Access to college and university: Does distance matter?
by Marc Frenette
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical Studies Branch research paper series, No. 201
Context
Access to postsecondary education is an important policy issue in the
1990s. Recent work suggests that access may be a challenge for some
youths particularly those from low income families and those without
a postsecondary educated parent. Distance to school is another dimension
of access that plays a pivotal role in the decision to participate in
a university education.
Objective
The objective of this study is to answer the following questions:
Do students who live too far to attend a university ‘make-up’
for this disadvantage by attending college?
How does this uptake in college participation differ by income class?
Does distance from school deter students from attending college?
Findings
High school students who live beyond commuting distance from a university
are far more likely to attend a college (as long as one is nearby) than
those living near both a university and a college.
This rise in college participation almost fully counter-balanced the
lower university participation rates among students who lived near only
a college.
As a result, overall postsecondary attendance rates—at either
college or university—were similar whether students had local
access to both a university and college or to just a college.
The uptake in college participation is concentrated among students
from lower and middle income families i.e., those most negatively affected
by distance from a university.
Among students from the poorest one-third of families and having local
access to a college only, only 3% attended university and 30% attended
college.
The numbers among students from the richest one-third of families,
are 19% and 21% respectively.
Students living beyond commuting distance from a college are far less
likely to attend college, especially if they are from a lower income
family.
Data Source: Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics,
1993–1999.
View
the article in the Daily about this publication.
View
the full publication.
Also see: Frenette, Marc. "Access to college and university: Does
distance matter?" 2005. Canadian Public Policy, 30 (4),
pp. 447-43.
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