It is widely documented that first-generation college students attain bachelor’s degrees at lower rates than their peers. First-generation students also consistently prioritize distance to college in their school decision-making process. How distance impacts their educational performance, however, is an issue that has not received sufficient research attention. This study uses the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) to investigate whether the distance between the permanent residence of first-generation students enrolled in four-year degree programs and their attending college impacts their educational attainment and grade point average (GPA). We find that first-generation students who attend colleges at a greater distance from home are more likely to graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree. We do not find strong support for the relationship between distance and a student’s GPA in most years of enrollment. We discuss the way college accessibility reinforces inequality within higher education along with the theoretical implications of our findings.
AstinAlexander W.1993. What Matters in College? Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
2.
AstinAlexander W.OsegueraLeticia. 2012. “Pre-college and Institutional Influences on Degree Attainment.” Pp. 119–45 in College Student Retention: Formula for Student Success, edited by SeidmanAlan, 2nd ed.Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
3.
AudSusanHussarWilliamJohnsonFrankKenaGraceRothErinManningEileenWangXiaoleiZhangJijun. 2012. The Condition of Education 2012. NCES 2012-045. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 12, 2014 (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch).
4.
BeanJohn P.1980. “The Synthesis and Test of a Causal Model of Student Attrition.” Research in Higher Education12(2):155–87.
5.
BeanJohn P.1985. “Interaction Effects Based on Class Level in an Explanatory Model of College Student Drop-out Syndrome.” American Educational Research Journal22(1):35–64.
6.
BeanJohn P.MetznerBarbara S.1985. “A Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition.” Review of Educational Research55(4):485–540.
7.
BillsonJanet ManginiTerryMargaret Brooks. 1982. “In Search of the Silken Purse: Factors in Attrition among First-generation Students.” College and University58(1):57–75.
8.
BozickRobert. 2007. “Making It through the First Year of College: The Role of Students’ Economic Resources, Employment, and Living Arrangements.” Sociology of Education80(3):261–85.
9.
CabreraAlberto F.CastanedaMaria B.NoraAmauryHengstlerDennis. 1992. “The Convergence between Two Theories of College Persistence.” The Journal of Higher Education63(2):143–64.
10.
CabreraAlberto F.NoraAmauryCastanedaMaria B.1993. “College Persistence: Structural Equations Modeling Test of an Integrated Model of Student Retention.” The Journal of Higher Education64(2):123–39.
11.
CejaMiguel. 2006. “Understanding the Role of Parents and Siblings as Information Sources in the College Choice Process of Chicana Students.” Journal of College Student Development47(1):87–104.
12.
ChenXianglei. 2005. “First Generation Students in Postsecondary Education: A Look at Their College Transcripts.” NCES 2005-171. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Government Printing Office.
13.
ChoySusan P.2001. “Students Whose Parents Did Not Go to College: Postsecondary Access, Persistence and Attainment.” NCES 2001-126. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
14.
ChristieHazelMunroMoiraWagerFiona. 2005. “‘Day Students’ in Higher Education: Widening Access Students and Successful Transitions to University Life.” International Studies in Sociology of Education15(1):3–29.
15.
CrispGloriaNuñezAnne-Marie. 2014. “Understanding the Racial Transfer Gap: Modeling Underrepresented Minority and Nonminority Students’ Pathways from Two- to Four-year Institutions.” The Review of Higher Education37(3):291–320.
16.
DennisJessica M.PhinneyJean S.ChuatecoLizette Ivy. 2005. “The Role of Motivation, Parental Support and Peer Support in the Academic Success of Ethnic Minority First-generation College Students.” Journal of College Student Development46(3):223–36.
17.
DesmondMathewTurleyRuth N. Lopez. 2009. “The Role of Familism in Explaining the Hispanic-white College Application Gap.” Social Problems56(2):311–34.
18.
FischerMary J.2007. “Settling into Campus Life: Differences by Race/Ethnicity in College Involvement and Outcomes.” The Journal of Higher Education78(2):125–61.
19.
FrenetteMarc. 2004. “Access to College and University: Does Distance to School Matter?” Canadian Public Policy30(4):427–43.
20.
FrenetteMarc. 2006. “Too Far to Go On? Distance to School and University Participation.” Education Economics14(1):31–58.
21.
GofenAnat. 2009. “Family Capital: How First-generation Higher Education Students Break the Intergenerational Cycle.” Family Relations58:104–120.
22.
GuiffridaDouglas A.2005. “To Break Away or Strengthen Ties to Home: A Complex Issue for African American College Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution.” Equity & Excellence in Education38(1):49–60.
23.
GuiffridaDouglas A.2006. Toward a Cultural Advancement of Tinto’s Theory. The Review of Higher Education29(4):451–72.
24.
InmanW. ElliotMayesLarry. 1999. “The Importance of Being First: Unique Characteristics of First Generation Community College Students.” Community College Review26(4):3–22.
25.
IshitaniTerry T.2006. “Studying Attrition and Degree Completion Behavior among First-generation Students in the United States.” The Journal of Higher Education77(5):861–85.
26.
KaneJohnSpizmanLawrence M.1994. “Race, Financial Aid Awards and College Attendance: Parents and Geography Matter.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology53(1):85–97.
27.
KaoGraceRutherfordLindsay Taggart. 2007. “Does Social Capital Still Matter? Immigrant Minority Disadvantage in School-specific Social Capital and Its Effects on Academic Achievement.” Sociological Perspectives50(1):27–52.
28.
KuhGeorge D.GonyeaRobert M.PalmerMegan. 2001. “The Disengaged Commuter Student: Fact or Fiction.” Commuter Perspectives27(1):2–5.
