Access and barriers to postsecondary education: evidence from the youth in transition survey
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Date
2015
Authors
Finnie, Ross
Wismer, Andrew
Mueller, Richard E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education
Abstract
We exploit the Youth in Transition Survey, Cohort A, to investigate access and
barriers to postsecondary education (PSE). We first look at how access to PSE
by age 21 is related to family characteristics, including family income and parental
education. We find that the effects of the latter significantly dominate
those of the former. Among the 25% of all youths who do not access PSE, 23%
of this group state that they had no PSE aspirations and 43% report no barriers.
Only 22% of the 25% who do not access PSE (or 5.5% of all youths in our sample)
claim that “finances” constitute a barrier. Further analysis suggests that
affordability per se is an issue in only a minority of those cases where finances
are cited, suggesting that the real problem for the majority of those reporting financial
barriers may be that they do not perceive PSE to be of sufficient value to
be worth pursuing: “it costs too much” may mean “it is not worth it” rather than
“I cannot afford to go.” Our general conclusion is that cultural factors are the
principal determinants of PSE participation. Policy implications are discussed.
Description
Open access
Keywords
Youth in Transition Survey , Access , Barriers , Financial barriers , Parental education , Family income
Citation
Finnie, R., Wismer, A., & Mueller, R.E. (2015). Access and barriers to postsecondary education: Evidence from the youth in transition survey. Canadian Journal of HIgher Education, 45(2), 229-262.