Research Blog 10: Final Abstract, Bibliography, Paper Link

Paper Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17NxNrQ-mQWEDzLA9MUeq2Q3SeNXxY31Br-R_dkicLnI/edit

Abstract:  Currently, there is an incredible unevenness in the wealth distribution within the United States.  The upper class hold a disproportionate amount of the wealth as compared to the diminishing middle class and this inequality is growing; as a result, the middle class have turned to college as a means of social mobility.  However, due to pre-existing inequalities in college affordability, the college selection process, and career opportunities the wealthy hold an advantage at every level creating a compounding effect in an uneven playing field.  Consequently, rather than breaking down class boundaries, college actually reinforces them.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Elizabeth A., and Laura T. Hamilton. Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013. Print.

Braun, Henry, Frank Jenkins, and Wendy Grigg. "Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling." National Center for Education Statistics (2006): 0-53. NCES. Web.

Collins, Randall. The Credential Society: An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification. New York: Academic, 1979. Print.

Collins, Randall. "Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification." American Sociological Review 36.6 (1971): 1002-019. Web.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and, 2008. Print.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, 1984. Print.

Levine, Arthur. "Privatization in Higher Education." National Governors Association (2013): n. pag. Web.

Lillis, Michael P., and Robert G. Tian. "The Impact of Cost on College Choice: Beyond the Means of the Economically Disadvantaged." Journal of College Admission (2008): 5-14. Print.

Metcalfe, J. Stanley. "University and Business Relations: Connecting the Knowledge Economy." Minerva 48.1 (2010): 5-33. Web.

Stevens, Mitchell L. Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2007. Print.

Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.

Literature Review 5: Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification

2) MLA Citation: 

Collins, Randall. "Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification." American Sociological Review 36.6 (1971): 1002-019. Web.

3) Summary:

Within this text, sociologist Randall Collins, outlays two types of theories, both functionalist and conflict, as a means of explaining educational stratification.  Educational stratification deals with the classification of people into separate categories based on socioeconomic conditions within the realm of education. 

4) Author:

Randall Collins is an American sociologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a member of the Advisory Editors Council of the Social Evolution & History journal.

5) Key Terms:
Conflict Theory of educational stratification: "that employment requirements reflect the efforts of
competing status groups to monopolize or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural
standards on the selection process"

Technical Function Theory of educational stratification: "stating that educational
requirements reflect the demands for greater skills on the job due to technological change"

6) Quotes:

“employment requirements reflect the efforts of competing status groups to monopolize or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural standards on the selection process” (Collins, 1002). 

 “in general, the organization elite selects its new members and key assistants from its own status group and makes an effort to secure lower-level employees who are at least indoctrinated to respect the cultural superiority of their status culture”(Collins, 1010)

“Business school training is similarly regarded, less as evidence of necessary training (as employers have been widely skeptical of the utility of this curriculum for most positions) than as an indication that the college graduate is committed to business attitudes”(Collins, 1012)

7) Value:
 This poses interesting arguments about credentialism and the validity of credentials as a measure of actual ability.  Within my paper, this will be my third main section.  It will be used as a means of explaining how the job selection process is not an even playing field but merely a social construct dominated by elite culture.  Those below the upper class must show respect to their overlords to gain lower level positions.  Obviously, my paper will focus mainly on the conflict theories.

Research Blog #9: Argument and Counter-Argument

Briefly, within my paper I argue that because of pre-existing class inequalities, the middle class has turned to college as a means of social mobility.  However, college does not act as a lubricant between classes, but rather expedites inequality due to the compounding effect of advantages for the rich at each stage of the process.

 Rather than countering one of my individual sources, which there is obvious room to but I personally do not agree with much of, I will counter my own compounding theme from within the paper.  One might argue that these advantages may exist, but are not insurmountable, and rather than being compounding factors, they are simply small advantages that can be easily dodged at each stage.

