduation from high school. Because different types of institutions select different types of students, it is necessary to control relevant student characteristics to determine the existence of contextual effects. A stepwise multiple regression analysis shows that type of college attended explains a small but significant proportion of variance in college graduation beyond what can be accounted for by measured intelligence, rank in high school class, socioeconomic background, and level of occupational aspiration in high school. Other findings are that different types of colleges have different effects for students of different socioeconomic status and intelligence levels and that the selection process into different types of schools has some effect on the overall educational selection process. Sociologists have often noted the important role of the educational system in advanced industrial societies for the processes of status allocation and social mobility. Studies of the American labor market as well as American educational ideology stress that a college education is increasingly a prerequisite to attainment of the most desirable positions (see U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1964). Much research in the last two decades has explored the selection processes between high school and college. Primary attention has been devoted to the educational aspirations of high school seniors and to the characteristics of those enrolling in college (e.g., Warner, Havighurst, and Loeb 1944; White 1952; Wolfle 1954; Sewell, Haller, and Strauss 1957; Sewell 1964; Turner 1964; Sewell and Armer 1966; Sewell and Shah 1967, 1968a and 1968b). Fewer studies have focused on persistence in college, that is, on the selection processes by which individuals are sorted into those who drop out of college and those who graduate (Iffert 1958; Darley 1962; Summerskill 1962; Eckland 1965; Sewell and Shah 1967; Panos and Astin 1968). This is
1 The research reported in this paper was financed by a grant from the National Institutea of Health, U . S . Public Health Service (M-6275). We acknowledge the services of the University of Wisconsin Computing Center and the University of Hawaii Computing Center and wish to thank Otis Dudley Duncan, George Bohrmtedt, and Vimal P. Shah for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

American Journal of Sociology true even though a high proportion (30-60 percent) of those enrolling in colleges do not complete their bachelor's degree and despite indications that obtaining the degree is of critical importance for obtaining a position of high social status (Eckland 1965). The study reported here focuses on selection after entering college. Most studies of persistence in college have concentrated on the influence of individual characteristics such as sex, academic ability, and socioeconomic background. Virtually unexamined is the influence of institutional characteristics on the persistence of students. Yet one of the most striking features of American higher education is the variety of institutions which exist. American colleges differ in their characteristics, but little is known about the consequences of these differences for the life chances of students in the higher educational system. This study explores the relationship of the type of college attended to graduation from college. Recent work indicates that institutional characteristics do influence the probability that students will continue their education into graduate and professional school (Astin 1962, 1963; Thistlethwaite 1965; Davis 1966). However, few studies focus on the relation between type of college attended and withdrawal from college. In one study Iffert (1958) followed a national sample of freshman men for a period of four years in an attempt to determine the relative holding power of different types of institutions. Technological institutions graduated the highest proportion of their male entrants, followed by liberal arts colleges and universities, while teachers colleges graduated the lowest proportion. In general, public institutions were found to have lower graduation rates than private schools (Iffert 1958, pp. 16-18). Unfortunately, comparing the proportions of college entrants who eventually graduate from those institutions does not give a good estimate of institutional differences in the probability of graduating. In the first place, schools recruit students selectively; individuals are not randomly distributed. Selection takes place on the basis of a variety of student background characteristics. Since many of these student characteristics are related to persistence in college, differences in graduation rates may reflect differences in the types of students recruited more than differences between types of schools. The present study aims to determine whether institutional differences in graduation rates persist after controlling for relevant background characteristics of students. A second difficultyin determining probabilities of graduating from different institutions stems from the fact that, of those students who enter a school, the actual percentage graduating in a given time period will reflect the proportion still attending college and the proportion who transferred to other schools, as well as the proportion who dropped out of college. In the present study those students who transferred or who were still attending college are eliminated from the sample and thus from the base when computing graduation rates of institutions. Institutional differences in transfer ratios and in attendance in college over an extended time are regarded as interesting research questions requiring a separate analysis. The findings reported here reflect institutional differences in the graduation of those stu-

