Timing Is Everything? A Proposed Multi-State Model of Post-Secondary Transitions across Two Cohorts of U.S. Students

Megan Andrew, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Cecilia Ceja, University of Wisconsin at Madison

Despite the benefits associated with post-secondary education and baccalaureate attainment, policy makers and researchers have paid relatively little attention to stratification in post-secondary education. In this vein, we hope to contribute to the literature on post-secondary educational trajectories by addressing methodological and substantive weaknesses in the extant literature. Using data for two cohorts of U.S. students and a multi-state event history model, we propose an analysis of the temporal dimensions of post-secondary educational trajectories and how these trajectories may vary by social background and demographic characteristics, high school and post-secondary academic achievement, and cohort. We also propose to assess how educational trajectories differ in the context of competing responsibilities some students may face such as parenthood, employment, and marriage.