Access to Postsecondary Education for the 1992 High School Graduates
Highlights
This report uses data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to examine access to postsecondary education of 1992 high school graduates by 1994, two years after high school graduation. After an overview of the postsecondary enrollment rates of the 1992 high school graduates by family income, raceethnicity, and parental levels of education, the report focuses on the factors associated with the relatively low four-year college enrollment rates of Hispanic, black, and low-income high school graduates. It examines college costs and financial aid, the educational expectations and immediate college plans of the high school graduates, and their academic preparation as measured by a four-year "college qualification index" developed for this study. The index is used to identify those who would have met the minimum requirements to be admitted to a four-year college, the group of high school graduates who are considered to be "college-qualified." The major findings are:
- Although there are differences by income and raceethnicity in the four-year college enrollment rates of college-qualified high school graduates, the differences between college-qualified low-income and middle-income students, as well as the differences among college-qualified black, Hispanic, Asian, and white students, are eliminated among those students who have taken the college entrance examinations and completed an application for admission, the two steps necessary to attend a four-year college.
- High school graduates whose parents have low levels of income and education are able to attend four-year colleges at the same rates as students from middle-income families, if they do what four-year colleges expect them to do. That is, if low-income students have an academic record and aptitude test scores which demonstrate even the minimal qualifications for admission to a four-year institution, if they take a college entrance examination, and if they submit an application for admission, the majority of low-income students enroll in postsecondary education, and over 83 percent attend a four-year college or university.
- College-qualified low-income students who have been accepted for admission to public four-year colleges and universities and those who have been accepted to private four-year colleges and universities are just as likely to enroll in them as are middle- and high-income students. There is no measurable difference by family income in the proportion of those accepted at private institutions who choose to enroll in a public four-year institution instead. There are also no differences in the enrollment rates of those college-qualified blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or whites who have been accepted for admission to either public or private four-year colleges and universities.
- Low-income, black, and Hispanic high school graduates are less likely to be well prepared academically to attend a four-year college. Even among those who are college-qualified, low-income and Hispanic (but not black) students are less likely to take the college entrance examinations and apply for admission to a four-year institution.
- Among all college-qualified seniors who enrolled in postsecondary education, Hispanics were less likely than any other racialethnic group to attend a four-year institution. Instead, college-qualified Hispanics were more likely than any other racialethnic group to attend a public two-year institution. College-qualified Hispanics were also less likely to take college entrance examinations and submit an application for admission to a four-year institution compared with Asian, white, and black college-qualified students.
- Three-quarters of all 1992 high school graduates enrolled in some type of postsecondary institution by 1994. Almost half (45 percent) enrolled in a four-year institution, one-quarter (26 percent) enrolled in a public two-year college, and 4 percent enrolled in other institutions offering less than four-year programs.
- The proportion of all students who enrolled in postsecondary education within two years of high school graduation was directly related to family income: 64 percent of low-income, 79 percent of middle-income, and 93 percent of high-income students attended postsecondary education by 1994.
- About 80 percent of the low-income high school graduates who enrolled in postsecondary institutions received financial aid. Their average educational expenses after financial aid ranged from about $4,900 at public two- and four-year institutions to $5,700 at private, not-for-profit, four-year institutions. To help meet these costs, two-thirds of the low-income students worked while enrolled, for an average of 24 hours a week.
- When the 1992 high school graduates were in the eighth grade, 59 percent of low-income, 76 percent of middle-income, and 92 percent of high-income students said that they expected to finish college. There was no substantial change in these expectations by family income or raceethnicity when they were seniors in 1992.
- Nearly 80 percent of the 1992 high school graduates said that they expected to attend postsecondary education immediately after high school. In October 1992, 65 percent were actually enrolled. By 1994, 75 percent had been enrolled. Among those students who had planned to attend immediately after high school, 89 percent had enrolled by 1994.
