The influence of course mates' parent education attainment on four year college enrollment.

Students with college educated parents are more likely to attain higher levels of education than students of parents with lower levels of education. Past research has explained this favorable outcome as the result of advantageous placement and greater availability of educational resources. Using data from Add Health and AHAA, we find evidence that exposure to students of college educated parents within courses increases the likelihood of four year college enrollment even after controlling for family background, achievement, and placement. Contrary to expectations, we found that exposure to students of college educated parents within courses do not have especially strong positive effects on college enrollment for students whose own parents do not have a college degree. These findings suggest that greater exposure to students of highly educated parents within courses partially explains the favorable educational attainment of students with college educated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]