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When Parents Want Children to Stay Home for College

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Although previous studies show that a majority of parents want their children to go to college and graduate with a 4-year degree, the strategies used to accomplish this goal vary widely. While some parents feel it is important for their children to attend school while living at home (college-at-home parents), others do not (college-anywhere parents). This study investigates the influence of these parental strategy preferences on whether children apply to college during their senior year of high school, as well as whether they apply to multiple colleges. Net of measured ability, socioeconomic factors, and students’ own strategy preferences, students with college-at-home parents are significantly less likely to apply to college than students with college-anywhere parents; and among those who do apply to college, students with college-at-home parents are significantly less likely to apply to multiple colleges.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Adam Gamoran, Robert Hauser, Christopher Jencks, Lincoln Quillian, James Raymo, Karl Scholz, and Elizabeth Thomson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Ruth N. López Turley

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Ruth N. López Turley

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  1. Ruth N. López Turley
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Correspondence to Ruth N. López Turley.

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Turley, R.N.L. When Parents Want Children to Stay Home for College. Res High Educ 47, 823–846 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-006-9017-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-006-9017-4

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