This study estimated ‘college readiness benchmarks’ for 2-year college and 4-year college entrance
based on students' middle and high school reading and math achievement. Based on the benchmarks,
we classified students into on-track group, who are academically qualified to enter colleges, and off-track
group who are not. Then we compared the two groups longitudinally to track what individual and school
factors made a difference in their college readiness. Further, this study investigated gaps between actual
and desirable college entry results. The analysis drew on the sample of 4,751 cases from KELS (Korean
Education Longitudinal Study) 1st thru 7th data sets. The result shows that the benchmark for 2-year
college entrance is close to "Basic" achievement level, and the benchmark for 4-year college entrance
is around "Proficient" level on the national assessment. Those in low-middle achievement ranks tend
to enter 2-year college, and more than middle-ranked students are apt to get in university. The family
and school factors significantly affect the classification of students between on-track group and off-track
group during middle school to high school. Only half of students had matching with the same desirable
and actual college entry levels. Undermatching mostly happened in metropolitan areas. Overmatching
tends to occur more in rural areas, and vocational high school rather than academic high school. Policy
implications are discussed.