Table 10. Percentage of 2002 high school sophomores reporting specific reasons for attending their first postsecondary institution, by selected student, family, and high school characteristics: 2006

Education Longitudinal
Study of 2002 (ELS:2002)

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	Reasons for attending first postsecondary institution¹
Characteristic	Program of study	Reputation	Cost	Location	Personal or family reasons	Another reason
Total	55.1	46.1	52.1	70.8	26.4	17.2

Sex
Female	54.6	46.6	52.8	73.7	28.6	15.7
Male	55.3	46.3	51.7	68.1	24.2	19.2

Race/ethnicity²
White, non-Hispanic	55.4	49.5	54.4	72.4	27.1	17.1
Black, non-Hispanic	56.0	38.4	43.2	64.6	26.0	19.9
Hispanic	49.4	38.5	50.7	70.8	23.3	17.5
Asian, non-Hispanic	57.2	47.1	53.5	69.8	29.8	16.2
All other races, non-Hispanic	56.6	46.8	50.8	72.2	25.7	15.4

Family income in 2001
$0-20,000	53.0	36.2	48.8	67.9	26.9	15.2
$20,001-50,000	54.8	42.2	54.5	72.0	24.2	16.5
$50,001-100,000	53.9	46.8	53.8	69.9	26.6	18.4
$100,001 or more	59.6	58.9	45.7	72.8	30.0	18.4

Parental education³
High school or less	55.5	39.5	52.1	71.2	25.0	16.4
Some college	52.5	41.6	54.6	71.5	23.5	16.7
Bachelor's degree	55.9	48.6	52.6	70.8	28.1	17.6
Graduate/professional degree	56.9	59.0	48.2	70.7	31.1	19.0

Native language⁴
English	55.2	47.2	52.1	71.0	26.7	17.4
Non-English	52.0	41.3	54.0	71.4	25.3	16.9

High school sector
Public	55.0	44.8	52.4	70.9	25.8	17.3
Catholic	55.6	57.6	49.7	69.3	28.0	16.9
Other Private	55.1	55.7	49.6	73.8	35.0	20.1

¹ Respondents could give more than one reason.
² Black, non-Hispanic includes African American. Hispanic includes Latino. All other races, non-Hispanic includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Two or more races.
³ Parental education is the highest level of education attained by either the student’s mother or father (including guardians); or, if data are available for only one parent or guardian, the educational attainment of that parent (or guardian).
⁴ The first language the student learned to speak.
NOTE: Totals are weighted by F2QWT and other estimates are weighted by F2BYWT.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) Second Follow-up, 2006."

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