Factors Affecting College Graduation dents who do not transfer from their first college and who are not attending college seven years after graduation from high school. A more recent attempt to study the effect of type of institution attended on persistence in college is that by Panos and Astin (1968). A set of environmental characteristics of colleges, mainly interpersonal relations in the college and in policy orientations of administrators, was found to have little effect on whether a student completed four years of college over a four-year period, after controlling for student input characteristics. Their study differs from the one reported in this paper in the type of college variables studied and in the definition of persistence in college.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation of type of college attended to graduation. Four specific questions will be explored: (1) Do different types of colleges recruit students with different characteristics, and are these characteristics related to the probability of graduating from college? (2) Are there institutional differences in graduation rates which cannot be accounted for by the background characteristics of students or by didferential rates of students transferring or students with extended undergraduate careers? (3) From what types of schools do students of different intelligence and socioeconomic levels experience the greatest probability of graduating? (4) Does the process of selection into institutions influence the probability of completing college beyond the effects of different college contexts? Are students of different intelligence and socioeconomic status distributed among institutions in accordance with their chances of graduating from them?
THE DATA

The data available for this study are based on a one-third probability sample of all 1957 high school seniors in the state of Wisconsin. Numerous items of information were obtained from a questionnaire administered in the high schools, from high school records, and from a statewide testing program. I n June 1964, a follow-up study was conducted by mail questionnaire sent to the parents of the students to determine the students' posthigh school educational and occupational achievements. A final response rate of 87.2 percent was obtained, and a subsequent analysis indicated that there is no response bias in the follow-up on a large number of important characteristics. (For more detail on the follow-up procedure, see Sewell and Shah 1967.) The present study is based on the data in the follow-up study of men who attended a four-year college between 1957 and 1964. The regional nature of the sample may limit the generalizations possible from these findings, for the higher educational opportunities available in a state undoubtedly influence who goes to college and who successfully completes a degree. Wisconsin compares favorably with most states in the number and diversity of opportunities it provides.

American Journal of Sociology The students in this sample attended 126 institutions, most of which were attended by a single respondent, with a few schools attended by a large number. Three institutions were attended by a sufficient nuniber to permit viewing their graduation rates individually with some confidence of reliability. These are a high-prestige state university (University of Wisconsin, Madison), attended by 281 respondents; an urban state university (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), with 132 respondents; and a Catholic urban university (Marquette University), with 104 respondents. The remaining 123 institutions have been grouped into categories in order to obtain a sufficient number of respondents to permit analysis. The categories used in such an analysis should be homogeneous, containing schools of a similar type, while distinguishing between major characteristics of institutions which are likely to influence the quality of experience and chance of completing college. Many of the major differences between institutions are found in the distinctions between state colleges, universities, liberal arts colleges, and technical and professional schools. A standard source on colleges and universities (Irwin 1960) was used to categorize the remaining institutions in this way.2 The nine state colleges (currently known as Wisconsin State Universities) attended by 394 respondents constitute an important and homogeneous s a single system category of institutions. These schools are administered a and they have similar facilities and curricula and recruit similar students. Historically these schools have served as teacher-training institutions, though more recently they have expanded their curricula. They are mostly undergraduate institutions and have relatively low admission requirements. Universities are schools with large enrollments and diversified curricula, including substantial graduate programs which offer doctorates. All of the universities attended by students in this sample, except for the three specific schools mentioned above, were outside Wisconsin and are designated out-of-state universities. Most of the 92 respondents attending these schools were enrolled in other Big Ten universities which have relatively high admission standards. Liberal arts colleges characteristically have small enrollments, little or no graduate program, and a general as opposed to a professional or technical curriculum. They are usually privately owned and controlled and are more expensive than state-supported schools. One problem in generalizing about liberal arts colleges, however, is the marked differences in quality among them. In view of this, two categories of this type of school are used in this
A question may be raised a s t o why three individual institutions are separated from the general categories in this analysis. The major justification stems from the disproportionately large number of respondents who attended these schools. I f these schools were placed in the general categories, the general categories would almost exclusively reflect the effects of these particular schools and obscure the general effect of schools in the category. A further reason for viewing these schools separately is the substantive interest in the effect of attending these particular institutions for this sample. Analogous institutions could probably be specified for students in other states.

