Parents Who Left College and Children's Postsecondary Educational Attainment

More than one in five US adolescents resides in a household where neither parent holds a postsecondary degree but at least one parent spent some time in college. We consider how a distinctive combination of cultural and economic resources in college leaver families enables or constrains young adults' educational pathways. Greater resources in college leaver families explains about half of the advantage in any college enrollment and four-year college enrollment for young adults in these families compared to those from families where neither parent attended college. But this resource advantage is relatively small compared to families where either parent holds at least a Bachelor's degree, and given any enrollment, children from college leaver families are no more likely to finish college than are their peers whose parents never attended. Results are robust to various specifications of parents' college leaver status. Data are from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement and Transition into Adulthood Supplement (N=2,334).