• High School Completion
• Postsecondary Attainment and Experiences
• Labor Market Experiences
• Current Work and Education Activities
• Family Formation Activities
• Civic and Leisure Activities
• Further Research
• References

First surveyed in the spring term of the 1987–88 school year, the eighth-grade cohort provided information about its school experiences, as well as educational and occupational aspirations, and completed achievement tests in mathematics, reading, science, and social studies. The eighth-grade class of 1988 reported high educational aspirations. Some 66 percent planned to complete a bachelor's degree or higher (Hafner et al. 1990). Parental expectations for their eighth-graders' higher education were also quite high. More than three-quarters of all parents (78 percent) expected their eighth-graders to attend college, and 58 percent expected them to finish (38 percent expected college graduation to be their eighth-graders' highest educational attainment while 20 percent expected their eighth-graders to earn a postbaccalaureate academic or professional degree) (Horn and West 1992). The 1988 eighth-grade class was surveyed again in four follow-ups: in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 2000. Data from the follow-up interview in 2000 permit us to see what this cohort had accomplished 12 years after the eighth-grade baseline survey.

In trying to understand the later outcomes of the eighth-grade class of 1988, it may be helpful to review some of the educational, societal, and economic trends and developments that helped to form the context in which members of this cohort developed and made choices. The period during which this cohort attended elementary, middle, and secondary school saw major initiatives of the American school reform movement, including raising of graduation requirements and mandating of student testing standards (Medrich, Brown, and Henke 1992). With the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 1992, the period after this cohort's graduation from high school benefited from high levels of support for students in postsecondary education (Berkner 1998), with increases in both grants and loans, but particularly the latter. Student loan volume more than doubled between 1990 and 2000, and the number of loans made annually doubled as well; the largest increases were in the period 1993–98 (American Council on Education 2001).

In addition to educational influences, various social and economic forces may have affected the cohort as well. Within the strong American economy of the 1990s, the rate of economic return to college degrees outpaced the return to high school diplomas (Boesel and Fredland 1999). New technologies, particularly developments in computing, also marked the American economy in the 12 years (1988–2000) between the first and the final interviews of this cohort.

The 2000 data were collected at a key stage of life transitions for the eighth-grade class of 1988—most had been out of high school for nearly 8 years. Many had already completed postsecondary education, started or even changed careers, and started to form families.

The report begins with a look at the cohort's high school completion status in 2000. It next examines its post-secondary attainment and experiences. It also reports on the cohort's labor market experiences as of 2000, including employment, occupational fields, job satisfaction, use of computers, job training, income, and receipt of public aid. Next, the report looks at the current activities of cohort members with varying degrees of educational attainment—those with no postsecondary education, those with some postsecondary education, and those with a bachelor's or higher degree. Finally, the report examines the cohort's family formation (marital and parental status) and other activities (e.g., citizenship and community service activities, computer use, reading patterns).

By 2000, most members of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort (83 percent) had earned a high school diploma. An additional 9 percent had earned an alternative credential by passing the General Educational Development (GED) tests, and 8 percent had dropped out of high school and failed to complete by either method.

Among eighth-grade cohort members who had not completed high school by 2000, 14 percent reported that they were currently enrolled in school and working toward a high school diploma, GED, or attendance certificate.¹ Earning a GED can open educational opportunities that dropouts largely lack, since most colleges and universities accept the GED as a basis for admission (National Center for Education Statistics 2000).

Cohort members from advantaged backgrounds (having high-socioeconomic status [SES] families, parents with bachelor's or higher degrees, mothers who expected them to graduate from college, and no dropout risk factors) were more likely than those from disadvantaged backgrounds (having low-SES families, parents who did not attend college, mothers who did not expect them to graduate from college, or one or more dropout risk factors²) to graduate from high school with a diploma, and less likely to complete high school with a GED or to drop out of high school.