Factors Affecting College Graduation analysis: good liberal arts colleges (93 respondents) and other liberal arts colleges (93 respondent^).^ Finally, a residual category of other four-year colleges yielded 62 respondents. Schools in this category generally have a specific curriculum which is vocationally oriented. Technical institutes and religious training schools predominate, though art, music and other types of schools are also included here. While this category is more heterogeneous than is ideal, there are too few respondents attending these schools to make further distinctions. In summary, the 126 institutions are grouped into eight nominal categories: high-prestige state university (University of Wisconsin, Madison), urban state university (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), state colleges (Wisconsin State Universities), Catholic urban university (Marquette University), out-of-state universities (mainly other Big Ten universities), good
TABLE 1

T y p e of College

Dropped Out

Trnnaferred

Btill Attending

Graduated

Total

High-prestige state university. Urban state university. ...... State colleges.. ............. Catholic urban university. .... Out-of-state universities. ..... Goodliberalartscolleges..... Other liberal arts colleges.. ... Other four-year colleges. ..... Total. ................... Total N.. ................

21.8 47.8 38.8 20.3 28.3 11.6 28.7 18.6

17.0 20.7 15.9 14.9 23.9 26.9 31.6 18.6,

4.5 7.6 9.6 3.9 7.5 1.5 0.0 7.0 6.2 104

56.7 23.9 35.7 60.9 40.3 60.0 39.7 55.8 44.4 748

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

358 184 529 128 134 130 136 86 1,'685

30.0 . 19.4 505 328

...

* Chi square for this table ia significnnt beyond the .05 level of confidence.
liberal arts colleges (high on a quality-of-school index), other liberal arts colleges (low on a quality-of-school index), and other four-year colleges (mainly technical and religious training schools). These categories encompass most of the major distinctions among institutions of higher education. The distribution of the sample among these eight categories of institutions is presented in table 1 along with the percentage experiencing different outcomes at each type of college by the time of the follow-up study in 1964.
The distinction between good and other liberal arts colleges is based on a quality-ofcolleges scale. A principal-components factor analysis was performed with the following items: percentage of the faculty holding a doctorate, average faculty salary, whether or not a Phi Beta Kappa chapter exists a t the institution, the proportion of graduates who obtain a doctorate, the amount per student spent on books and periodicals for the library, and several indicators of selectivity of the student body. The loadings on the first factor extracted formed the basis for combining the items into a single scale. The cutting point used in this analysis is that above the ranking of the state colleges. In this paper, good liberal arts colleges are institutions which rank higher than state colleges in quality but which are not necessarily recognized as outstanding or prestigious schools.

American Journal of Sociology This paper will focus on the 1,253 male students who either dropped out of or graduated from the first college attended; the 328 who transferred and the 104 who were still attending college are omitted from the analysis. Table 1is presented to indicate how the sample is affected by omitting these students. .Data are available for this sample regarding four student background characteristics which are related to persistence in higher education. Rank in high school class (XI) (expressed as a percentile, available from the records of the high schools) is a measure of academic achievement reflecting potential ability, the motivation to achieve, and the extent to which academic skills have been acquired. Academic achievement in high school can be expected to predict performance in college. A measure of intelligence (Xz) is also available for this sample. The manifest reason to restrict college enrollment is to select those with the greatest potential ability who can benefit most from further education involving greater intellectual demands. During the junior year in high school all students in Wisconsin are given the Henmon-Nelson Test of Mental Ability (1942). The percentile rank based on statewide norms is used in this study. In some tables the sample is dichotomized into high and low intelligence levels. The cutting point used is the sixty-seventh percentile rank based on the norm established for all high school juniors in the state. This point is used in preference to the median because higher education entails more demanding intellectual tasks than high school and is explicitly intended for those above average in academic abilitv. Moreover. use of the median would result in too few cases in the low intelligence category to permit adequate analysis because colleges overwhelmingly select students who are above average in high school. The third student characteristic available for inclusion in this study is the level of occupational aspiration in the senior year of high school (X3).Since higher education is the means to attaining high occupational positions, it is expected that persons who aspire to a high occupational level will have greater motivation to persist in college. Occupational plans were elicited by a structured question in the questionnaire administered in the high schools in 1957 (Sewell and Orenstein 1965). Level of occupational aspiration is operationalized as the Duncan socioeconomic score transformed to the metric of the NORC occupational prestige score (Duncan 1961). This scale has a theoretical range of 1-99. The final student background characteristic available for this samwle is socioeconomic status (Xa). Socioeconomic status subsumes a cluster of variables that may influence the individual's chances in the higher educational system, namely, the economic resources available to the student, the reference groups and social pressures from family and peers for obtaining a college degree, and the values which are conducive to high aspirations. The students have been assigned socioeconomic status scores based on a weighted combination of items involving the occupation of the father, the parents' educational level, and estimates of family economic resources. The theoretical range of the scale is from 1 to 99 (for details of the scale see Sewell and Shah 1967). In some tables socioeconomic status is dichotomized into
-

