Immediate transition to college

Question:
How has the college enrollment rate immediately following high school graduation varied over time?

Response:

Of the 2.7 million high school completers¹ who graduated in the first 9 months of 2021, some 1.7 million (or 62 percent) were enrolled in college in October 2021. This annual percentage of high school completers who are enrolled in 2- or 4-year institutions within the specified time frame is known as the immediate college enrollment rate. The overall immediate college enrollment rate in 2021 was lower than the rate in 2010 (68 percent). Specifically, although immediate college enrollment rates showed no consistent trend over the first two-thirds of this period (2010 to 2018), they declined over the latter third (from 2018 to 2021). There was no measurable difference in the overall immediate college enrollment rate in 2021 compared to 2020.

In every year from 2010 to 2021, higher percentages of high school completers immediately enrolled in 4-year institutions than in 2-year institutions. In 2021, about 43 percent of high school completers immediately enrolled in 4-year institutions and 19 percent immediately enrolled in 2-year institutions. The immediate college enrollment rate for 4-year institutions in 2021 was not measurably different from the rate in 2010. However, the rate for 2-year institutions decreased between 2010 (27 percent) and 2021.

¹ In this Fast Fact, “high school completers” refers to individuals ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school or completed a GED or other high school equivalency credential. In 2021, about 94 percent of those who completed high school in the first 9 months of 2021 were between 16 and 24 years old.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Immediate College Enrollment Rate. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cpa.

Numbers in figure titles reflect original numeration from source Condition of Education indicators.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2023, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Table 302.10. Recent high school completers and their enrollment in college, by sex and level of institution: 1960 through 2021
  
• 2023, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Table 302.20. Percentage of recent high school completers enrolled in college, by race/ethnicity and level of institution: 1960 through 2021
  
• 2023, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Table 302.60. Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college, by level of institution and sex and race/ethnicity of student: 1970 through 2021
  
• 2023, The Condition of Education 2023: College Enrollment Rates
  
• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 303.70. Total undergraduate fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by attendance status, sex of student, and control and level of institution: Selected years, 1970 through 2030
  
• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 504.10. Labor force status of recent high school completers, by college enrollment status, sex, and race/ethnicity: October 2018, 2019, and 2020
  
• 2019, The Condition of Education 2019: Young Adult Educational and Employment Outcomes by Family Socioeconomic Status
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2022, College Affordability Views and College Enrollment
  
• 2020, NCES Blog: Bar Chart Race: Changing Demographics in Postsecondary Enrollment
  
• 2018, What High Schoolers and Their Parents Know About Public 4-Year Tuition and Fees in Their State