To counter the counter-argument, I will provide the example of Canadian hockey players from within Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. Within this he explains how a cutoff date creates a small advantage for slightly older children within the system to start.  However, when they make the traveling team, this small advantage snowballs into a great one as they receive the benefits of better coaching, better competition, and more practice that the other kids do not enjoy.  This is analogous to the system that portray in my paper.

Literature Blog #4: Creating A Class - Mitchell Stevens

2) MLA Citation: 

Stevens, Mitchell L. Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites. Cambridge,       MA: Harvard UP, 2007. Print.

3) Summary:

Author Mitchell Stevens visited an exclusive private institution in the Northeast United States in an attempt to understand the college admissions process.  He notes that this university, while not being an Ivy League school, is of strong academic standing.  His belief that his findings at this one college represents a microcosm of the college admissions process as a whole, and that other institutions of similar nature have incredibly similar, if not identical, processes for student acceptance.  Largely, the book discusses how the acceptance process, and college itself, is a kind of dance merely made to ensure affluent, white upper middle class families are able to bequeath their money and power to their offspring.  According to Stevens, "this book is largely about privileged families and the impressive organizational machinery they have developed to pass their comfortable social positions on to their children."  This is confirmed by two theories, which in the eyes of Stevens are one in the same: the reproduction theory and the transaction theory.  These will both be defined in the "Key Terms" Section of this blog post.

4) Author:

Mitchell Stevens is an associate professor of sociology and associate professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.  

5) Key Terms:
Reproduction Theory: "Often called the reproduction thesis, holds that variation in educational attainment essentially is a coating for pre-existing class inequalities.  The reproduction thesis was built from Karl Marx’s insights about how powerful groups inevitably create social and cultural systems that legitimate their own class advantage.  From this perspective college degrees, and the classroom time and schoolwork they represent, provide palatable justification for the tendency of privileged families to hand privilege down to their children."


Transaction Theory:  "makes different sense of the very same correlation between family privilege and educational attainment.  This thesis argues that the replacement of traditional social hierarchies with educational ones is a definitive chapter in every society's progress toward modernity... as societies modernized, inequalities of family, caste, and tribe gradually give way to hierarchies predicated on individual achievement."

Credential Inflation: "the diminution of the value of college degrees in a labor market that was being flooded with them."

6) Quotes:

"College educations are now crucial components of our national class structure.  Most people presume that a college degree is a prerequisite for a financially comfortable adulthood, and a large corpus of sociological research on the relationship between educational attainment and life chances largely confirms the conventional wisdom" - page 10

 "Even if parents are wise to the system on the day their children are born, their knowledge is of little consequence if it is not matched by the resources required to put it into practice: the means to live in a community with excellent schools, expert college guidance, and student culture with a forward orientation toward college; the time and cash to invest in after-school sports leagues, summer music camps, private tutors, and horizon expanding travel." - page 21

"Keenly aware of the terms of elite college admission, privileged parents do everything in their power to make their children into ideal applicants.  They pay for academically excellent high schools.  They shower their children with books and field trips and lots of adult attention.  They nurture athletic talent through myriad youth sports programs." - page 15

7) Value:
This books poses excellent theories that can be explored via other peer reviewed articles and qualities sources to prove my overall case including the reproduction theory, transaction theory, credential based society, credential inflation, and more.  Additionally, it proves an unlimited resource on the college admissions process.  I expect a major part of my essay to include the tactics practiced by universities to maximize the amount of wealthy students and to provide capable pathways for them to succeed. Moreover, Stevens' writing acts as excellent sound bites providing quotes that will flawlessly fit into my own paper with little additional explanation necessary. 

Research Blog #7: Your Case

Briefly, my "case" is that the structures within the American college system have been set up to ensure those with money come out on top, and those who do not aren't as lucky.  This has been described in multiple texts as the social reproduction theory.  This theory was first proposed by French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu and was touched on in required class reading Paying for the Party as well as a few other of my sources including Creating a Class.  A chief of example of this is described by Mitchell Stevens in Creating a Class, "Even if parents are wise to the system on the day their children are born, their knowledge is of little consequence if it is not matched by the resources required to put it into practice: the means to live in a community with excellent schools, expert college guidance, and student culture with a forward orientation toward college; the time and cash to invest in after-school sports leagues, summer music camps, private tutors, and horizon expanding travel."  The United States "credential" based thinking allows necessary endorsements simply be bought putting the rich at a strong advantage in both the college admissions process and the ensuing job search afterwards.

