A qualitative exploration of psychological, sociological, and economic benefit-cost considerations in the postsecondary decision-making process of lower-income Australian youth

This study is an examination of the process by which adolescents from low-income families evaluate the benefits and costs of going to college, and how that process is influenced by internal and external factors including individual traits; personal psychology; and various social, cultural, and political institutions and experiences. The study was conducted in the Australian context, where a federal program called the Higher Education Contribution Scheme substantially reduces the up-front price of college by allowing students to defer all tuition until graduation or departure, at which point fees are repaid through an income-contingent tax. The study employs a benefit-cost conceptual framework that is informed by human capital theory and draws on both the sociological and economistic traditions in college choice research.; The data consisted of interviews conducted with 28 individuals in the Australian state of Victoria in mid-2004. Of the 28 participants, 14 "Goers" were enrolled in their first or second year of university study. The other 14 were "Non-Goers" engaged in some alternative activity, including apprenticeships, technical and vocational training, full-time employment, and military service. Participants came from families where no parent or older sibling had earned a bachelor's degree. Interview data was coded using the constant comparative method generally associated with grounded theory.; Participants identified various benefits and costs they considered when making the decision whether to go to college. Present benefits included the consumption value of higher education and the experience of personal change and transformation. Future benefits were related to one's job or career, and the status, recognition, and approval from others that accompanied a degree. Present costs named by participants included enrollment expenses such as fees, books, housing, and transportation; various opportunity costs; lifestyle changes, including separation from family and friends; and miscellaneous psychological costs. Future costs focused on the financial indebtedness incurred through deferred tuition, and the general risk and uncertainty of college outcomes.; After summarization of interview themes and discussion of the emergent benefit-cost framework, the data is analyzed in three parts: (1) a comparison of the benefit/cost calculations conducted by Goers and Non-Goers; (2) a reexamination of human capital theory in light of the themes and perspectives gleaned from the interview data; and (3) an evaluation of the efficacy of the proposed benefit-cost model in explaining the college choice process as experienced by the 28 participants in the study. The study concludes with implications for higher education in the United States.