Percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in college the October immediately following high school completion, by race/ethnicity and family income: 1972

Student Effort and Educational Progress: Tables

Transition to College

Table 24-1. Percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in college the October immediately following high school completion, by race/ethnicity and family income: 1972–2006

		Race/ethnicity¹					Family income²
Year	Total	White	Black	Hispanic	Gap between White and Black	Gap between White and Hispanic	Low	Middle	High	Gap between low and high

1972	49.2	49.7	44.6	45.0	5.1	4.7	26.1	45.2	63.8	37.7
1973	46.6	47.8	32.5	54.1	15.3	-6.3	20.3	40.9	64.4	44.1
1974	47.6	47.2	47.2	46.9	-0.1	0.3	—	—	—	—
1975	50.7	51.1	41.7	58.0	9.4	-6.9	31.2	46.2	64.5	33.3
1976	48.8	48.8	44.4	52.7	4.4	-3.9	39.1	40.5	63.0	23.8
1977	50.6	50.8	49.5	50.8	1.4	0.0	27.7	44.2	66.3	38.6
1978	50.1	50.5	46.4	42.0	4.1	8.5	31.4	44.3	64.0	32.6
1979	49.3	49.9	46.7	45.0	3.3	5.0	30.5	43.2	63.2	32.7
1980	49.3	49.8	42.7	52.3	7.1	-2.5	32.5	42.5	65.2	32.7
1981	53.9	54.9	42.7	52.1	12.2	2.8	33.6	49.2	67.6	34.0
1982	50.6	52.7	35.8	43.2	16.9	9.5	32.8	41.7	70.9	38.1
1983	52.7	55.0	38.2	54.2	16.9	0.8	34.6	45.2	70.3	35.8
1984	55.2	59.0	39.8	44.3	19.2	14.6	34.5	48.4	74.0	39.5
1985	57.7	60.1	42.2	51.0	17.9	9.0	40.2	50.6	74.6	34.3
1986	53.8	56.8	36.9	44.0	19.9	12.8	33.9	48.5	71.0	37.1
1987	56.8	58.6	52.2	33.5	6.4	25.0	36.9	50.0	73.8	36.9
1988	58.9	61.1	44.4	57.1	16.8	4.0	42.5	54.7	72.8	30.3
1989	59.6	60.7	53.4	55.1	7.3	5.6	48.1	55.4	70.7	22.6
1990	60.1	63.0	46.8	42.7	16.2	20.3	46.7	54.4	76.6	29.9
1991	62.5	65.4	46.4	57.2	19.0	8.2	39.5	58.4	78.2	38.8
1992	61.9	64.3	48.2	55.0	16.1	9.4	40.9	57.0	79.0	38.1
1993	62.6	62.9	55.6	62.2	7.3	0.7	50.4	56.9	79.3	28.9
1994	61.9	64.5	50.8	49.1	13.7	15.4	43.3	57.8	77.9	34.6
1995	61.9	64.3	51.2	53.7	13.1	10.6	34.2	56.0	83.5	49.2
1996	65.0	67.4	56.0	50.8	11.5	16.6	48.6	62.7	78.0	29.4
1997	67.0	68.2	58.5	65.6	9.6	2.6	57.0	60.7	82.2	25.2
1998	65.6	68.5	61.9	47.4	6.6	21.2	46.4	64.7	77.5	31.1
1999	62.9	66.3	58.9	42.3	7.4	24.0	49.4	59.4	76.1	26.7
2000	63.3	65.7	54.9	52.9	10.8	12.7	49.7	59.5	76.9	27.2
2001	61.7	64.2	54.6	51.7	9.5	12.5	43.8	56.3	79.9	36.1
2002	65.2	68.9	59.4	53.3	9.4	15.6	56.4	60.7	78.2	21.8
2003	63.9	66.2	57.5	58.6	8.7	7.6	52.8	57.6	80.1	27.3
2004	66.7	68.8	62.5	61.8	6.3	7.0	47.8	63.3	80.1	32.3
2005	68.6	73.2	55.7	54.0	17.5	19.2	53.5	65.1	81.2	27.6
2006	66.0	68.5	55.5	57.9	13.0	10.6	50.9	61.4	80.7	29.8

— Not available. Data on family income were not available in 1974.
¹ Included in the total but not shown separately are high school completers from other racial/ethnic groups. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
² 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. See supplemental note 2 for further information.
NOTE: Includes those ages 16–24 completing high school in a given year. The Current Population Survey (CPS) questions about educational attainment were reworded in 1992. Before then, high school completers referred to those who had completed 12 years of schooling; beginning in 1992, the term referred to those who had received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. In 1994, the survey methodology for the CPS was changed and weights were adjusted. See supplemental note 2 for further information. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some estimates have been revised from previous publications.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement, 1972–2006.

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