DATA

POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

NCES 2016-109 JULY 2016

 Career and Technical Education 

Coursetaking and Postsecondary 

Enrollment and Attainment: High 

School Classes of 1992 and 2004

This Data Point uses data from two nationally representative studies of public and private high school students: the 

National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), which began with a sample of over 24,000 eighth-grade 

students, and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), which began with a sample of over 15,000 tenthgrade students, and their associated High School Transcript Studies. The Data Point reports data from these studies’ 

public high school graduates. Causal inferences should not be made from these correlational data. 

This Data Point examines public high school graduates’ 

postsecondary enrollment and attainment (at any type of 

postsecondary institution, at any level), for the class of 

1992 as of 2000, and for the class of 2004 as of 2012.1

Changes in postsecondary enrollment and attainment are 

examined for all public school graduates and for those 

who earned different numbers of career and technical 

education (CTE) credits in high school (figure 1).2 

Enrollment rates were higher in the more 

recent cohort, particularly among graduates 

who earned more CTE credits. 

The postsecondary enrollment rate within 8 years of high 

school graduation was higher for the class of 2004 than 

for the class of 1992 (89 percent versus 83 percent, 

respectively) (figure 1). 

FIGURE 1. Percentage of public high school graduates who enrolled in postsecondary 

education within 8 years of graduation, overall and by high school career and technical 

education (CTE) credits: High school classes of 1992 and 2004 

8 3

9 2 8 9

8 5

7 0

8 9

9 4 9 0 9 1

8 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All graduates 0.00 credits 0.01-1.99 

credits

2.00-3.99 

credits

4.00 or more 

credits

Class of 1992

Class of 2004

Number of CTE credits earned in high school

Percent

NOTE: Standard errors for estimates can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/h147.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), 

Fourth Follow-up, 2000, and its High School Transcript Public-Use File; Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2012), Third Follow-up, 2012, and its High School 

Transcript Public-Use File. 

To learn more about NELS:88, visit http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/nels88/. To learn more about ELS:2002, 

visit http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/els2002/. For questions about content or to view this report online, go to 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015014.
CTE Coursetaking and Postsecondary Enrollment and Attainment: High School Classes of 1992 and 2004 

FIGURE 2. Percentage of public high school graduates who earned a postsecondary 

credential within 8 years of graduation, overall and by high school career and 

technical education (CTE) credits: High school classes of 1992 and 2004 

6 1

7 3

6 5

6 1

4 7

5 7

6 3 6 0

5 7

4 9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All graduates 0.00 credits 0.01-1.99 

credits

2.00-3.99 

credits

4.00 or more 

credits

Class of 1992 

Class of 2004

Numberof CTE credits earned in high school

Percent

NOTE: Standard errors for estimates can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/h147.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 

(NELS:88), Fourth Follow-up, 2000, and its High School Transcript Public-Use File; Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2012), Third Follow-up, 2012, and its 

High School Transcript Public-Use File.

This increase in enrollment rate was found for graduates 

who earned 2.00–3.99 CTE credits and 4.00 or more 

CTE credits. The largest enrollment increase, from 70 

percent for the class of 1992 to 83 percent for the class 

of 2004, was among graduates who earned 4.00 or more 

CTE credits; however, these graduates had the lowest 

enrollment rate of the four CTE participation groups in 

both cohorts. 

Attainment rates were lower in the more 

recent cohort than in the earlier cohort. 

Although the postsecondary enrollment rate was higher for 

the class of 2004 than for the class of 1992, the 8-year 

postsecondary attainment rate was lower in the more 

recent cohort than in the earlier cohort, with 57 percent of 

the class of 2004 earning a postsecondary credential 

compared to 61 percent of the class of 1992 (figure 2). 

This change in attainment rate across cohorts varied by 

the number of CTE credits earned, but there was no 

consistent pattern. Attainment rates were lower for the 

more recent cohort than for the earlier cohort only among 

graduates who earned 0.00 CTE credits and who earned 

2.00–3.99 CTE credits. The attainment rate of graduates 

who earned 4.00 or more CTE credits was not measurably 

different in the two cohorts, but their attainment rate 

remained the lowest of the four CTE participation groups. 

Endnotes 

1 Postsecondary enrollment includes graduates who enrolled in 

postsecondary education (college, technical, or trade school) at any 

time during the 8 year period following high school graduation; 

postsecondary attainment includes graduates who earned a 

postsecondary credential (certificate or degree) during the same 

8 year period.

2 A credit is equivalent to a one-year course taken for an hour each 

day. Students can earn less than 1 credit by taking a class that meets 

for less than an hour per day or for less than a full-year. CTE credits 

Include credits in the following occupational subject areas: Agriculture 

and natural resources; business; communications and design; 

computer and information sciences; construction and architecture; 

consumer and culinary services; engineering technologies; health 

sciences; manufacturing; marketing; public services; and repair and 

transportation. 

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents 

information of education topics of current interest. It was authored by Lisa 

Hudson and Sharon Boivin of NCES. Estimates based on samples are subject 

to sampling variability, and apparent differences may not be statistically 

significant. All stated differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In 

the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are 

made to minimize effects of non-sampling errors, such as item response, 

measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.