Longitudinal Study of nation’s 10th graders

Posted by on January 27, 2014

High school sophomores, 10 years on

A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Department of Education offers a descriptive portrait of 10th-grade participants in a longitudinal study a decade later, when most were 26 years old and had been out of high school for 8 years. In terms of paid employment and postsecondary education, 19 percent reported both working and taking postsecondary courses; 63 percent reported working only; 5 percent reported taking postsecondary courses only; and 13 percent were neither working nor taking post-secondary courses. Levels of education completed as of 2012 were bachelor’s degree or higher (33 percent); associate’s degree (9 percent); undergraduate certificate (10 percent); postsecondary attendance but no credential (32 percent); high school diploma or equivalent (13 percent); and less than high school completion (3 percent). Significantly, of those who began postsecondary education within 3 months of high school completion, 42 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree and another 11 percent had earned a master’s (or higher) by 2012; among those who began postsecondary education 13 or more months following high school completion, 6 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree and another 1 percent had earned a master’s (or higher) by 2012.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014363.pdf