Featured Indicator No. 12

January 2011

 

Featured Indicator: Top 10 States in Chance for College Enrollment by Age 19 - 2008

This indicator shows the top 10 states plus the U.S. in chance for college enrollment by age 19 in 2008. Chance for college enrollment is calculated by the Mortenson Research Seminar on Public Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Postsecondary Education and equals the product of the public high school graduation rate and the college continuation rate. South Dakota tops the list at 59.6% followed by Minnesota (59.1%), New Jersey (58.2%), and Massachusetts (57.5%). The U.S. as a whole comes in at 44%. To see where your state ranks click here

Why this is significant

Higher education attainment among the population is increasingly important if states are to develop strong and vibrant economies that promote personal economic well-being. The extent to which young adults complete high school and continue to higher education is an indicator of aspirations among young adults, accessibility of higher education, and future potential education attainment.

Source

Public High School Graduation Rate - equals high school graduates divided by the number of 9th grade enrollments 4 years prior, data is based on "Public Elementary and Secondary Education Statistics", National Center for Education Statistics, www.nces.ed.gov. College Continuation Rate - Equals the number of fall freshman enrolled anywhere in the U.S. who were high school graduates the previous spring - the data is from the biannual Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, National Center for Education Statistics, www.nces.ed.gov.

Not all data for District of Columbia is available. Calculations don’t account for transfers to private high schools or out-of-state between 9th and 12th grades.

Chance for College by Age 19 - 1986-2008, Thomas Mortenson, Postsecondary Education Opportunity; 8/5/2010; http://www.postsecondary.org


To download as a PDF for printing, please click here. 

This indicator is provided as a service by PolicyOne Research.  For more information please feel free to contact us.

To see previous indicators that we have highlighted, please visit our archive page