Research Blog #6: Visual

    Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

The above graph shows the distribution of wealth in the United States as compared to both what the American population thinks it is and what they consider to be the ideal distribution.  While the actuality of wealth distribution comes as no surprise to me because of knowledge of Pareto's Principle, the fact remains that there is large amounts of inequality amongst the American public.  And, we have been sold that a college education would free the average American from its shackles, that a college degree would promote economic mobility, that every child should have the right to a college education, that no child should be left behind, and no one would be denied from education because they could not afford it.  However, college does the exact opposite.  Rather, the higher education system in US has been systemically set up to perpetuate class reproduction for the elite, while leaving it simply a goal for middle class.  While student loans are the most obvious example, there are countless other which I will discuss within my essay.  Higher education isn't the solution to the inequality problem, its merely a contributing factor of the problem itself.

Literature Review #3: Do Reasons for Attending College Affect Academic Outcomes? A Test of a Motivational Model From a Self-Determination Theory Perspective

2) MLA Citation:

Guiffrida, Douglass A., Martin F. Lynch, Andrew F. Wall, and Darlene S. Abel. "Do Reasons for Attending College Affect Academic Outcomes?: A Test of a Motivational Model from a Self-Determination Theory Perspective." Journal of College Student Development 54.2 (2013): 121-39. Johns Hopkins University Press. Web.

3) Summary:

Via a survey of 2,520 college students, the researchers wanted to find a correlated relationship between the reasons for attending college and students' academic outcomes.  They believe that students' motivation can be derived from a the self-determination theory which deals with motivation, personality, and development.  It denotes a difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; intrinsic motivation comes purely from the joy and satisfaction of completing activity itself, while extrinsic motivation is derived from an external goal or merely avoiding punishment.  From their research, the authors found that academic success and higher GPAs were more prevalent in students pursing goals stemming from intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

4) Author:

Douglass A Guiffrida is an associate professor of Counseling and Human Development at the Warner School of Education of the University of Rochester.   He is the author of over 30 books and articles that have been posted in peer reviewed journals.  Moreover, in 2007, he won the American Counseling Assocation's Ralph F. Berdie Memorial Research Award, which directly honors innovative college student affairs research.  Clearly, his credentials qualify him as a trusted source on college related subject matters.

5) Key Terms:

Self-Determination Theory: "a theory of motivation, personality, and development that suggests that intrinsic motivation is more conducive to learning than extrinsic motivation."

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation: Intrinsic motivation deals with motivation derived from enjoying the experience itself while extrinsic deals with an external goal

6) Quotes:

a) Conceptually, it is logical that motivation to attend college to fulfill relatedness needs may have a more complex relationship to college success than autonomy and competence, depending on the type, quality, and purpose of the relationship.

b) SDT is a theory of motivation, personality, and development that proposes that intrinsic motivation, or motivation derived purely from the satisfaction inherent in the activity itself, is more conducive to learning than extrinsic motivation, or motivation to achieve an external reward or to avoid a punishment.

c) One of the most important of these background characteristics is socioeconomic status (SES). Research indicates that family income level and parental education are strongly positively correlated with college student academic success

7) Value:
I see this article being used as a devil's advocate against the rest of my work.  A very common argument for college success is the "whoever works the hardest will inevitably succeed."  This, in a way, deals with the motivations of college students and how it affects their academic success.  One might argue that merely "wanting it more" will directly lead to success, however, according to this article, motivations must be intrinsic.  The want of an external goal, may not directly lead to success because of the SDT.  I view this as a strong counterpoint to the naysayers of my argument.

