Factors Influencing Postsecondary Education Enrollment Behaviors of Urban Agricultural Education Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influenced the postsecondary education enrollment behaviors of students who graduated from an urban agricultural education program. Students indicated that parents and/or guardians had the most influence on their decisions to enroll in a postsecondary education program of agriculture. However, they indicated that their mothers or female guardians had slightly more influence than their fathers or male guardians. Students also reported an interest in agriculture, personal factors, and job opportunities as the events and experiences that most influenced their decisions to enroll. Students who did not choose to enroll cited a lack of interest and personal factors as the primary reasons. Discriminant analysis revealed that high school grade point average and mother’s or female guardian’s level of influence were the most important factors for predicting if students would or would not enroll in a postsecondary education program of agriculture.