Adolescents' expectations for higher education in Bogota, Colombia, and La Paz, Bolivia

Drawing on status attainment models, the authors examine the effects of family, peer, and school factors on expectations to graduate from a university for a sample of high school students in Bogota, Colombia, and La Paz, Bolivia. The expansion of higher education in these countries has followed different strategies. In Bolivia, the policy has been to increase access to higher education, however at the cost of quality. In Colombia, expansion has been slower and has attempted to improve the quality of education. Although each context is distinct, students in both cities have similar expectations to graduate from a university. Access to education, however is still very closely tied to socioeconomic background in Bogota, whereas family structure is the primary factor influencing expectations in La Paz. We conclude that family factors as well as the context of higher education influence the expectations of high school students to graduate from a university