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/ehost/detail?sid=1cccbef0-919c-4646-b622-7c0e8f4c2f40%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&hid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ1008026

Literature Review 2: The Price of Inequality

2) MLA Citation:

Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality. New York: W W Norton, 2013. Print.

3) Summary:

In The Price of Inequality, economist Joseph Stiglitz highlights not only the accelerating financial inequality currently taking place in America, but poses an agenda to help reconcile the situation.  Overall, he contends the 1%, and at an even greater level the .1%, have been experiencing increasing returns in capital gains while the middle class has stagnated and, in some respects, been diminished.  The economist makes a point to completely denounce trickle down economics and the thought process that gains at the highest income levels will result in gains to the rest of the population.   However, in the long run, he suggests that this type of economy is unsustainable and will lead to detrimental effects.  He suggests that America has become a two-tier society, with the haves and the have-nots, that has come as a result of political power and legislation.  Only with legislation reform will this trend cease and the monetary gains of the few at the detriment of the majority reverse.

4) Author:  
Joseph Stiglitz is American award-winning economist, professor at Columbia University, and acclaimed author.  He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001 and the John Bates Clark Medal in 1979.  In addition to working with the famed economist Robert Solow, he served as senior vice president and chief economist of World Bank and as the 17th Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors during Bill Clinton's presidency.  Obviously, his resume speaks for itself; there might not be a more equipped human to speak on the effects of inequality than him.

5) Key Terms:

Trickle-down eeconomics: This is an argument, perpetuated by politicians and the wealthy, that more financial gains at the top will result in a "trickle down" effect due to growth and the lower income levels will experience gains as well.  However, Stiglitz denounces this assumption and notes, "What America has been experiencing in recent years is the opposite of trickle-down economics: the riches accruing to the top have come at the expense of those down below."

Deregulation: The author defines regulation as "the rules of the game that are designed to make our system work better— to ensure competition, to prevent abuses, to protect those who cannot protect themselves."  Deregulation, is obviously the absence of these necessary precautions.  And without these regulations firms can act in a manner that benefits the few rather than the majority.  I believe this concept is applicable for not only the financial sector as Stiglitz suggests, but also with privatization of higher education.

6) Quotes: (page numbers not available right now as I am reading on a kindle)

"Poor kids who succeed academically are less likely to graduate from college than richer kids who do worse in school.  Even if they graduate from college, the children of the poor are still worse-off than low-achieving children of the rich"

"A stark reflection of the inequality of educational opportunity in our society is the composition of students in America’s highly selective colleges. Only around 9 percent come from the bottom half of the population, while 74 percent come from the top quarter."

"Part of the reason for this is that much of America’s inequality is the result of market distortions, with incentives directed not at creating new wealth but at taking it from others."

7) Value:

The book is so incredibly rich with content.  I could honestly use this in every single one of my body paragraphs if necessary; I see this as my secret weapon.  There is no limit to which the contents of the book could not relate to my essay.

Research Blog #5: Works Cited Page

Works Cited

Alon, Sigal. "Model Mis-Specification In Assessing The Impact of Financial Aid on Academic Outcomes." Research in Higher Education 46.1 (2005): 109-25. Print.

Armstrong, Elizabeth A., and Laura T. Hamilton. Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality. N.p.: Harvard UP, 2013. Print.

Dynarski, Susan. "Hope for Whom? Financial Aid for the Middle Class and Its Impact on College Attendance." National Tax Journal 53.3 (2000): 629-61. Print.

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, Douglas N. Harris, and Philip A. Trostel. "Why Financial Aid Matters (or Does Not) for College Success: Toward a New Interdisciplinary Perspective." Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research 24 (2009): 1-45. Print.

Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print. 

