Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008

NCES 2008-084
September 2008

Attainment Expectations


The percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native 2003–04 high school seniors who expected a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education did not differ from the percentages of students of other races/ethnicities.

Figure 3.5. Percentage of 2003–04 high school seniors, by the highest expected level of educational attainment and race/ethnicity: 2004
Percentage of 2003–04 high school seniors, by the highest expected level of educational
attainment and race/ethnicity: 2004
NOTE: Detail does not sum to 100 percent because the category "Don't know" is not shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), First Follow-up, 2004.

In spring 2004, some 69 percent of high school seniors expected to attain a bachelor's degree or higher as their highest level of education (33 percent expected to graduate from college, while 35 percent expected to continue to graduate or professional school). Another 18 percent expected some postsecondary education, but less than a bachelor's. The rest either expected to not go beyond high school (5 percent) or did not know (8 percent).

No measurable differences were detected among the percentages of American Indian/Alaska Native students who expected to complete high school or a bachelor's degree and the percentages of students of other races/ethnicities having the same expectation. A larger percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native students than Asian/Pacific Islander students had completion of some college as their attainment expectation (22 percent vs. 10 percent). In addition, a smaller percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native students than Asian/Pacific Islander students reported an expectation to continue on to graduate or professional school (31 percent vs. 48 percent). More American Indian/Alaska Native students reported uncertainty about their expectations for future educational attainment than their White or Asian/Pacific Islander peers (15 percent vs. 7 percent and 7 percent).

View Table View Table 3.5