High school completion rates at the time of the interview (early in 2000) were related to educational experiences before high school, in addition to personal and background characteristics. Cohort members who, in eighth grade, exhibited high mathematics achievement (i.e., scored in the highest quartile of the NELS:88 mathematics test), studied algebra, attended a private school, or participated in extracurricular activities were more likely to graduate from high school with a diploma and generally less likely to complete high school with a GED or to drop out than were their counterparts with different academic characteristics in eighth grade. Mathematics achievement in particular, as measured in eighth grade, was associated with the likelihood both of earning a diploma and of not dropping out of high school.

By 2000, 8 years after most had graduated from high school, 29 percent of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort reported that they had attained a bachelor's degree or higher. Nearly 47 percent of the cohort reported that they had gained some postsecondary credits but had earned either no credential or one below a bachelor's degree (an associate's degree or certificate³). The remaining 24 percent of cohort members had not enrolled in any postsecondary education after high school.

This report examines the relationship between post-secondary attainment by 2000 and both background factors (specifically, sex, familial advantage or disadvantage, and race/ethnicity) and factors related to schooling at eighth grade. Consistent with sex differences noted in recent work (Clune, Nuñez, and Choy 2001), females in the 1988 eighth-grade cohort were more likely than males to report that they had earned a bachelor's or higher degree by 2000 and were less likely to report that they had not enrolled in postsecondary education. In addition, disadvantaged cohort members—those from low-SES families, whose parents did not have a college education, whose mothers did not expect them to complete college, or who had risk factors for dropping out of high school—were less likely than those without such characteristics to report that they had earned a bachelor's or higher degree and more likely to report that they had not enrolled in postsecondary education.

Among cohort members, Asians/Pacific Islanders had a higher postsecondary enrollment rate (95 percent) than Whites (77 percent), Blacks (77 percent), Hispanics (70 percent), American Indians/Alaska Natives (66 percent), and those with multiracial backgrounds (76 percent).⁴ Moreover, Asians/Pacific Islanders were more likely than any other racial/ethnic group in the cohort to indicate earning a bachelor's degree by 2000.

In addition to examining the relationship between postsecondary attainment by 2000 and 1988 eighth-grade background factors, this report also examines the relationship between school experience at eighth grade and later postsecondary attainment. Cohort members who attended a private school, demonstrated high mathematics achievement, took an algebra course, or participated in extracurricular activities as eighth-graders reported higher postsecondary enrollment rates and bachelor's/higher degree attainment rates than did their counterparts who lacked these school experiences in eighth grade.

In spring 2000—a time of historically high employment rates in a rapidly growing economy—about 86 percent of the cohort were employed for pay in a full- or part-time job. High school graduates were more likely than their peers who had not obtained a high school diploma to be employed: 88 percent of high school graduates were employed for pay, whereas 78 percent of GED recipients and 79 percent of school dropouts were employed. In 2000, although the vast majority of cohort members of both sexes were employed, a larger proportion of males than of females were working—92 percent versus 81 percent.

Of 1988 eighth-grade cohort members working full- or part-time for pay in 2000, many were mechanics or laborers (22 percent); business and management workers (21 percent); or administrative, legal, or clerical support employees (17 percent). Females were more likely than males to be educators and to work in business/management; medical professions; administrative, legal, or clerical support; and service industries. Males were more likely than females to work as engineers, architects, or software professionals; computer scientists; researchers or scientists; and mechanics or laborers.

Educational attainment and skills were linked to the occupational sectors in which these young adults worked. For example, dropouts were more likely than high school graduates to be employed in low-skill jobs, such as laborers or mechanics. In addition, eighth-grade students exhibiting low mathematics achievement (those who scored in the lowest quartile of the NELS:88 mathematics test) were about three times more likely than high-achieving 1988 eighth-graders (those who scored in the highest quartile) to work as laborers or mechanics 12 years later. Conversely, high mathematics achievers were more likely than low achievers to be working in the following occupational fields in 2000: education; business and management; engineering, architecture, and software; computer science; editing, writing, reporting, or performance art; and research, science, and technical fields.

