Where There is No Equity Engine: Unequal Geographies of College Success for Low-Income Students
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Becca Bassett, University of Arkansas
Version: View help for Version V1
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Project Citation:
Bassett, Becca. Where There is No Equity Engine: Unequal Geographies of College Success for Low-Income Students. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-06-20. https://doi.org/10.3886/E233022V1
Project Description
Summary:
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In this paper, I define, identify, and map a critical but understudied group of institutions—four-year colleges and universities that enroll and graduate large proportions of low-income students. These “Equity Engines” are vital resources for both low-income students and our democratic society but they are unevenly distributed across the United States. Using geospatial analysis and bivariate mapping, I illustrate and analyze the relationship between access to and need for Equity Engines across the United States. I find large gaps in access across the southern United States and show that robust public higher education systems drive degree completion in high-need, high-access states. Finally, moving from the state to the census tract level, I examine proximity between Equity Engines and high need communities. I find that within states, distances between Equity Engines and the communities where low-income young people live range widely, offering a more nuanced picture of state-level access.
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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higher education
Geographic Coverage:
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United States
Time Period(s):
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2017 – 2022
Data Type(s):
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administrative records data;
geographic information system (GIS) data
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