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Ruth N. López Turley
Assistant Professor of Sociology

Department of Sociology
University of Wisconsin
1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

4424 Sewell Social Science
Phone: (608) 265-0726
Fax: (608) 265-5389
rturley@ssc.wisc.edu

Turley, Ruth N. López. 2006. "When Parents Want Children to Stay Home for College." Research in Higher Education, 47(7):823-846.

Although previous studies show that a majority of parents want their children to go to college and graduate with a four-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.