Research Blog #4: Research Proposal

Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Financial Aid on College Completion and Success

Topic

It is generally accepted that in today’s economy, a college degree is a necessity for young adults to acquire a worthwhile career.  However, the path taken by student’s towards a college degree has changed significantly over the past few decades.   Most notably, the rise of financial aid as a driving force for college enrollment has changed the outlook amongst campuses across America.  As inspired by Paying for the Party, the college experience seems to be unique for each individual, largely based upon their financial background.  As a result, students enjoy varying levels of success both during their collegiate years as well as post-graduation.  The financial factors, which would include parents’ annual income, financial aid received, and the necessity, or lack there of, of employment during the school week, all play a role in the academic success of the individual.  These may play a part initially, as represented in enrollment rates, during college years, as shown by completion rates and GPAs, or post-graduation, as students career opportunities.  

Research Questions

Does socioeconomic status affect students’ college success which perpetuates, and even escalates, inequality in America? For this paper’s purposes socioeconomic factors will include but are not limited to, parents’ salary, financial aid, and in-college employment, and college success will be represented by university enrollment, degree-completion, academic performance, and post-college career prospects.

Theoretical Frame

To attempt to answer this question, I must define why students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may enjoy a distinctly different experience during collegiate years than their more affluent counterparts.  The first theory in which to explore is the Human Capital theory, which states that humans behave rationally and are well informed about their choices.  Students from lower economic backgrounds may find that if their parents did not attend college themselves, their ability to navigate the enrollment process may be much more difficult.  The understanding of financial aid, the ability to identify the real cost of a college education, and the perceived value of having a college degree, may be far lower in students from the lower financial brackets and may prove to be a limiting factor in their decisions.  

Furthermore, it is important explore theories on time management and how socioeconomic factors affect how students utilize their time.  Depending on if students choose to apply their time to studying, partying, or outside employment, they may experience varying levels of academic success.  It is important to find trends correlated with socioeconomic status the management of time to accurately assess these effects.

In addition, career prospects post college have become increasingly more important with the rise of student loans.  Students’ must repay their loans immediately upon graduation, and they may hamper the ability of students to efficiently find relevant employment based on their college degree.  Students from lower socioeconomic classes may find an inability to accurately perform a lengthy job search as compared to their richer cohorts, resulting in underemployment.  

Research Plan, Case or Additional Questions

There are a wide varieties of topics that fall under this particular topic, and luckily, there are many scholarly journals that relate to it.  To effectively answer the posed research question, an extensive amount of literature must be consulted.  As is, the research question includes many facets, and can still be expanded.  It will be essential to clearly define each aspect of the question, including socioeconomic status, college success, and perceived inequality.  The question may be too broad to answer as is, but until enough research has been sifted through, it cannot be refined.

It is necessary for factual, statistical evidence be proposed throughout the paper to ensure empirical evidence supports the theories of the author.  Merely, anecdotal evidence would not suffice for a monetary based argument.  Therefore, the paper should include a strong mathematical graphs and charts that suppor the theories proposed.  

Literature Review Blog #1

2) MLA Citation:

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, Douglas N. Harris, and Philip A. Trostel. "Why Financial Aid Matters (or Does Not)          for College Success: Toward a New Interdisciplinary Perspective." Higher Education: Handbook of

Theory and Research 24 (2009): 1-45. Print.

(I cant get this to indent properly, and it is very frustrating.)

3) Summary:

As the title of the article suggests, the author's set out to find a measurable answer on whether financial aid positively or negatively affects students success during and after college.  In their introduction, they displayed a multitude of questions that they intended to answer during their study.  For example, not only did they want to know if aid affects success, but also through what mechanisms, and if the effects are largely direct or indirect from the causes.  Furthermore, they wanted to know if, in theory, financial aid should affect success. They initiated an empirical test applied to the human capital theory and the sociological and psychological explanations of success.  From their findings, the researchers found that under the human capital theory initially, more aid leads to increased level of enrollment, however, "there is considerably less evidence regarding the direct impact of aid on college completion, even though retention is an explicit goal of federal aid programs".  Furthermore, they stated that in terms of persistence, need based grants are more important than loans.  Finally, the researchers very briefly touched upon students' transition to adulthood and the effects of financial aid on this process. 

