In 1990, 2000, and 2010, higher percentages of female than male 12th-grade students had definite plans to graduate from a 4-year college. This gap in expectations by sex was larger in 2010 than in 1990 (13 vs. 5 percentage points).
The percentage of 12th-grade students who had definite plans to graduate from a 4-year college was higher in both 2010 (60 percent) and 2000 (56 percent) than in 1990 (48 percent), but there was no measurable difference between the 2000 and 2010 percentages (see table A-35-1).
In 2010, the percentage of 12th-grade males with plans to graduate from a 4-year college was higher than the percentage in 1990 (53 vs. 46 percent), but was not measurably different from the percentage in 2000 (52 percent). For female 12th-graders, the percentage with plans to graduate from college was higher in 2010 than the respective percentages in both 1990 and 2000 (66 vs. 51 and 61 percent). In all three years, higher percentages of female than male 12th-graders planned to graduate from college. This gap in expectations regarding college completion by sex was larger in 2010 than in 1990 (13 vs. 5 percentage points).
The percentage of White 12th-graders who had definite plans to graduate from a 4-year college was higher in 2010 than in 1990 (61 vs. 50 percent), but not measurably different from the percentage in 2000 (57 percent). Similarly, for Black 12th-graders, the percentage who planned to graduate from college was higher in 2010 than in 1990 (59 vs. 38 percent), but not measurably different from the percentage in 2000 (57 percent). The percentage of Hispanic 12th-graders who planned to graduate from college was also higher in 2010 than in 1990 (50 vs. 38 percent), but not measurably different from the percentage in 2000 (43 percent). In 1990, a higher percentage of White than Black and Hispanic 12th-graders had definite plans to graduate from college. In both 2000 and 2010, there was no measurable difference in the percentage of White and Black 12th-graders who planned to complete college. However, the percentages of both White 12th-graders and Black 12th-graders with definite plans to graduate from college were higher in those years than the percentage of Hispanic 12th-graders with definite plans to graduate from college. Despite some apparent differences, the sizes of the gaps in expectations regarding college completion between Hispanics and Whites and between Hispanics and Blacks were not measurably different between 1990 and 2010.
The percentages of 12th-grade students who planned to graduate from a 4-year college were higher in 2010 than in 1990 at each level of parents' educational attainment (46 vs. 32 percent for those whose parents attained high school completion or less, 57 vs. 47 percent for those whose parents attained some college, 66 vs. 58 percent for those whose parents attained a bachelor's, and 78 vs. 72 percent for those whose parents attained a graduate or professional degree). In each year shown, higher percentages of 12th-graders whose parents had more education planned to graduate from college when compared with their peers whose parents had less education. For example, in 2010, some 78 percent of 12th-graders whose parents had a graduate or professional degree planned to graduate from college, compared with 46 percent of 12th-graders whose parents had completed a high school education or less. Also in this year, a higher percentage of 12th-graders whose parents had a bachelor's degree (66 percent) planned to graduate from college than their peers whose parents had completed high school or less. However, the gaps in expectations among these groups of 12th-graders were smaller in 2010 than in 1990 (32 vs. 40 percentage points and 20 vs. 26 percentage points, respectively).
Technical Notes
Click figure to enlarge
