In 2020, about 43 percent of high school completers immediately enrolled in 4-year institutions and 20 percent immediately enrolled in 2-year institutions. The immediate college enrollment rate for 4-year institutions in 2020 was not measurably different from the rate in 2010. However, the rate for 2-year institutions decreased between 2010 (27 percent) and 2020.
Of the 3.1 million high school completers1 who graduated in the first 9 months of 2020, some 2.0 million (or 63 percent) were enrolled in college in October 2020. 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 2020 was lower than the rate in 2010 (68 percent).
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NOTE: To estimate the margin of error, the standard error is scaled based on the desired level of confidence in the estimate. Throughout the Condition of Education, margins of error are produced based on a 95 percent level of confidence. Margin of error is calculated as 1.96*standard error. Immediate college enrollment rate is defined as the annual percentage of high school completers who are enrolled in 2- or 4-year institutions in the October immediately following high school completion. High school completers include 16- to 24-year-olds who graduated with a high school diploma as well as those who completed a GED or other high school equivalency credential.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement, 2010 through 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 302.10.
NOTE: To estimate the margin of error, the standard error is scaled based on the desired level of confidence in the estimate. Throughout the Condition of Education, margins of error are produced based on a 95 percent level of confidence. Margin of error is calculated as 1.96*standard error. Immediate college enrollment rate is defined as the annual percentage of high school completers who are enrolled in 2- or 4-year institutions in the October immediately following high school completion. High school completers include 16- to 24-year-olds who graduated with a high school diploma as well as those who completed a GED or other high school equivalency credential.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement, 2010 through 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 302.10.
NOTE: To estimate the margin of error, the standard error is scaled based on the desired level of confidence in the estimate. Throughout the Condition of Education, margins of error are produced based on a 95 percent level of confidence. Margin of error is calculated as 1.96*standard error. Immediate college enrollment rate is defined as the annual percentage of high school completers who are enrolled in 2- or 4-year institutions in the October immediately following high school completion. High school completers include 16- to 24-year-olds who graduated with a high school diploma as well as those who completed a GED or other high school equivalency credential. Due to some short-term data fluctuations associated with small sample sizes, percentages for racial/ethnic groups shown were calculated based on 3-year moving averages, with the following exception: the percentages for 2020 were calculated based on a 2-year moving average (an average of 2019 and 2020). Other racial/ethnic groups are not shown separately. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement, 2010 through 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 302.20.
1 In this indicator, “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 2020, about 95 percent of those who completed high school in the first 9 months of 2020 were between 16 and 24 years old.
2 The terms “high school completers” and “students” are used interchangeably throughout the indicator.
3 Due to some short-term data fluctuations associated with small sample sizes, estimates for the racial/ethnic groups shown were calculated based on 3-year moving averages, with the following exception: the percentages for 2020 were calculated based on a 2-year moving average (an average of 2019 and 2020). Other racial/ethnic groups are not discussed separately. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.