Eighth-grade cohort members who were employed in 2000 were generally satisfied with most aspects of their jobs. While job satisfaction⁵ did not vary widely with cohort members' characteristics, it did vary with educational attainment. Job satisfaction increased as educational attainment increased. Moreover, satisfaction rates for several specific job aspects also generally increased with self-reported educational attainment: opportunities for further training, fringe benefits, job security, and promotion opportunities.

The widespread adoption of computers in the workplace over the last decade or two has influenced work in many ways (Barton 2000; Mare 1995). In 2000, about 66 percent of employed 1988 eighth-grade cohort members reported using computers on the job "a lot." About half of employed cohort members reported using computers frequently in their jobs for e-mail (53 percent) and almost 50 percent for technical, spreadsheet, or data work. Some 46 percent reported using computers frequently for word processing. Women were more likely than men to frequently use computers at work at all, but men were more likely to frequently write software.

Computer use varied according to the worker's level of education. Cohort members with higher self-reported educational attainment were more likely to use a computer on the job for any task and to search the Internet, send e-mail, and use word processing software. Also, 1988 eighth-graders who reported earning a high school diploma by 2000 were about three times more likely than dropouts to frequently use a computer (72 percent vs. 23 percent) in their jobs; diploma earners were about twice as likely as their high school dropout counterparts to use computers frequently for most specific tasks.

An important measure of job quality is the training and opportunities for skill building that the employer supports. Some 61 percent of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort who were employed for pay in 2000 had received job training in the previous 12 months. Cohort members with more education were more likely to participate in such training. Cohort members who had dropped out of high school were much less likely than those who reported having earned a high school diploma to have received job training in the last year (23 percent vs. 64 percent).

The 1999 median income of cohort members working for pay was $24,500. Consistent with research that shows high premiums for college completion in the 1980s and 1990s (Boesel and Fredland 1999, p. ix), income did vary by level of education for the cohort. Indeed, the income premium for having a bachelor's degree over having no postsecondary education was about 33 percent, a notable difference in median income even at this early stage of cohort members' careers.

Welfare payments and other forms of public aid provide support for people living in poverty, particularly for poor families with young children. A total of 3.4 percent of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort received some type of public aid in 1999, with most recipients (2.8 percent of the cohort) receiving food stamps. Cohort members who had earned high school diplomas were much less likely to be aid recipients (2 percent received any aid) than either GED completers or high school dropouts (about 11 percent for each group).

Cohort members were engaged in a range of activities in 2000, notably working and continuing their education. About 70 percent were employed exclusively, another 16 percent were working while going to school, and 4 percent were enrolled exclusively (figure A). Thus, about 86 percent of cohort members were employed and 20 percent were enrolled in some type of postsecondary education. Others were keeping house full time, and some were between jobs.

Among the whole cohort, men were more likely than women to be working (regardless of their school enrollment status) and to be working and not enrolled in postsecondary education. Comparable proportions of both sexes (about 16–17 percent) were simultaneously enrolled and employed, while women were more likely to be engaged in neither activity.

The choices that people make in high school and young adulthood shape, and in some cases limit, the choices they make and options they have later in life. One of the most important decisions is whether to participate in further schooling after completing high school. This report therefore examines the cohort's current activities by their postsecondary education status in 2000.

The primary activities occupying 1988 eighth-grade cohort members in 2000 depended to a large extent on their educational attainment. Among the 24 percent of cohort members who had not pursued any postsecondary education, most (82 percent) were employed: 75 percent had full-time jobs and 13 percent had part-time jobs.⁶

Almost half of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort members (46 percent) had some postsecondary education experience but had not earned a bachelor's degree by 2000 (the group includes completers of postsecondary certificates and associate's degrees). Of these cohort members, about 86 percent had jobs in 2000—64 percent were employed exclusively, and another 23 percent were combining work and school.

Whether cohort members started postsecondary schooling immediately after high school or after a delay, approximately the same percentages were working, going to school, or combining the two activities in 2000. Many cohort members with some education beyond high school expected (in 2000) to complete a bachelor's or higher degree by age 30. While many in this group may be on track to achieve their educational ambitions, 60 percent of those who planned to earn a bachelor's degree by age 30, as well as 43 percent of those who expected to complete an advanced degree, were not enrolled in school in 2000, the year that most cohort members turned 26.