4) Author:

Sara Goldrick-Rab is associate professor of educational policy studies and sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  Her research is directed at policies that deal with reducing socioeconomic and racial inequalities.  Not only has she been published in multiple scholarly journals, she is also the co-author of Putting Poor People to Work: How the Work-First Idea Eroded College Access the Poor.  

Douglas N. Harris is an Associate Professor of Economics at Tulane University and the University Endowed Chair in Public Education.  According to the National Education Policy Center, "His research interests include achievement gaps and inequities, teacher quality, accountability, school finance, and the relationship between education and economic competitiveness." 

5) Key Terms:

Human Capital Theory: this model is the assumption that humans behave "rationally and are well informed about their choices."  The authors intended on using this as the main theory being tested empirically.

Financial Nexus theory: "the ability of financial aid to affect decisions the decisions made by college students depends on the availability of aid and student perceptions of college costs"

6) Quotes:

"A simple correlation between aid receipt and college success is likely to be negative because students from low income faimiles, in the absence of aid, are for a variety of reasons, less likely to succeed" (Goldrick, 2).

"Researchers have had great difficulty identifying causal effects of aid on college completion because there are many reason to expect poor students to have lower rates of entry and persistence  -- from lower levels of paretnal education to inferior elementary and secondary school prepartion" (Goldrick , 9)

"The prediction of the human captial theory - that more aid leads to increased college entry and completion - is generally supported by empirical evidence." (Goldrick, 11)

7) Value:

This particular article proposes great value towards my final paper, as it provides an empirical model that supports theories that I plan on researching.  The theories discussed are completely relevant, and they should be brought up within my personal paper.  In fact, the financial nexus theory and can be further expanded on a macroeconomic level in asses post college success. Furthermore. The human capital theory directly relates to the ability of students to assess their decision on whether or not to attend college, which will be directly mentioned in my research.  

Research Blog #3: Privatization and My Topic

The privatization of college has vastly changed the financial outlook for college students after graduation.  Privatization has led to changes in the student aid package, most notably an increase in the amount of student loans given out to offset the rising tuition rates.  As noted in the National Education Association's report, “loans have increased as an overall share of the student aid package, which can serve to make students acutely aware of the need for immediate employment upon graduation to pay them back” (NEA 4).  The addition of student loans affects students from lower socioeconomic brackets as they have the least amount of money to pay for school.  Lower and middle class students will then have thousands of dollars in loans to repay upon graduation, unlike their counterparts from more affluent families.  This perpetuates financial disparity.

Scouting the Territory

After a short brainstorming session, I have decided to continue with my original topic idea.  Professor Goeller was kind enough to recommend a few useful resources that I have briefly looked into.  In that same respect, I like his idea of looking more closely on post-graduation success.  I vaguely remember Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, one of my favorite books,  briefly touching on that subject as well as the suggested The Chosen by Jerome Karabell.

After combing Google for potential resources, I think there is ample amount of research being done on the topic to support a well put together essay.  Although not directly relating to my topic I think Nate Silver's blog with the New York Times could provide statistical research that would be of interest.  In addition, the American Psychological Society has published a few facts that could be interesting as well.

There is a plethora of scholarly articles being published on the effects of socioeconomic status on education, intelligence, and success.  These are easily accessible via Google Scholar.  The first article I skimmed through was an article published in "Sociology of Education" entitled Socioeconomic Status, Intelligence and the Attainment of Higher Education. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the studies that are being published on the subject.

I feel confident with my ability to pursue research in this topic and continue to develop ideas around it.

Blog Post #1: Topic Idea

My blog will focus on how socioeconomic background changes college success.  I would like to further explore the differences of the experience between those from affluent backgrounds and those from humble backgrounds.  I think it will be interesting to explore how it affects not only academics but many other facets of college life like living on campus, relationships and more.  "Paying for the Party" was a good introduction to this, but I'd like to examine it further to see the male perspective, as well as the post college lives of the students (did not see this in the required reading).