1. NORTHWEST AND NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR COMMUNITY ATTACHMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE, EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER ASPIRATIONS, MIGRATION INTENTIONS
Brett Zollinger
Mike Walker
Fort Hays State University
Presented at the 2015 Midwest Sociological Society Conference
Survey conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs. Support to carry out this study was provided by a grant from the Fort Hays State University College of Arts and Sciences made available through the generosity of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation.

2. Methods 2014 spring semester web survey of high school seniors
School administrators of 55 northwest and northcentral Kansas high school contacted for participation
8 high schools allowed the survey to be fielded, 5 refused, the remainder did not reply to multiple requests
1 urban trade center high school – Hays High; 7 rural schools
Consent from parents/guardians was obtained
380 targeted high school seniors and 162 completions results in a response rate of 42%
Given the 162 responses from 380 in the total targeted population, the survey has a sampling margin of error of +/-5.8%.
67 Hays High (in urban trade center) respondents ; 95 combined respondents from rural high schools

3. Counties of High Schools in Study

4. Population trends of western Kansas

5. Population and Population Change since Peak Year in High School’s Community Last 100 Years
Town
2010 Population
Population Peak
Population Peak Year
Change Since Peak Population
Clifton and Clyde combined
1270
1920
1960 Clifton,
-33.85%
1930 Clyde
Beloit (St. John’s HS)
3835
4367
1980
-12.18%
Ellis
2062
2649
1950
-22.16%
Hays
20510
2010 NA
Hill City
1474
2421
1960
-39.12%
Logan
589
859
-31.43%
Plainville
1903
3104
-38.69%
Grainfield (Wheatland HS)
277
389
-28.79%

6. Quality of Life Rating of Community

7. Anticipated Quality of Life in Community in 10 Years

8. Community Attachment: Community Involvement

9. Community Attachment: School Involvement

10. After High School Plans

11. Perceived After High School Direction Encouraged by Parents and Teachers

12. Highest Level of Education Plan to Complete

13. MLS Regression: Correlates of Expected Highest Level of EducationB
Std. Error
Beta
Sig.
Constant
2.580
.464
.000
Mother’s Education Level
.249
.061
.321
Father’s Education level
-.009
.058
-.013
.873
Parents and Teachers Encouragement
1=work/other, 2=two-year college/voc., 3=four-year college
.670
.108
.459
School Prepared Me Well for College
1 strongly disagree … 5 strongly agree
-.052
.083
-.047
.529

14. Field of Study Among Those Planning on Higher Education
Rural School Seniors
Hays High Seniors
Nursing/Physical Therapy
18.5%
18.6%
Biology, Chem, Pre-Med, Pre-Pharm
14.8%
8.5%
Agribusiness/Ranch Mgmt
12.3%
6.8%
Business Mgmt/Accounting
11.1%
Applied Technology
10.2%
Education
7.4%
5.1%
Engineering/Architecture
6.2%
Criminal Justice/Law
4.9%
Sociology/Social Work/Psychology
3.7%
Media Studies/Journalism
2.5%
13.6%
Cosmotology 0%
Art, Design, and Performing Arts
1.2%
3.4%
Undecided/Other

15. Community Out-Migration Intentions of Both Those Planning for Additional Formal Education after High School and Those Planning to Work/Do Something Else

16. MLS Regression: Correlates of Likelihood of Returning to Community Post-CollegeB
Std. Error
Beta
Sig.
Constant
-5.270
1.963
.009
School attachment index (0 low – 20 high)
.059
.090
.073
.511
Community attachment index (0 low – 16 high)
-.101
.086
-.130
.246
Like living in community (Q3a) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.399
.375
.132
.291
Like community this size (Q3c) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.642
.317
.231
.047
Good job opportunities in community (Q3d) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
-.636
.315
-.254
.048
Do not need to move from community to be successful (Q3e reverse ordered) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
1.421
.262
.600
.000
Community as place to live in 10 years (Q13a)
(1 much worse – 5 much better)
.644
.423
.144
Good blue-collar high skill jobs here (Q12c) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.106
.283
.035
.708
Good white-collar professional jobs here (Q12d) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.321
.046
.683
Parents length of residence in community (Q2)
.411
.207
.052
Have lots of family living here (Q3b) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
-.113
.227
-.054
.621

17. MLS Regression: Correlates of Likelihood of Staying in Community Long-TermB
Std. Error
Beta
Sig.
Constant
-6.446
2.802
.026
School attachment index (0 low – 20 high)
-.026
.107
-.037
.805
Community attachment index (0 low – 16 high)
.002
.129
.003
.987
Like living in community (Q3a) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.173
.583
.049
.769
Like community this size (Q3c) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
1.260
.391
.431
Good job opportunities in community (Q3d) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.088
.388
.032
.821
Do not need to move from community to be successful (Q3e reverse ordered) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.606
.265
.257
Community as place to live in 10 years (Q13a)
(1 much worse – 5 much better)
.527
.581
.119
.369
Good blue-collar high skill jobs here (Q12c) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.069
.483
.017
.886
Good white-collar professional jobs here (Q12d) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.304
.339
.103
.374
Parents length of residence in community (Q2)
.247
.227
.138
.280
Have lots of family living here (Q3b) ) (1 strongly disagree – 5 strongly agree)
.080
.283
.038
.778

18. Summary of Findings
Both urban trade center and rural high school students offer highly positive ratings of the quality of life in their community, but urban trade center seniors rate job opportunities in their community higher than rural students.
Vast majorities of both groups anticipate that QoL in their community in 10 years will be same or better.
Rural high school students have higher levels of community involvement than urban trade center students.
Over half of all urban trade center and rural high school students are involved in at least one school organization, club, or sport.
Rural high school students have higher levels of school extracurricular activity involvement than urban trade center students.

19. Summary of Findings (cont.)
The vast majority and similar percentages of both groups (88% of Hays students and 86% of rural school students) plan to go on for some level of higher education.
Only 9% of Hays students plan to only attend a two-year institution, while 17% of rural school students plan to do so.
Over 70% of both student groups plan to obtain at least a bachelor’s degree.
The higher a mother’s level of formal education, the higher the level of education the student expects to pursue.
The higher the expected level of education one perceives his/her parents and teachers expect of him/her, the higher the level of education the student expects to pursue.

20. Summary of findings (cont.)
The single largest percentage of both urban trade center and rural school students (about 18.5% each) plan on a nursing/physical therapy degree area
Larger percentages of rural school students plan on degree areas like: biology, chemistry, pre-medicine/pre-pharmacy; agribusiness/ranch management; and business management/accounting
Larger percentages of rural trade center students plan on the following degree areas: media studies/journalism and engineering/architecture

21. Summary of findings (cont.)
87% of rural school students who plan on higher education plan to move from the community; only 25% of urban trade center students plan to do so, but there is a four- year university in that community that over half of this school’s seniors plan to attend.
On a metric from not likely at all (0) to very likely (10), respondents who plan to move away for higher education reported how likely they are to return to current community after finishing to live, work, raise a family, and 6% indicate that they are not likely at all.
Feeling that one does not need to move from the community to be successful has the largest positive effect on likelihood of returning after college, followed by liking a community that size, and the longer one’s parents have lived in the community; oddly, the higher one rates good opportunities in the community now, the lower the reported likelihood of returning.
Liking the community size that one lives in has the largest positive effect on likelihood of staying in the community long-term among those who indicate that they plan to stay in the community for work, higher education, or something else after graduating from high school, followed by feeling that one does not need to move from the community to be successful.