c ,

Factors Affecting College Graduation low and high levels, using as the cutting point the midpoint for the total sample of high school seniors. This point is used in an attempt to retain the meaning of high and low socioeconomic levels in reference to the total population as represented by the entire sample of high school seniors. The dependent variable in this study is college graduation (Xs).Graduation is defined as having received a bachelor's degree from an institution of higher education by the close of the academic year 1964, the date of the follow-up study. Of the 1,253 college men who were neither transfer students nor still attending college in 1964, 731 or 60 percent had completed their bachelor's degrees. This study is an attempt to identify the relative importance of institutional differences in explaining who did and who did not graduate from college.
TABLE 2
CORRELATION MATRIX (N = 1,253)*
Variable

XI

XI

XI

X c

Xs

XI-rank in high school class.. . . . . . . X2-intelligence. .................. X3-occupational aspiration.. . . . . . . . Xa-socioeconomic status. . . . . . . . . . . Xh-graduation from college. . . . . . . .

.515

... ...

.293 .244

...

...

...

... ...

.030 .I35 .I85

...

...

.446 .343 .252

.I79

...

* All correlations are significant beyond the .05 level except t1.4.
THE ANALYSIS

The first question to be examined is whether colleges differentially recruit students who diier in characteristics which are related to the probability of graduating. The zero-order relationships of rank in high school class, intelligence, level of occupational aspiration, and socioeconomicbackground with graduation can be seen from the correlation matrix in table 2. Each of the four student characteristics has a positive and statistically significant correlation with graduation. Rank in high school class and intelligence are most highly related to graduation, while occupational aspiration and socioeconomic status are of significant but lesser importance. The correlation matrix also indicates that these student characteristics are significantly correlated with one another with the exception of rank in high school class and socioeconomic status. In table 3 a multiple regression of graduation on the four variables is presented. The multiple R from this equation is .496, indicating that the student background characteristics together explain 24.6 percent of the variance in college graduation. The 0 weights from this regression equation indicate the amount of graduation associated with each of the student characteristics controlling for all of the others. Rank in high school class clearly makes the greatest independent contribution to predicting graduation, followed by socioeconomic status, intelligence, and finally occupational aspiration,

American Journal of Sociology The above analysis of tables 2 and 3 shows that some kinds of students have a greater probability of graduating than others. The next step is to examine whether students with a relatively high probability of graduating are more likely to attend certain types of colleges. Table 4 presents the means and standard deviations of student characteristics in the eight types of colleges. It is apparent that there are institutional differences in the types of students recruited. The high-prestige state university, the Catholic urban university, and the good liberal arts colleges select students with a high rank in their high school class, high intelligence, and a high occupational aspiration. The urban state university, state colleges, and other liberal arts colleges, in contrast, have students who rank relatively low in their high school class, in intelligence, and in occupational aspiration. The findings in regard to socioeconomic status are not in the same rank order, but students in the urban state university and in state colleges are also low on this characteristic. TABLE 3 MULTIPLEREGRESSION OF GRADUATION O N RANK IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASS, INTELLIGENCE, OCCUPATIONAL ASPIRATION, A N D SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
(N
Variable

1,253)
Slope

p Weight

Intercept.. .....................

- .603
.007 .002 .005 .005 .496* 24.6

...
.353 .I20 .094 .I35

Rank in high school class.. ....... Intelligence. .................... Occupational aspiration.. ......... Socioeconomic status.. ...........

Multiple R with graduation.. .......... Percentage of variance explained.. ......

* The F is significant beyond the .05 level of oonfidence.

TABLE 4 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS A T EACH WE OF COLLEGE
PERCENTIL~ PERCENTIL~ OCCUPATIONRANK IN RANK IN AL A~PIUAHIGH SCHOOL INTEL=- TION SCOUE CLA~B QENCE TYPEI OF COLLEOBI
High-prestige state university. Urban state university.. State colleges.. ........... Catholic urban university.. Out-of-state universities. Good liberal arts colleges.. Other liberal arts colleges. Other four-year colleges..

FAMILY
~OCIOECONOMIC STA-

TUE SCORE

Mean

S.D.

Mean

S.D.

Mean

S.D.

Mean

S.D.

.................. ...

.. . .

Total

..................

..

