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For-profit post-secondary education and civic engagement

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Abstract

Theorists such as Gumport (2000) suggest thatdifferent conceptions of higher education mayhave important consequences for students andsociety. We explore this possibility byconsidering a specific research question: Dostudents who attend for-profit post-secondaryschools show lower levels of civic engagementthan students who attend non-profit communitycolleges, either at the beginning of theirstudy or two years later?

Using longitudinal data from the U.S. NationalCenter for Education Statistics (NCES)National Post-secondary Student Aid Survey(NPSAS90) and Beginning Post-secondary Survey(BPS), we test the hypothesis that students whoattend for-profit, post-secondary vocationalschools will show lower levels of civicengagement on several measures than similarstudents in community colleges. Studentsattending the two types of schools are alike intheir levels of civic engagement at thebeginning of their post-secondary education,but different four years later. We considerwhether observed differences in civic behaviorare due to variations in who attends thedifferent types of schools or to identifiableexperiences students may have in theirprograms, such as interactions with faculty orother students.

The effect of proprietary school attendance onseven out of the ten different types of civicengagement measured here appears to be direct,rather than being mediated by measurableeducational experiences. We reflect further onprocesses that might explain the differencesand consider the policy implications of thesefindings for educational decision-makers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, New York University, 269 Mercer St., 4th Floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Caroline Hodges Persell

  2. Center for Educational Leadership, Baruch College School of Public Affairs, 17 Lexington Ave., Box C-305, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Harold Wenglinsky

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  1. Caroline Hodges Persell
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Persell, C.H., Wenglinsky, H. For-profit post-secondary education and civic engagement. Higher Education 47, 337–359 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000016436.45792.00

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