Colleges with higher percentages of first-generation, economically disadvantaged, academically disadvantaged, older, and English learner students earned fewer success points milestones per FTE student¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Student need factors, especially first-generation status and age over 24, were negatively correlated with success points milestones earned per full-time equivalent student. → Levin 2022

Evidence¶

Levin 2022¶

Levin, J., Baker, B., Lee, J., Atchison, D., & Kelchen, R. (2022). An Examination of the Costs of Texas Community Colleges. Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Needs analysis of institution-level data for 50 Texas community colleges, 2014/15–2019/20 (300 college-year observations), using enrollment-weighted pairwise correlations. Table 1 prints correlations including "-.583" for first-generation share and "-.349" for students older than 24 years.

"The student need factors most strongly associated with earning fewer success points milestones were the percentage of students who are first-generation college students and the percentage of students who are older than 24 years"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Socioeconomic Status — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Age and Developmental Stage — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• English-Learner Status — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Larger adequacy gaps between projected adequate cost and actual spending were associated with fewer success points milestones per FTE student — related
• After accounting for other factors, colleges with higher shares of first-generation, older, English learner, and academically disadvantaged students still earned fewer milestones, while economic disadvantage and dual-credit shares were no longer significant — related
• Cost function analysis indicates substantially higher spending is needed for equal opportunity: weights of 2.49 for first-generation and 2.63 for students older than 24 — related
• Texas's current funding system is progressive for several need factors, but the additional spending may not be enough for equal opportunity — related
• Colleges serving the highest shares of first-generation students tended to have larger adequacy gaps, spending $1,475 below projected adequate cost — related