62

25

67

25

77

42

12

1,253

Factors Affecting College Graduation Since colleges differ in the kinds of students they recruit, they probably have different graduation rates. High graduation rates are likely a t the high-prestige state university, Catholic urban university, and good liberal arts colleges, since students a t these colleges more often have characteristics associated with a high probability of graduation. In contrast, the urban state university, state colleges, and other liberal arts colleges can be expected to have low graduation rates based on the characteristics of their students.
TABLE 5

Type of College

Unstandardized Regression Coefficient (Slope)

Probability of Graduating (Slope plus Constant)

High-prestige state university. ........... Urban state university. ................. State colleges. ......................... Catholic urban university.. .............. Out-of-state universities. ................ Good liberal arts colleges.. .............. Other liberal arts colleges.. .............. Other four-year colleges. ................

.389

Multiple R on graduation. ............................ Percentage of variance explained.

.......................

.308* 9.5

NOTE.-Type of college is entered into the regression as a dummy variable. The category of urban state university has been omitted from the equation and serves as a reference point of zero for interpreting the slopes for the other categories of colleges. * Thc F ia significant beyond the .05 level of confidence.

A multiple regression is presented in table 5 to examine college differences in graduation rates. Graduation is regressed on the eight nominal categories of colleges, which have been entered as a dummy variable (for a discussion of dummy variables see Goldberger 1964, pp. 208-31; and for another example of their use in sociology see Sewell and Shah 1968b). The category of urban state university has been omitted from the equation. The slopes, or unstandardized regression coefficients, indicate the relative rate of graduation a t each institutional type in comparison with this omitted scho01.~ The highest graduation rate occurs a t good liberal arts colleges,
'The general form of a regression equation is y = a blxl b m , where y is the dependent variable, a is the constant and XI through x k are independent variables. When a dichotomous dependent variable is used in a regression equation, as is the case here, the calculated value of y, given any values for the x's, may be interpreted as the conditional probability that the event will occur (Goldberger 1964, pp. 248-51). In the regression presented in table 5, the equation only includes terms which are mutually exclusive (only one college can be attended) and the only values of the x's are 0 and 1. Therefore, the calculated value of y is equal to the unstandardized slope for each of the terms plus the constant term. The constant term of .333 in this equation is the conditional probability of graduation from the urban state university, which has been omitted from the equation. Thus the slopes in this equation indicate the conditional probability of graduating a t each of the institutional types in comparison with the urban

...

American Journal of Sociology followed by the Catholic urban university, other four-year colleges, and the high-prestige state university, all of which have quite similar rates. Much lower graduation rates occur at all other types of institutions, but the urban state university and the state colleges have particularly low rates. I n general, these results conform with expectations based upon the characteristics of students at these institutions. The results of this regression also indicate the gross relationship of the type of college attended to graduation. The multiple R from this equation is .308, showing that type of college attended explains 9.5 percent of the variance in graduation. The analysis in table 3 indicated that student TABLE 6 STEPWISE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF STUDENT INPUT CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPE OF COLLEGE ATTENDED ON GRADUATION FOR THE TOTAL SAMPLE AND EACH SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS A N D INTELLIGENCE LEVEL*
PERCENTAGE OF VARIANCE EXPLAINED

Socioeconomic Status
Low
Intelligence

High
Intelligence

FACTORS EXPLAINING VARIANCE

m GRADUATION

Low

High

Low

High

Total Sample

Student input characteristics. . . . Student input characteristics plus type of college attended. . . .. Type of college attended beyond what can be explained by the student input characteristics. .

19.7 25.9 6.2

21.2 24.6 3.4

18.3 22.1 3.8

16.5 22.2 5.7

24.6 27.7 3.1

NOTE.--Type of college attended is entered into the regression as a dummy variable, omitting the category of urban state urnversity. *The F for all entries is significant beyond the .05 level of confidenae. characteristics explain 24.6 percent of the variance in graduation. Thus, differences in student input characteristics may account completely for these institutional differences in graduation rates. The second question examined in this paper is whether college differences in graduation rates exist, after student characteristics are controlled, due to effects stemming directly from the characteristics of the institutions. A stepwise regression analysis is presented in table 6 to show how much variance in graduation the type of college attended can explain beyond that accounted for by the characteristics of the students. This procedure is a stringent test, giving a conservative estimate of the institutional effect, since all of the variation in graduation explained jointly by student characteristics and type of college attended is attributed to the student characteristics. Separate regressions were computed for the total sample and for
state university. When the constant, .333, is added to the slopes of the other terms, the actual percentage graduating from each of the institutions is obtained.

