The study shows how data obtained in the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 has been used to answer some questions about the federal strategy for awarding financial aid. The questions considered are: (1) What expectations did the senior class of 1972 planning to enter postsecondary education have about how they would meet…

This paper analyzes data from the "High School and Beyond" study on approximately 30,000 sophomores in 1,000 U.S. schools. The purpose is to explain the contradictory conclusions offered by two recent national studies on public and private schooling. The analysis examines differences between public and private school students in…

This study examined television viewing patterns among 89 children of 2 and 4 years of age and their families. The purpose was to describe television and VCR viewing patterns among young children as a function of family characteristics and media options in the home. Information about family structure, income, media availability, child care…

Two studies were done to explore factors associated with the rate at which students move from one school community to another in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The first study sought to learn the demographics of mobile students. The second study examined the relationship between student mobility and achievement. The first study…

A study was conducted to determine the (theoretical) relative influence of family status and occupational and attitudinal variables on women's commitment to work. Twelve hundred working women were asked. "If you were to get enough money to live as comfortably as you'd like for the rest of your life, would you continue to work? Yes or…

The movement toward a uniform methodology of determining parental ability to pay to be used over time by all institutions and agencies awarding financial aid funds is consistent with the goals and objectives of the College Scholarship Service (CSS). This paper describes a proposed system for a uniform methodology for measuring parental ability to…

In 1982, the Maryland State Department of Education initiated a longitudinal study of its Extended Elementary Education Prekindergarten Program. The study was designed to examine the effects of early education on low-income children's later school performance. The school performances of program participants and members of a comparable nonpreschool…

This study focuses on predictors of student sensitivity to college tuition and financial aid in their college choice process. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study on the postsecondary education choices of high school students in the state of Indiana. The variables student and family background, student academic characteristics, student…

By examining educational aspiration, this study uses data on high school senior females to explore the contention that race remains embedded in late 20th-century American culture as a primary qualifier of gender role. The study focuses on a sample of 4,573 black and white female high school seniors in the class of 1980 using data from the national…

One limitation of hired farm labor data from the Decennial Census is undercounting; the seasonal nature of farm work means that many farm laborers are not employed in March, when the Census is taken. The 1981 Hired Farm Working Force Survey provided data to evaluate the usefulness of Census data for farm labor research. Data were grouped into…

Looking at holiday observances and patterns of contact and interaction among kinsmen, this paper examines the values middle class people hold about both close and distant kinsmen and investigates how consistent their actual behavioral patterns are to these expressed values. A questionaire was constructed and administered to a class of…

Equity in the institutional choices of enrolling college students was assessed. The focus of study was whether students similar in educationally relevant characteristics, but dissimilar in ascriptive or socioeconomic background characteristics, attend similar institutions at similar rates. The study was based on multiple regression analysis of…

Basic questions concerning the debate over tuition tax credits and expanded student aid and perspectives about the relationship between college costs and family income are discussed. The fundamental policy issues, rather than strictly economic issues, are the focus of attention. The most obvious challenge to existing policy has been support for…

University of California Santa Barbara students were surveyed in 1996 to learn about student life and culture in the 1990s. Fifty-five percent of 815 randomly selected undergraduates responded to a mail survey. Responses were grouped according to students' race, gender, and social class. Reasons identified for attending college included: to…

State-sponsored, tax-advantaged college savings programs (prepaid tuition plans, college savings trusts, and college savings bonds) have proliferated since 1994. This study, which examined 160 documents from 44 states, focuses on their effect on policy, and on the debate over public-versus-private responsibility to pay for higher education, as…