Nearly 1 in 5 Graduates from High-Poverty High Schools Graduated within 6 Years
2017 High School Benchmarks Report: National College Progression Rates Released
HERNDON, VA (Oct. 24, 2017) – Nearly one in five graduates from high-poverty, high schools graduated college within six years of finishing high school, and one in four students from low-income schools completed a college degree within six years of their high school graduation, according to the 2017 High School Benchmarks Report: National College Progression Rates released today. This shows little to no progress from the previous years’ results, and compares to more than half of graduates from low-poverty schools.
High-poverty schools have at least 75 percent of students eligible for free or reduced priced lunch and low-income schools have at least 50 percent of students eligible.
Dr. Doug Shapiro, Executive Research Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, said, “These numbers give schools and districts the tools they need to understand the challenges and help identify strategies that work in preparing their students for success in college.”
“In our work with communities and schools throughout the nation, postsecondary outcome data is a critical measure of success” said Ranjit Sidhu, President & CEO, National Council for Community and Education Partnerships. “An understanding of the gaps, as outlined in the National College Progression Rates report, advances the work we do nationally in middle and high schools to increase students’ college and career readiness.”
“The High School Benchmarks report, and other reports from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, are critical comparison points for NCAN and our members,” said Bill DeBaun, Director of Data and Evaluation, National College Access Network (NCAN). “We use this report to measure the impact of college access and success programs in achieving their goals of helping low-income, first-generation students to get to and through college.”
“We want our students to have a quality education that results in endless choices after high school,” said Will Bishop, Principal, Norcross High School, Norcross, Georgia. “The High School Benchmarks report and our specific school report gives us important feedback on the success of our students who attend college.”
The 2017 High School Benchmarks Report: National College Progression Rates covers public and private high schools from all 50 states and 71 percent of the 100 largest districts in the United States, including about 40 percent of all public high school graduates or nearly 6 million graduates in total. The report presents a range of postsecondary outcomes for five high school graduating classes. This includes immediate college enrollment rates, persistence rates and six-year college completion rates, as well as enrollments and completions in various majors, including STEM and others. The report gives schools and districts the ability to compare their graduates’ results to national trends, for enrollment and progress in 2-year, 4-year, public, private, and out-of-state colleges and universities.
The 2017 High School Benchmarks Report: National College Progression Rates data are drawn from the Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker® for High Schools service, and are presented for students from different types of high schools, such as low versus higher-income and low versus high minority. This enables more focused discussions, particularly about low-income and minority students traditionally not well served by higher education.
See our blog to learn how the High School Benchmarks Report charts a course to student success in college. Follow the conversation using #HSBenchmarks on Twitter and Facebook.
About the National Student Clearinghouse® Research Center™
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes.
To learn more, visit https://nscresearchcenter.org.
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