674

Factors Affecting College Graduation each socioeconomic status and intelligence level to find out whether the type of college attended has a significant effect for different types of students. For the total sample, 24.6 percent of the variance in graduation is accounted for by the student input characteristics. When type of college is added into the equation as a dummy variable, the total amount of variance explained is 27.7 percent. Thus, type of college attended accounts for 3.1 percent of the variance in graduation beyond what can be explained by the rank in high school class, measured intelligence, level of occupational aspiration, and socioeconomic background of the students. Furthermore, this institutional effect is significant for all levels of socioeconomic status and intelligence. Apparently the type of college attended does influence the probability of graduating. The third purpose of this paper is to specify the types of colleges where graduation is most likely. Table 7 presents the unstandardized regression coefficients where graduation is regressed on the student input characteristics and type of college attended. The type of college is entered into the regression as a dummy variable. The category of urban state university has been omitted from the equation but is included in the table with the value of zero to indicate that it serves as a reference point for interpreting the slopes for the other categories. These coefficients represent the amount of graduation in each type of college relative to the graduation rate a t the urban state university and after the effects of the student input characteristics have been removed. (For a discussion of the advantages of using unstandardized coefficients see Blalock 1967.) For the total sample, the highest graduation rates occur at the liberal arts colleges and other four-year colleges, followed by the Catholic urban university and high-prestige state university. The lowest rates occur at the urban state university, the out-of-state universities, and the Wisconsin state colleges. These findings display some interesting differences from those presented in table 4, where graduation was regressed on type of college attended without controlling for stbdent characteristics. The most important differences are that, after controlling for student input characteristics, good liberal arts colleges do not have a much higher graduation rate than other four-year colleges, and that other liberal arts colleges have among the highest rather than the lowest graduation rates. Also, out-of-state universities have graduation rates as low as state colleges after controlling for student characteristics. Separate regressions have been computed for each socioeconomic status and intelligence level (as in table 6), but caution must be used in interpreting these findings. Because each equation involves a different range of the variables, the regression coefficients can be compared only within the same group or column, not between groups or across the rows. Also, the weights for some categories of institutions for the low-status students are based on small numbers and therefore may be unreliable. Some notable differences between students of different socioeconomic status and intelligence level occur in the type of institution from which

American Journal of Sociology graduation is most likely. (1) Low-status students in the low-intelligence category have the most favorable graduation rates in other liberal arts colleges and other four-year colleges. They also do comparatively well in the high-prestige state university, the Catholic urban university, and the state colleges. (2) Low-status students with high intelligence have relatively high graduation rates in the high-prestige state university, followed by the Catholic urban university and other liberal arts colleges, but relatively low success in all other types of institutions. (3) High-status students in the lower intelligence category have high graduation rates in the liberal arts colleges and the Catholic urban university but do poorly in the state colleges, high-prestige state university, and out-of-state universities. (4) The high-status students with high intelligence have relatively high graduation TABLE 7
UNSTANDARDIZED COEFFICIENTS FOR THE REGRESSION OF GRADUATION ON STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPE OF COLEGE FOR THE TOTAL SAMPLE
AND

EACH SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND INTELLIGENCE LEVEL

S o c x o ~ c o ~ STATUS o~~c Low Intelligence High Intelligence TOTAL Low High

VARIABLE^

Low

High

SAMPLB

Student input characteri~tics:~ High school wnk. ......... Intelligence. .............. Occupational aspiration. ... Socioeconomic status. ...... Type of college attended+ High-prestigestate university Urban state university. .. State colleges.. ........... Catholic urban university.. . Out-of-state universities Good liberal arts colleges. .. Other liberal arts colleges.. . Other four-year colleges. . Total N . . .............. (185)
(177) (379) (512) (1,253)

NOTE.-Numbers in parentheses indicate number of students attending. 8 Since the unstandardized regression coe5cienta are presented rather than 3 , weights, comparisons cannot be made between student input characteristics. Therefore, these coe5cienk have been omitted from t h i s table even though these variables are terms in the equations. b Type of college is entered into the regression as a dumm variable. The category of urban state s included in txe table with the value of sero to indicate university bas been omitted from the equation. It i that i t serves as a reference point for interpreting the slopes for the other categories.

