The rate of college enrollment immediately after high school increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 69 percent in 2005.

The percentage of high school completers¹ who enroll in college in the fall immediately after high school reflects the accessibility and perceived value of college education. The immediate college (2- or 4-year) enrollment rate for all high school completers ages 16–24 increased between 1972 and 1997 from 49 to 67 percent. Then, the enrollment rate declined to 62 percent by 2001, before rising to 69 percent in 2005 (see table 25-1).

Between 1972 and 1980, approximately half of White high school completers immediately enrolled in college. This immediate enrollment rate increased from the late 1970s through 1998 to 69 percent, but decreased to 64 percent by 2001 before increasing again to an all-time high of 73 percent in 2005. The annual Black immediate enrollment rate fluctuated between 1972 and 1977, but then decreased between 1978 and 1982, widening the gap between Blacks and Whites. The rate for Blacks then increased generally between 1983 and 2005, so that the gap narrowed between Blacks and Whites between 1999 and 2001. However, the gap has widened again since 2002. For Hispanics, the immediate college enrollment rate fluctuated over time, but increased overall between 1972 and 2005; nonetheless, the gap between Hispanics and Whites widened between 1979 and 1998, and then again between 2002 and 2005.

From 1972 to 2005, the immediate enrollment rate of high school completers increased faster for females than for males (see table 25-2). Much of the growth in the overall rate for females was due to increases between 1981 and 1997 in the rate of attending 4-year institutions. During this period, the rate at which females enrolled at 4-year institutions increased faster than it did for their male counterparts and for either males or females at 2-year institutions.

Differences in immediate enrollment rates by family income and parents’ education have persisted. In each year between 1972 and 2005, the immediate college enrollment rate was higher for high school completers from high-income families than for their low-income peers (see table 25-1).² Likewise, compared with completers whose parents had a bachelor’s or higher degree, those whose parents had less education had lower rates of immediate college enrollment in each year between 1992 and 2005 (see table 25-3).³

¹ Refers to those who completed 12 years of school for survey years 1972–1991 and to those who earned a high school diploma or equivalency certificate (e.g., a General Educational Development [GED] certificate) for all years since 1992. See supplemental note 2 for more information. (back to text)

² Low income refers to the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes, high income refers to the top 20 percent of all family incomes, and middle income refers to the 60 percent in between. See supplemental note 2 for further information. (back to text)

³ The earliest year with comparable data available for parents’ educational attainment is 1992. (back to text)