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How Low Income Undergraduates Financed Postsecondary Education:1992-93


Comparison With Other Students

Demographic Characteristics

As a group, low income students were much more likely than other undergraduates to be minority (36 percent compared with 21 percent) (figure 3 and table 3). Within the low income student population, dependent students were more likely than either type of independent student to belong to a minority group. Among dependent students, 20 percent were Hispanic; 19 percent were black, non-Hispanic; 8 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander; and 1 percent were American Indian/Alaskan Native.

Low income undergraduates also tended to have less well-educated parents than other students. More than one-half (54 percent) of low income undergraduates had parents with only a high school education or less, compared with 43 percent of other undergraduates (figure 4). Because of the close relationship between income and education, it is not surprising that dependent students from low income families had parents with relatively low educational attainment (57 percent had only a high school education or less). Among low income students, single independents had the best educated parents: 45 percent had parents

Figure 3 Percentage distribution of undergraduates according to race ethnicity, by income and dependency status: 1992-93


Table 3 Percentage distribution of undergraduates according to selected student and instituional characteristics, by income and dependency status: 1992-93

                                                      Low income     
                                       _______________________________________                      
                                                                   Independent
                         All   Not low                    Single   with
                      students income  Total Dependent independent dependents 
______________________________________________________________________________
  Total                 100.0  100.0   100.0  100.0    100.0       100.0 
                                               
Gender                                                              
 Male                    44.5   45.6    39.5   44.0     55.0        25.0 
 Female                  55.5   54.4    60.5   56.0     45.0        75.0 
                                               
Race ethnicity                                               
 American Indian/
  Alaskan Native          0.9    0.8     1.7    1.4      2.0         1.8 
 Asian/Pacific Islander   4.0    4.0     4.4    7.6      4.6         2.4 
 Black, non-Hispanic     10.3    8.8    17.0   19.2     12.4        19.1 
 Hispanic                 8.0    7.1    12.5   20.2      8.5        10.7 
 White, non-Hispanic     76.8   79.3    64.4   51.7     72.6        66.0 
                                               
Institution type                                             
 Public less-than-4-year 45.4   47.4    39.3   32.5     34.8        47.1 
 Public 4-year           31.0   30.8    29.3   35.5     38.1        18.8 
 Private, not-for-profit 
   less-than-4-year       1.6    1.5     2.2    2.1      1.5         2.9 
 Private, 
   not-for-profit 4-year  14.3  14.6    12.8   18.5     13.1         9.0 
 Private, for-profit       7.7   5.7     6.3   11.4     12.6        22.2 
                                               
Degree program                                               
 Associates              39.0  39.9    36.9   35.9     31.9        41.4 
 Bachelors              42.7   43.1    38.1   46.9     49.0        24.3 
 Undergraduate 
   certificate           13.8   12.4    20.4   13.5     15.0        29.0 
 Other undergraduate      4.5    4.5     4.5    3.7      4.2         5.3 
                                               
Highest level expect to complete                      
 Certificate/award        4.5    4.1     6.6    2.6      4.4        10.8 
 Associates degree       7.6    7.5     8.0    5.9      4.9        11.6 
 Bachelors degree       31.1   31.2    30.8   32.0     25.0        34.4 
 Masters, doctoral, 
   or first-professional 56.8   57.2    54.7   59.5     65.7        43.3 
                                               
Attendance status first term enrolled
 in 1992 93                             
  Full-time              52.5   49.0    63.9   72.8     66.0        56.8 
  Part-time, 
    half-time or more    21.0   21.0    21.5   17.7     20.5        24.7 
  Part-time, 
    less than half-time  26.5   30.1    14.6    9.5     13.6        18.5 
                                               
Attendance pattern                                           
 Full-time, full-year    32.8   31.6    34.9   44.2     37.9        26.8 
 Full-time, part-year    13.4   11.5    21.8   20.6     20.5        23.4 
 Part-time, full-year    25.6   26.7    21.1   17.7     20.0        24.1 
 Part-time, part-year    28.1   30.2    22.2   17.5     21.6        25.6 
                                               
Delay in postsecondary enrollment                     
 No delay                57.3   61.1    45.4   66.8     43.2        32.1 
 1 year                  12.4   11.1    14.3   18.9     12.5        12.6 
 2 4 years               10.9    9.0    15.5   13.6     17.0        15.6 
 5 years or more         19.4   18.8    24.8    0.7     27.3        39.6

Table 3 Percentage distribution of undergraduates according to selected student and institutional characteristics, by income and dependency status: 1992-93 Continued

                                                             
                                                 Low income  
                                      _______________________________________                     
                                                                  Independent
                        All   Not low                    Single    with
                     students income  Total Dependent independent dependents 
_____________________________________________________________________________
Hours worked per week while enrolled                  
 None                   20.6   18.0   32.8   27.7     24.7        41.6 
 1 14                    9.7    9.7    9.6   12.0     10.9         7.3 
 15 24                  18.0   17.7   19.9   26.3     23.5        13.6 
 25 or more             51.6   54.6   37.7   34.0     40.9        37.5 
                                               
Highest education level of parents                                         
 High school or less    44.7   42.8   54.2   56.7     45.1        59.4 
 Some college, 
  less than a 
  bachelor's            19.8   19.9   19.4   19.3    19.0         19.7 
 Bachelor s degree      19.3   20.1   15.8   16.6    19.8         12.2 
 Advanced degree        16.2   17.3   10.7    7.5    16.1          8.7

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. Percentages for all students include students with missing income data. Therefore, the percentages for all students may be higher or lower than the percentages for both low income and not low income students.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1992-93 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:93), Undergraduate Data Analysis System.


with a high school education or less, a proportion similar to that of undergraduates who were not low income. As indicated earlier, low income single independents may be poor because they are students, but they do not necessarily come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Low income independents with dependents tended to have less well-educated parents than single independents (59 percent had parents with only a high school education) (table 3). They may have been more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds, but another possible explanation or contributing factor may be that low income independents with dependents were more likely than low income single independents to be 30 years or older (table 2), increasing the likelihood that their parents belonged to a generation less likely to have attended college.

Enrollment Patterns

Low income undergraduates were about as likely as other undergraduates to enroll in public 4-year institutions (29 percent and 31 percent, respectively) and private, not-for-profit 4-year institutions (13 percent and 15 percent, respectively) (figure 5 and table 3). However, low income students were much more likely than other students to enroll in private, for-profit institutions, and were somewhat less likely to attend public less-than-4-year institutions.


Low income undergraduates were more likely than other undergraduates to enroll full time in their first term in 1992-93 and to enroll full time for only part of the year. This pattern reflects, in part, low income students greater numbers at private, for-profit institutions, which tend to have shorter, full-time programs. However, greater full-time

Figure 4 Percentage distribution of undergraduates according to parents' education, by income and dependency status: 1992-93


attendance may also reflect the fact that, for independent students, attending full time makes it more likely their income will be low because they have less time to work.

Low income students differed from their non low income counterparts in their choice of degree program, with low income students being more likely to enroll in a certificate program and less likely to enroll in a bachelor s degree program. However, despite the differences in where they enrolled and their immediate academic goals, low income and other undergraduates had similar long-term academic goals, with similar proportions in each group aspiring eventually to associate s, bachelor s, and advanced degrees.


Figure 5 Percentage distribution of undergraduates according to type of institution, by income and dependency status: 1992-93




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