HEARING FROM THE 8%: PERCEPTIONS OF PRE-COLLEGE EXPERIENCES FROM SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM LOW AND MODERATE SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS

A college degree is an important gateway for entering our modern economy; the net value of a college degree is more than $800,000 above a high school diploma. Nationally only 8% of students from families in the lowest income quartile earn a four-year degree by age 24 compared to 82% of students from the top income quartile. The purpose of this study was to understand high school success factors from the perspective of successful college students from low and moderate socioeconomic backgrounds. The InQuiry process was used to assess student perspectives. InQuiry is a research technique that combines a sorting activity to collect quantitative data and follow-up focus group interviews to gather qualitative data. Four distinct student perspectives emerged from the data collected in this study. They were designated: (1) Self Determination High School, (2) Utopia High School, (3) On My Own High School, and (4) Great Expectations High School. The findings indicated that beyond important internal factors there are a number of easy to implement external strategies that may have an immediate impact on this issue.