The Road to Undermatch: Understanding the Differences between White and Latino Student Predictors of Undermatch

Recent headline-grabbing statistics that Latino high school graduates enroll in college at higher rates than their White peers might lead many to conclude that disparities in college access may be a thing of the past. However, disparities in enrollment persist across institution types as Latino students are overrepresented in the two-year sector, and many who are qualified to attend four-year selective institutions undermatch to less selective institutions at higher rates than their similarly qualified White peers. While past research has shown that Latino students have disparate college choice processes than White students, this study advances the literature on college choice and undermatch by examining differences in the characteristics that predict undermatch for White and Latino students using nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002). Results from separate multi-level analyses revealed that family income, net college costs, gender, and high school resources contribute to whether Latino undermatch in ways not experienced by White students. These findings are pertinent to the study of college choice, as well as the differentiation of college guidance practices and college readiness programming.