More than 44 percent of students who were ninth graders in 2009 and whose families were in the lowest quintile for socioeconomic status never enrolled in college, compared with only 7 percent of students from the highest quintile. Among those who did go to college, 7 percent in the lowest quintile attended a highly selective four-year institution, compared with 37 percent of those from the highest quintile. The first college credential pursued by slightly more than half of the students in the middle quintile was a bachelor’s degree. That degree was the initial goal of more than three-quarters of students in the highest quintile.
Enrolled within a year after completing high school and persisted
Never enrolled in college
First credential pursued at first institution was a bachelor’s degree
First postsecondary institution attended was a four-year private nonprofit college
First postsecondary institution attended was a highly selective four-year institution
Note: Data are based on a nationally representative, longitudinal study of more than 23,000 students from 944 schools who were ninth graders in 2009, with a first follow-up in 2012 and a second follow-up in 2016. Socioeconomic status was measured in the fall of 2009 by assigning a composite score based on parental education and occupations and family income. Students whose socioeconomic status was unavailable were excluded from the analysis. Students who enrolled in college within a year of completing high school were considered to have “persisted” if they were either still enrolled or had completed a postsecondary credential as of February 2016, about three years after most respondents had completed high school. The first two bar charts represent all ninth graders in 2009, and the last three represent only students who attended any postsecondary institution after college. Highly selective four-year institutions are those at which first-year students’ test scores placed them in roughly the top fifth of baccalaureate institutions. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Longitudinal Study of 2009
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