Of those members of the cohort who reported that they had finished at least a bachelor's degree (29 percent), 72 percent were employed but not enrolled in 2000, with males more likely than females to be in this category (74 percent vs. 69 percent). Among those with at least a bachelor's degree by 2000, 53 percent planned to earn an advanced degree by the time they were 30 years old. Of those with only a bachelor's degree who expected to earn an advanced degree by age 30, 37 percent were enrolled in a 2- or 4-year academic program.

Even among those who did not expect to earn a higher degree in the near term, some (8 percent of bachelor's degree holders and 16 percent of master's degree holders) were continuing their formal education—some studying a subject of interest, learning skills demanded in the labor market, or working on a doctorate or other degree that they did not expect to finish within approximately the next 4 years. The vast majority of those who had met their educational goals for age 30 were exclusively employed in 2000: 88 percent of those with a bachelor's degree and no further educational expectations were working but not enrolled.

In sum, those cohort members who had completed at least a bachelor's degree and those who had not enrolled in postsecondary education at all were the most apt to be working exclusively. Cohort members who had some postsecondary education but no bachelor's degree were more likely than their counterparts with a bachelor's or higher degree to be combining work and study.

Figure A.—Percentage of 1988 eighth-graders involved in various work and schooling activities: 2000

Overall, 53 percent of 1988 eighth-grade cohort members were single (had never married) in 2000, and another 39 percent were currently married. (Some 5 percent were divorced, 2 percent separated, and about 1 percent living in a marriage-like relationship.) Approximately 60 percent of male cohort members were single, compared with 46 percent of females. Not surprising, then, is the finding that women were more likely to be married in 2000: 45 percent of the women and 34 percent of the men were currently married.

Cohort members from advantaged backgrounds (those having high-SES families, parents with bachelor's or higher degrees, and mothers who expected them to complete college) were in general more likely to be single in their mid-twenties than those who were less advantaged, probably as a result of pursuing postsecondary education at higher rates. Roughly two-thirds of 1988 eighth-grade cohort members with a bachelor's or higher degree were single in 2000 (66 percent of those with a bachelor's degree and 67 percent of those with a master's degree or higher), compared with one-half (52 percent) of those with some postsecondary education (but no bachelor's or higher degree) and 39 percent of those who had not gone to college.

With the increase of postsecondary educational aspirations (Green, Dugoni, and Ingels 1995) and attainment (National Center for Education Statistics 2001) in recent years, especially among women, many women have postponed childbearing (Kalb 2001). While 59 percent of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort had no children in 2000, among those who did, 31 percent were not married—41 percent of mothers and 17 percent of fathers were raising their offspring without a spouse. Women were more likely than men to have one or two children and less likely to have no children in 2000.

Whether and how cohort members finished high school was associated with whether they had any children by 2000. While 22 percent of high school dropouts and 34 percent of GED holders had no children, 66 percent of high school graduates had no children in 2000. Moreover, among the parents in the cohort, 48 percent of GED holders, 37 percent of high school dropouts, and 27 percent of high school graduates were single parents.⁷ Those who had no risk factors⁸ at eighth grade for later dropping out of high school were more likely to be childless than those with one or more risk factors. For example, 68 percent of those with no risk factors were not parents in 2000, compared with 32 percent of those with three or more risk factors.

Among the public goals of education are fostering good citizenship skills and developing civic values and participation. In turn, educational attainment is associated with more active and effective citizenship (Nie, Junn, and Stehlik-Barry 1996). Thus, one benefit of formal education is developing citizens who are more fully integrated and active in their communities.

Among the 1988 eighth-grade cohort as a whole, participating in political campaigns was much less common (4 percent) than volunteer work for youth organizations or civic/community organizations (19 percent and 22 percent, respectively). The likelihood of volunteering for either youth or civic/community organizations increased with the level of postsecondary education attained.

