The rate of college enrollment immediately after high school completion increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 67 percent in 1997 and ranged between 62 and 69 percent through 2007. Gaps in immediate enrollment rates by family income, parents' education, and race/ethnicity have persisted over time.

The immediate college enrollment rate is defined as the percentage of high school completers of a given year who enroll in 2- or 4-year colleges in the fall immediately after completing high school. Between 1972 and 1980, the overall immediate enrollment rate was approximately 50 percent (see table A-21-1). The rate then increased, reaching 67 percent by 1997. The enrollment rate declined through 2001 to 62 percent before increasing again to 67 percent in 2007.

Differences in the immediate college enrollment rate by family income, parents' education, and race/ethnicity groups have persisted over time. For family income, despite an overall narrowing of the gaps, the immediate college enrollment rates of high school completers from low- and middle-income families trailed those of their peers from high-income families by more than 10 percentage points in each year between 1972 and 2007. In 2007, the enrollment rate gap between students from low- and high-income families was 23 percentage points, and the gap between students from middle- and high-income families was 15 percentage points.

Compared with high school completers whose parents had a bachelor's degree or higher, those whose parents had less education have had lower immediate college enrollment rates each year since 1992 (the earliest year for which comparable data on parents' education are available) (see table A-21-2). In 2007, the gap in the immediate college enrollment rate was 35 percentage points between students whose parents had a bachelor's degree or higher and students whose parents completed high school or a lower level of education and 21 percentage points between students whose parents had a bachelor's degree or higher and students whose parents had some college.

Although the immediate college enrollment rates of White, Black, and Hispanic high school completers each increased between 1972 and 2007, enrollment rates for Black and Hispanic high school completers have nonetheless been lower than for their White peers almost every year since 1985 (see table A-21-3). In 2007, the immediate college enrollment rate was 70 percent for White high school completers, compared with 56 percent for Black high school completers and 61 percent for Hispanic high school completers.

From 1972 through 2007, the immediate college enrollment rate increased for both male and female high school completers, but the increase was greater for females than for males (see table A-21-4). Thus, while the enrollment rate was 7 percentage points lower for females than for males in 1972, in 2007 the rate was about 67 percent for both sexes.

Technical Notes

Includes high school completers ages 16-24, who accounted for about 98 percent of all high school completers in a given year. Enrollment rates were calculated from the Current Population Survey (CPS) data. Before 1992, high school completer referred to those who had completed 12 years of schooling. Beginning in 1992, high school completer has referred to those who have received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. Low income refers to the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes, high income refers to the top 20 percent of all family incomes, and middle income refers to the 60 percent in between. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Parents' education refers to the highest education level attained by either parent or, in the absence of both parents, the highest level attained by the householder or the householder's spouse. Due to short-term data fluctuations associated with small sample sizes for the Black, Hispanic, and low-income categories, moving average rates are also presented and discussed in the indicator text. For more information on the CPS, educational attainment, family income, race/ethnicity, and parents' education, see supplemental note 2.