A new annual report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center highlights enrollment, persistence and completion rates for recent high school graduates, observing some differences between two-year college students from low- and high-poverty high schools.
The percentage of recent high school graduates from high-poverty schools who attended a two-year college in the fall immediately after graduating (immediate enrollees) increased from 2023 to 2024 by 1.7 percentage points, to 22.6%. However, the persistence rate for the high-poverty school graduates attending two-year colleges dropped 2 percentage points, to 65.1%, when comparing the classes of 2021 and 2022.
Recent graduates from low-poverty high schools enrolling at two-year colleges also saw an increase, though at a smaller rate — a 0.5 percentage-point increase, to 14.3%. The persistence rate for these students was relatively level at 76.9%.
First-time enrollment rates at two-year colleges are higher in the first and second year after graduation. For students from high-poverty schools, enrollment within one year was 23.2% and 26% within two years. The trends are similar across income and minority levels and urbanicity, the data show. For low-poverty schools, the first-time enrollment rate was 14.8% for within one year and 18.8% within two years.
The six-year completion rate (excluding certificate earners) for two-year college students also increased slightly when comparing the classes of 2017 and 2018, from 8.2% to 8.5% for high-poverty schools. Among low-poverty schools, it dropped slightly, from 8.4% to 8.2%.
What students are studying
The report also looks at enrollment and completion by majors. For two-year college students, liberal arts and sciences, general students and humanities was the most common major across all high school characteristics, the data show.
Some differences appear among students selecting other majors. Among students enrolling in two-year colleges, those from more-advantaged high schools were more likely to choose business programs, while those from less-advantaged schools were more likely to take health professions. For immediate enrollees from high-poverty schools, 11.5% chose health professions, compared to 7.4% from low-poverty high schools. For those from low-poverty schools, 11% chose business, compared to 8.5% of those from high-poverty schools.
