This blog's post entitled "Studies: Students who want
bachelor’s degrees do best when they start at four-year colleges" quoted from a
2007 Teachers College Record article that Goldrick-Rab authored with Deborah
Faye Carter and Rachelle Winkle Wagner.
Goldrick-Rab responded to Rattler Nation’s coverage by
stating: "For the vast majority of community college students, a 2-year school
is the best starting point. For a small
fraction of students, a 4-year school is a better point."
She posted a link to a 2012 working paper written by her,
Jannie E. Brand (UCLA), and Fabian T. Pfeffer (University of Michigan). It is a
case study that draws conclusions from "data on postsecondary outcomes of high
school graduates of Chicago Public Schools."
That study's summary states that: "Enrolling at a community college
appears to penalize more-advantaged students who otherwise would have attended
four-year colleges; such students represent a relatively small portion of the
community college population. However, enrolling at a community college has a
modest positive effect on bachelor’s degree completion for disadvantaged
students who otherwise would not have attended college; these students
represent the majority of community college-goers."