REL Appalachia Report Looks at College Enrollment Rates for Virginia Public School Students

From the Institute of Education Sciences' Newsflash Service

Many states, including Virginia, use college enrollment data to understand what types of students are ready for college-to prepare them for enrollment and improve their outcomes when they get there. But historically, Virginia state and local officials have had to rely on limited information (such as the state and national average percentage of high school students who enroll in college immediately after graduation) to identify enrollment patterns. These averages can be informative, but they mask substantial demographic variation and say little about what types of students enroll.

The REL Appalachia report, Estimating College Enrollment Rates for 2008 Virginia Public High School Graduates, uses the best available data to disaggregate enrollment by academic characteristics (diploma type, career and technical education [CTE] completer status, proficiency on state end-of-course assessments) and by demographic characteristics (race/ethnicity, sex, economically disadvantaged status, limited English proficiency). It compares these data for enrollment in both two- and four-year colleges within one year of high school graduation.

Key findings include:

● About 62 percent of 2008 Virginia public high school graduates enrolled in degree-granting institutions within one year of graduation -- 25 percent in two-year colleges and 37 percent in four-year colleges.

● Advanced Studies Diploma graduates had higher rates of total enrollment in two- or four-year colleges (85 percent) than did Standard Diploma graduates (46 percent). Students earning the Advanced Studies Diploma, compared to the Standard Diploma, must complete one more credit each in Math, Lab Science, and History or Social Studies, and three credits in Foreign Language.

● CTE completers and non-CTE completers had similar overall rates of enrollment (61 and 63 percent, respectively), but a greater percentage of CTE completers enrolled in two-year colleges (29 percent compared to 22 percent).

● The enrollment gaps between Black and White, male and female, and economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students narrowed for students with the same diploma type. For example, the 25 percentage point enrollment gap between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students narrowed to 13 percentage points for Advanced Studies Diploma students and 10 percentage points for Standard Diploma students.