College-Going Decisions by Chicanos: The Politics of Misinformation

Even as California increases the presence of Latino students in its public university systems, the net college-going rates for the group have fallen off markedly. To understand the decision process, this study examines Chicano students in one large high school. In particular, the effect of cost on demand was sought by using a survey of graduating seniors. Logistic regressions on college plans revealed differential effects of estimated cost, depending on ethnicity and language background. For the children of Spanish-speaking parents, costs were largely determinant of college plans, whereas they were not for the children of English speakers. Significantly, it was the children of Spanish speakers who had the highest and most unrealistic estimates of college tuition.