The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has released new data on the postsecondary progression rates for high school graduates in the United States. The report disaggregates this information based on several high school characteristics, including minority enrollment.
In high-minority schools, 55.0 percent of students in the class of 2024 enrolled in college in the immediate fall semester following their graduation. This was only a 0.2 percentage point increase compared to the class of 2023. At low-minority schools, 62.7 percent of the class of 2024 enrolled in college immediately – a 0.3 percentage point drop from 2023. The majority of both groups attended public, in-state institutions. However, students from low-minority schools who graduated in 2024 were significantly more likely than their counterparts from high-minority schools to attend four-year, private, and out-of-state colleges and universities.
A larger increase was seen among high-minority schools’ one-year college enrollment rate, rising from 57.5 percent of students in the class of 2022 to 58.8 percent of students in the class of 2023. For low-minority schools, these figures rose from 65.2 percent for 2022 graduates to 65.7 percent for 2023 graduates.
The share of students at high-minority schools that enrolled in college within two years rose from 60.3 percent of students in the class of 2021 to 61.7 percent of students in the class of 2022. In comparison, college enrollment within two years for students at low-minority schools remained stagnant at 68.8 percent for both 2021 and 2022 graduates.
First-year to second-year college persistence for graduates from high-minority schools decreased from 80.3 percent of students in the class of 2021 to 80.0 percent of students in the class of 2022. For low-minority schools, persistence rates increased from 86.5 percent of 2021 graduates to 87.0 percent of 2022 graduates.
The six-year completion rates of students from high-minority high schools slightly increased from 31.2 percent of class of 2017 students to 31.4 percent of class of 2018 students. A similar trend was found among low-minority schools’ six-year completion rates, rising from 47.6 percent of 2017 graduates to 47.7 percent of 2018 graduates.
Notably, there was little difference found in the majors chosen by graduates from high- and low-minority schools, with the majority of both groups selecting majors in liberal arts and business. However, there were disparities among the college completion rates in STEM fields. Among the 2018 graduates of high-minority high schools, 10.9 percent completed a STEM degree within six years, compared to 16.8 percent of 2018 graduates from low-minority schools. Graduates of high-minority high schools who completed a STEM degree were significantly more likely to have studied social sciences or psychology.