Factors Affecting College Graduation rates in all types of schools but make the best showing in the other fouryear colleges, the good liberal arts colleges, and out-of-state universities. They also experience high graduation rates in the Catholic urban university and the high-prestige state university. For this group the poorest graduation experience is for those who attend the urban state university. Since the probability of graduating differs between institutions, those types of students who are channelled disproportionately into institutions where there is a high probability of graduating will be most successful in obtaining a college edueation. Selectivity into institutions may affect the probability of completing college beyond the effects of the college context.
TABLE 8

PERCENTAGE O F EACH SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND INTELLIGENCE ATTENDING EACH TYPE OF COLLEGE* LEVEL
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

Low
Intelligence

High
Intelligence

TYPE OF C O L L E ~ ~

Low

High

Low

High

TOTAL SAMPLE

High-prestige state university. . Urban state university. ....... State colleges. ............... Catholic urban university.. .... Out-of-state universities. ...... Good liberal arts colleges. ..... Other liberal arts colleges.. .... Other four-year colleges. ...... Total.. ................... N .........................

11.9 10.3 48.7 4.9 8.6 3.8 5.9 5.9 100.0 185

22.0 11.3 36.2 11.9 5.6 0.6 6.8 5.6 100.0 177

18.2 10.3 38.3 4.5 5.5 7.1 12.4 3.7 100.0 379

29.5 10.5 18.6 11.1 8.8 11.3 4.5 5.7 100.0 512

* Chi square is significant beyond the .05 level of

confidence for this table.

The final purpose of this paper is to examine whether the distribution of students of different socioeconomic status and intelligence among the types of colleges is in accordance with their chances of graduating from them. Table 8 distributes students of each socioeconomic status and intelligence level among the different types of colleges. An examination of tables 7 and 8 together indicates that in some instances selection into institutions is in accordance with the chances of graduation. Thus state colleges disproportionately recruit students of low status and low intelligence, but these students are relatively successful in these institutions compared with other types of students. Among high-status students, those of low intelligence are much less likely to attend the high-prestige state university than those of high intelligence; they also experience a relatively low graduation rate. Nevertheless, a few patterns of attendance indicate that selectivity apparently gives high-status students an advantage over their low-status peers in completing college. For example, the greatest proportion of low-

American Journal of Sociology status students of high intelligence attend state oolleges. Table 7 shows that these students experience a greater probability of graduating if they attend the high-prestige state university. Also of importance is the evidence that high-status students of low intelligence appear to increase their probability of graduating by attending liberal arts colleges where they are relatively successful. Low-status students are not particularly successful in these institutions, nor do many attend them. The most likely explanation is the financial difficulty they would experience in attending private schools.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In summary, this paper has examined the relationship of type of college attended to graduation. First, it was shown that some student characteristics-high rank in high school class, high intelligence, high occupational aspiration, and high socioeconomic status background-are associated with a greater probability of graduating from college, and that the differences in graduation rates between institutions generally correspond to differences in the type of students recruited. Second, through a stepwise regression analysis it was found that the type of college attended has an independent effect on chances of completing a degree. Student input factors are the most important influence on graduation, but type of college attended was found to explain a significant proportion of variance (3.1 percent) beyond what could be accounted for by student characteristics. Third, it was found that students of different socioeconomic status and intelligence levels have different success in each of the different types of colleges. Finally, selection into institutions was viewed as affecting the probability of completing college beyond the influence of the college entered. The distribution of students among the different institutions is sometimes in accordance with their probability of success. The evidence indicates that the selection process accentuates the advantage of high-status students in completing a college education. The explanation for the differences in graduation rates between types of colleges is beyond the scope of these data. Perhaps some schools have lower standards of success, and therefore graduation is more likely from them. Or differences in graduation rates may be due to the greater attention given to marginal students a t some schools. Finally, characteristics such as the quality of faculty or the relationships among students may affect the individual's performance or satisfaction with college life and thus influence his chances of graduating. Further research will be needed to delineate this process through which the life chances of students in the educational system are affected by the diversity of institutions in American higher education.
REFERENCES Astin, Alexander W. 1962. " 'Productivity' of Undergraduate Institutions." Science 136 (April) :129-135. 1963. "Undergraduate Institutions and the Production of Scientists." Science 141 (July) :334-338.

Factors Affecting College Graduation

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