WILL J. JORDAN
STEPHEN B. PLANK
Johns Hopkins University

Many high school graduates having the academic ability to continue their schooling
do not pursue higher education. This phenomenon has been referred to as talent
loss. The challenges involved in financing higher education partially contribute to
talent loss and its pervasiveness among poor students, but they fall short of
providing a complete explanation. This chapter explores other possible sources of
talent loss. The authors use multiple methodologies to examine critical sources of
talent loss among students who perform well academically, but are placed at risk of
academic failure because they also are from low SES families. Drawing from
national panel data as well as eight in-depth interviews with guidance counselors
from an urban school district, the authors suggest that social capital,
operationalized as the interactions and exchanges between students and significant
adults in their schools and families, exposure to a high content curriculum, and the
availability of school resources all play a part in determining postsecondaryi
trajectories.

Many young adults who have the academic ability to continue their
schooling beyond high school do not enroll in postsecondary educational
institutions (PEIs). The term talent loss is often used to describe this
phenomenon and there are complex reasons that it occurs ( Plank & Jordan,

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