Can Information and Communication Technology Improve College Access for All in the United States of America?

Abstract

In response to the increasing importance of a college education, this study investigates the college access trajectories of targeted racial and linguistic minority students and recommends ways to promote their college access. High school completers drawn from the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics were tracked for eight years, and a series of discrete-time survival analyses was conducted. The results revealed significantly lower college access rates for racial and linguistic minority students than for comparable White English-speaking students. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access and ICT use for educational purposes were identified as potential ways to support college access for racial and linguistic minority students.