Table Of ContentEDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST
EDUCATION
AND THE PUBLIC
INTEREST
School Reform, Public Finance, and Access
to Higher Education
EDWARD P. ST. JOHN
University of Michigan, USA
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ISBN-13978-1-4020-5247-7(HB)
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Contents
Figures and Tables vii
About the Author and the Contributing Authors xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction xvii
Part I. Public Policy and College Access
Chapter 1. Globalization 3
Chapter 2. The Public Interest 25
Part II. State Indicators
Chapter 3. Academic Access 57
Chapter 4. Financial Access 83
Chapter 5. Pathways and Markets 115
Part III. Student Outcomes: Reanalyses of the NELS
Chapter 6. Access to Advanced Math 135
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vi Education and the Public Interest
Chapter 7. Enrollment 163
Chapter 8. Attainment 193
Part IV. The Public Interest
Chapter 9. Improving Access and College Success 217
Chapter 10. Redefining the Public Interest 235
References 255
Index 269
Figures and Tables
Figure 2-1. Framework for assessing policy influence on educational
opportunity: Linking education policy to educational outcomes 28
Figure 2-2. Pathways to College Network principles 44
Figure 2-3. A balanced access and attainment model 46
Table 3-1. Trends in the implementation of high school reforms in the
50 states and the District of Columbia 59
Table 3-2. Trends in SAT scores, high school graduation rates, and
college enrollment rates for high school graduates 60
Table 3-3. Descriptive statistics for variables in the fixed effects analysis
of SAT score, graduation rate, and enrollment rate averages across
year for all U.S. states 62
Table 3-4. Three-step fixed effects regression for SAT combined scores
in the states 67
Table 3-5. Three-step fixed effects regression for high school graduation
rates in the states 69
Table 3-6. Three-step fixed effects regression for college enrollment rates
in the states 71
Table 3-7. State reports on SAT scores: Change in average SAT scores
1990 to 2000 with policies significant in the fixed effects regression
of combined SAT scores 74
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viii Education and the Public Interest
Table 3-8. State reports on change in graduation rates: Change in
graduation rates 1990 to 2000 with policies significant in fixed
effects regression 77
Figure 4-1. Framework for assessing the impact of public finance
strategies on postsecondary attainment 85
Table 4-1. Independent variables used in analysis of high school
graduation rates 88
Table 4-2. Independent variables used in analysis of college enrollment
rates by high school graduates 89
Table 4-3. Fixed-effects regression: The influence of population
characteristics and state finance strategies on public high school
graduation rates in the 1990s 91
Table 4-4. Fixed-effects regression: The influence of population
characteristics and state finance strategies on college enrollment
rates in the 1990s 93
Table 4-5. State reports: College enrollment rates, state grant funding,
and public institution tuition and funding 95
Table 4-6. Estimated costs and benefits of meeting the equity standards
in funding for need-based grants: Baseline, low-range, and
high-range estimates 101
Figure 4-2. Estimation of costs for meeting the minimum equity standard
in need-based state grants 102
Table 4A-1. Simulation of costs and benefits of meeting the minimum
equity standard: State-by-state analysis—Baseline estimate 105
Table 4A-2. Simulation of costs and benefits of meeting the minimum
equity standard: State-by-state analysis—Low-range estimate 108
Table 4A-3. Simulation of costs and benefits of meeting the minimum
equity standard: State-by-state analysis—High-range estimate 111
Table 5-1. National percentage of FTE enrollment in public four-year,
public two-year, private nonprofit, and private for-profit col l e g e s 121
Table 5-2. Fixed effects regression analyses of impact of state school
reform on college destinations: Public four-year, public two-year,
private nonprofit, and private for-profit 122
Table 5-3. Fixed effects regression analyses of the impact of public
finances on college enrollment rates by type of institution: Public
four-year, public two-year, private nonprofit, and private for-profit 126
Figures and Tables ix
Table 6-1. Specification for individual-level variables in multilevel
analyses of preparation 141
Table 6-2. State-level variable coding for two-level model used to
analyze preparation 142
Table 6-3. Descriptive analysis of college preparation: All students 146
Table 6-4. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
preparation: All students 149
Table 6-5. Descriptive analysis of individual-level variables for analyses
of college preparation: Low-income students 152
Table 6-6. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
preparation: Low-income students 154
Table 6-7. Descriptive analysis of individual-level variables related to
college preparation: Middle-income students 156
Table 6-8. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
preparation: Middle-income students 157
Table 6-9. Descriptive analyses for individual-level variables related to
college preparation: High-income students 159
Table 6-10. Two-level multinomial regression analysis of college
preparation: High-income students 160
Table 7-1. Variable coding for analyses of enrollment and college choice
using NELS 168
Table 7-2. Descriptive statistics on enrollment for all students 170
Table 7-3. Two-level logistic regression analysis of enrollment for all
students 172
Table 7-4. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
choice for all students 174
Table 7-5. Descriptive statistics for enrollment for low-income only 176
Table 7-6. Two-level logistic regression analysis of enrollment for low-
income students 178
Table 7-7. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
choice for low-income students 180
Table 7-8. Descriptive statistics for enrollment by middle-income students 182
Table 7-9. Two-level logistic regression for enrollment by middle-income
students 183
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Table 7-10. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
choice for middle-income students 184
Table 7-11. Descriptive statistics for enrollment by high-income students 186
Table 7-12. Two-level logistic regression for enrollment of high-income
students 188
Table 7-13. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of college
choice: High-income students 189
Table 8-1. Variable coding for analyses of attainment using NELS 196
Table 8-2. Descriptive statistics for the analysis of degree attainment:
All students 200
Table 8-3. Two-level multinomial logistic regression analysis of degree
attainment: All students 204
