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Abstract:
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This study examines how the mandated curriculum, specifically, "rigorous" curriculum, is associated with the percentage of a high school's graduating class that chooses to enroll immediately in either a two-year or four-year college. The study finds a positive relationship between curriculum and enrollment rates, suggesting that schools requiring rigorous curriculum are more likely to see a larger percentage of their graduating seniors enrolled in postsecondary institutions. Requiring a rigorous curriculum is associated with an increase in the total college enrollment rate by 2.97 percentage points. The association between rigorous curriculum and four-year college enrollments rates is nearly threefold, with schools requiring a rigorous curriculum increasing the percentage of students enrolling in four-year colleges by 8.90 percentage points, or an increase of 40.51 percent. Rigorous curriculum requirements are associated with decreases in two-year college enrollment rates, implying that students required to complete a rigorous curriculum may opt out of two-year colleges into four-year colleges. However, due to limitations of the data, we cannot draw a causal relationship between curriculum requirements and college enrollment rates. |