The NELS:88 interview in 2000 also elicited information about reading habits, home use of computers, and informational uses of the Internet. Members of the eighth-grade cohort who were high school dropouts were less likely than those who graduated from high school to read books at home at least 3 days a week in 2000. Furthermore, the likelihood of, first, using computers at home, and second, searching the Internet for information, increased with cohort members' level of postsecondary attainment.

This report examines the status of the 1988 eighth-grade cohort 12 years later, enabling us to see what cohort members had accomplished and done with their lives by 2000. The analyses here touch on the major areas of information collected in 2000. While these analyses describe the current status of the cohort and map some of the paths cohort members have followed, they do not utilize data from the intermediate points in time (data collected in 1990, 1992, and 1994) that would help identify the factors that acted as obstacles or sources of assistance to members of the 1988 eighth-grade class in realizing their goals. This report therefore also presents suggestions for further research using the NELS:88 data, now that information from the 2000 interview has become available.

¹A certificate of high school attendance may be awarded when a student attended high school for the minimum amount of time required but did not complete all courses required for a diploma. A General Educational Development (GED) certificate is awarded to those who did not finish high school but who have earned the equivalent of a high school diploma by passing required GED exams.

² Six risk factors (at eighth grade) were identified and included in the at-risk variable: living in a single-parent household; having neither parent complete high school; having an older sibling who dropped out of high school; being home alone after school more than 3 hours a day; being limited English proficient; and being in a low-income family (less than $15,000 annual income in 1987). Socioeconomic status (SES) is a composite variable; some SES components (family income, parent education) are also components of the at-risk variable .

³ The reference here is to a certificate certifying completion of a postsecondary education program, usually requiring less than 2 years of study or enrollment. (For example, one might obtain a certificate in some aspect of computing or data pro-cessing.) Not included here are postbaccalaureate or post-master's degree certificates. (For example, a paralegal certificate program might have a B.A. or B.S. degree as a prerequisite for admission.)

⁴ In this report, race categories (Black, White, etc.) exclude individuals of Hispanic ethnicity, who are reported separately in their own (Hispanic) category.

⁵ NELS:88/2000 measured job satisfaction overall as well as satisfaction with fringe benefits, opportunities for further training, job security, opportunities for promotion, opportunities to use past training, importance and challenge of the work, and pay.

⁶ The percentage of all people employed (82 percent) is lower than the sum of respondents with full-time jobs (75 percent) and the percentage of respondents with part-time jobs (13 percent) because respondents could have both types of jobs simultaneously.

⁷ Most of these differences, though they appear large, were not statistically significant.

⁸ Again, the risk factors (at eighth grade) used in this report are living in a single-parent household; having neither parent complete high school; having an older sibling who dropped out of high school; being home alone after school for more than 3 hours a day; being limited English proficient; and being in a low-income family (less than $15,000 annual income in 1987).

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Barton, P.E. (2000). What Jobs Require: Literacy, Education, and Training, 1940–2006. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

Berkner, L. (1998). Student Financing of Undergraduate Education: 1995–96 (NCES 98–076). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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  Clune, M.S., Nunez, A.M., and Choy, S.P. (2001). Competing Choices: Men's and Women's Paths After Earning a Bachelor's Degree (NCES 2001–154). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

  Green, P.J., Dugoni, B.L., and Ingels, S.J. (1995). Trends Among High School Seniors, 1972–1992 (NCES 95–380). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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  Horn, L., and West, J. (1992). A Profile of Parents of Eighth Graders (NCES 92–488). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

  Kalb, C. (2001, August 13). Should You Have Your Baby Now? Newsweek.

  Mare, R.D. (1995). Changes in Educational Attainment and School Enrollment. In R. Farley (Ed.), State of the Union: America in the 1990s (Vol. 1: Economic Trends). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

  Medrich, E.A., Brown, C.L., and Henke, R. (1992). Overview and Inventory of State Requirements for School Coursework and Attendance (NCES 92–663). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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  Nie, N.H., Junn, J., and Stehlik-Barry, K. (1996). Education and Democratic Citizenship in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.