Chapter 6. Future Goals

55. First Postsecondary Enrollment by Spring 2002 Sophomores

Within a cohort of students who were high school sophomores in 2002, some 70 percent had attended a postsecondary institution by 2006, some 60 percent had enrolled in a postsecondary institution immediately after completing high school, and 10 percent had delayed enrollment.

Enrollment in a postsecondary institution varied by student characteristics, including sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and 10th-grade educational expectations. Seventy-five percent of females in the 2002 cohort had attended a postsecondary institution by 2006, compared with 65 percent of males. Greater percentages of Asians/Pacific Islanders (82 percent) and Whites (75 percent) had attended a postsecondary institution than their Black (62 percent), Hispanic (59 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (51 percent) peers, as well as their peers who were of two or more races (64 percent). Also, 87 percent of students whose parents had a graduate or professional degree had attended a postsecondary institution by 2006, compared with 82 percent of those whose parents had a bachelor's degree, 68 percent of those whose parents had completed some college, and 53 percent of those whose parents had completed high school or had less education. Looking at educational expectations, the postsecondary enrollment rate was at 26 percent for those who had expected to complete a high school education or less as sophomores and at 49 percent for those who had expected to complete some college. For those with higher educational expectations, the percentages were higher: 75 percent for those who had expected to complete a bachelor's degree and 86 percent for those who had expected to complete a graduate or professional degree.

View Table 55
View Figure 55