29.
LeeElizabeth M.KramerRory. 2013. “Out with the Old, In with the New? Habitus and Social Mobility at Selective Colleges.” Sociology of Education86(1):18–35.
30.
LeeJenniferZhouMin. 2015. The Asian American Achievement Paradox. New York, NY: Russell Sage.
31.
LondonHoward B.1989. “Breaking Away: A Study of First-generation College Students and Their Families.” American Journal of Education97(2):144–70.
32.
LundbergCarol A.SchreinerLaurie A.HovaguimianKristin D.MillerSharyn Slavin. 2007. “First-generation Status and Student Race/Ethnicity as Distinct Predictors of Student Involvement and Learning.” NASPA Journal44(1):57–83.
33.
MatternKristaWyattJeffrey. 2009. “Student Choice of College: How Far Do Students Go for an Education?” Journal of College Admission203:18–29.
34.
McCarronGraziella PagliaruloInkelasKaren Kurotsuchi. 2006. “The Gap between Educational Aspirations and Attainment for First-generation College Students and the Role of Parental Involvement.” Journal of College Student Development47(5):534–49.
35.
MehtaSanjay S.NewboldJohn J.O’RourkeMatthew A.2011. “Why Do First-generation Students Fail?”College Student Journal45(1):20–35.
36.
National Center for Education Statistics. 2015. “Table 326.10.” Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2002, Spring 2007–Spring 2015. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved March 30, 2017 (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_326.10.asp).
37.
NuñezAnne-MarieCuccaro-AlaminStephanie. 1998. “First Generation Students: Undergraduates Whose Parents Never Enrolled in Postsecondary Education.” Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
38.
PadronEduardo J.1992. “The Challenge of First-generation College Students: A Miami-Dade Perspective.” New Directions for Community Colleges1992(80):71–80.
39.
PascarellaErnest T.BohrLouiseNoraAmauryZusmanBarbaraInmanPatriciaDeslerMary. 1993. “Cognitive Impacts of Living on Campus versus Commuting to College.” Journal of College Student Development34:216–20.
40.
PascarellaErnest T.PiersonChristopher T.WolniakGregory C.TerenziniPatrick T.2004. “First-generation College Students: Additional Evidence on College Experiences and Outcomes.” The Journal of Higher Education75(3):249–84.
41.
PascarellaErnest T.TerenziniPatrick T.1991. How College Affects Students: Findings and Insights from Twenty Years of Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
42.
PikeGary R.KuhGeorge D.2005. First- and Second-generation College Students: A Comparison of Their Engagement and Intellectual Development. The Journal of Higher Education76(3):276–300.
43.
PryorJohn H.HurtadoSylviaSaenzVictor B.LindholmJennifer A.KornWilliam S.MahoneyKathryn M.2006. “The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2005.” Higher Education Research Institute. Retrieved July 9, 2013 (http://heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/ResearchBrief05.PDF).
44.
RadfordAlexandria WaltonBerknerLutzWheelessSara C.ShepherdBryan. 2010. Persistence and Attainment of 2003–04 Beginning Postsecondary Students: After 6 Years. NCES 2011-151. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
45.
RichardsonRichard C.Jr.SkinnerElizabeth Fisk. 1992. “Helping First-generation Minority Students Achieve Degrees.” New Directions for Community Colleges80:29–43.
46.
SaenzVictor B.BarreraDoug. 2007. “What We Can Learn from UCLA’s ‘First in My Family’ Data.” Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education21(9):1–3.
47.
SaenzVictor B.HurtadoSylviaBarreraDougWolfDe’ShaYeungFanny. 2007. First in My Family: A Profile of First-generation College Students at Four-year Institutions Since 1971. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.
48.
SchuddeLauren T.2011. “The Causal Effect of Campus Residency on College Student Retention.” The Review of Higher Education34(4):581–610.
49.
StrayhornTerrell. 2006. “Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of First-generation College Students.” NASPA Journal43(4):82–111.
50.
TerenziniPatrick T.RendonLaura I.UpcraftM. LeeMillarSusan B.AllisonKevin W.GreggPatricia L.JalomoRomero. 1994. “The Transition to College: Diverse Students, Diverse Stories.” Research in Higher Education35(1):57–73.
51.
TerenziniPatrick T.SpringerLeonardYaegerPatricia M.PascarellaErnest T.NoraAmaury. 1996. “First-generation College Students: Characteristics, Experiences, and Cognitive Development.” Research in Higher Education37(1):1–22.
52.
TierneyWilliam G.1992. “An Anthropological Analysis of Student Participation in College.” The Journal of Higher Education63(6):603.
53.
TintoVincent. 1987. Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
54.
TorresVasti. 2006. “A Mixed Method Study Testing Data-model Fit of a Retention Model for Latino/a Students at Urban Universities.” Journal of College Student Development47(3):299–318.
55.
TurleyRuth N. L.2009. “College Proximity: Mapping Access to Opportunity.” Sociology of Education82(2):126–46.
56.
TurleyRuth N. L.WodtkeGeoffrey. 2010. “College Residence and Academic Performance: Who Benefits from Living on Campus?” Urban Education45(4):506–32.
57.
WineJenniferJansonNatashaWheelessSara. 2011. “2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) Full-scale Methodology Report.” NCES 2012-246. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
58.
WolfeJanice Sutera. 1993. “Institutional Integration, Academic Success, and Persistence of First-year Commuter and Resident Students.” Journal of College Student Development34(5):321–26.
59.
ZalaquettCarlos P.2005. “Study of Successful Latina/o Students.” Journal of Hispanic Higher Education5(1):35–47.
