title: Young Adults' Fertility Expectations and Events: Associations With College Enrollment and Persistence.
abstract: The analyses described in this article investigated the association between adolescent fertility expectations and college enrollment (N = 7,838). They also explored the potential impact of fertility expectations and events on college persistence among 4-year (n =2,605) and 2-year (n = 1,962) college students. The analysis, which used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, showed a significant association between expectations for early parenthood and the likelihood of going to a 4-year college or 2-year college for both men and women. In addition, the authors found that pregnancies were associated with an increased risk of college dropout for women; however, if all of the estimated effect of pregnancies on the risk of dropout were causal, they would still not be a major factor contributing to educational attainment because fertile pregnancies among college women are so rare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, 1 University Station, G1800, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712.
authors.forename: R Kelly
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Raley
authors.forename: Yujin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Daniels
keywords: college; education; expectations; fertility; pregnancy