High School Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Among First Generation and Low-Income Students
Released: 2005-02-09T00:00:00

RS21435 -- High School Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Among First Generation and Low-IncomeStudents

Updated February 9, 2005

Trends in First Generation and Low-Income Enrollment

The proportion of high school graduates whose parents do not have a college degree has declined over the last threedecades, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau. (3) Over four out offive graduates in the class of 1972 would have been first generation college students were they to have gone tocollegecompared to two out of three graduates in the class of 2000. (4) This decline of would be first generation college studentsroughly coincides with the growth in educational attainment that occurred during the same period. In 1970, 11%of theU.S. population were college graduates and by 2000 this had increased to 24%. (5)

The proportion of high school graduates from families with income below 150% of the official poverty level has remainedrelatively stable at around 21% over the last 30 years, according to these data. Twenty percent of the class of 1972lived inlow-income families compared to 22% of the class of 2000. This parallels the rate of poverty for the U.S.population as awhole which has fluctuated between 16% and 20% over the same period. (6)

Similar trends can be seen in the data on college students, although the Department has only begun to collect such datasince 1987. (7) These data indicate modest declinesin the proportion of low-income and first generation college students. The proportion of students from low-income families dropped from 16% to 12% between 1987 and 2000. Theproportionwho, upon graduation, would be the first in their family to get a college degree declined from 65% in 1987 to 62%in 2000.

A second indication from these data is that the representation of first generation and low-income students among thoseenrolled in college has been consistently lower than among those graduating from high school. Thus, it appears thathighschool graduates from low-income families and those that lack a parent with a college degree are less likely thanothergraduates to move on to college.

A Closer Look at the 2000 High School Graduating Class

As stated above, the overall rate of college enrollment for the high school class of 2000 was 53%. That is, just over half ofthose who graduated in the spring of 2000 were enrolled in college in the fall of that year and just under half werenot. Theanalysis that follows reveals that the rate of enrollment is strongly related to parental educational attainment andfamilyincome.

Table 1 shows fall 2000 college enrollment for the high school class of 2000 by parent's education. The rates ofenrollment for fall 2000 were 46% for those whose parents did not attain a Bachelor's degree and 75% for thosewhoseparents hold a Bachelor's degree. High school graduates whose parents lack a college degree were more than twiceaslikely not to be enrolled in college the fall after graduation as those whose parents have a college degree(54% compared to25%).

Table 1. College Enrollment in the Fall of 2000 Among Spring 2000 High School Graduates by Parental Educational Attainment

Source: Current Population Survey.

Note: Columns may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Table 2 displays fall 2000 college enrollment for the high school class of 2000 by family income. The rates of enrollmentfor the fall of 2000 were 35% for those from families below 150% of the poverty line and 58% for those above150% ofpoverty. High school graduates from families below 150% of poverty were over 50% more likely not tobe enrolled incollege the fall after graduation as those from families above 150% of poverty (65% compared to 42%).

Table 2. College Enrollment in the Fall of 2000 Among Spring 2000 High School Graduates by Family Income

Source: Current Population Survey.

Note: Columns may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

The figures in Tables 1 and 2 also support the large body of research which has established a strong link between thesocio-economic status of parents (including income, occupation, and educational attainment) and that of theirchildren. Since the late 1960s, researchers have documented the various ways that "class background is very important indetermining who goes to college." (8) Among theindicators of class background used in this research were direct measureslike family income and parent's education and more indirect measures like educational aspirations and collegepreparedness -- all have been found to be positively associated with college attendance and completion.

Combined Effects of First Generation and Income Status

The final section of this report takes a brief look at the combined effects of first generation status and family income onrates of college enrollment. Table 3 shows rates of college enrollment in the fall of 2000 amongthose who graduated highschool in the spring of 2000 by parental educational attainment and family income.

Table 3 indicates that the rate of college enrollment among students from low-income families is not altered by parentaleducation -- 69% of those whose parents did not attain a Bachelor's degree were not enrolled, compared to 66% ofthosewhose parents have a Bachelor's degree (this difference is not statistically significant). Conversely, Table3 reveals thatparental educational attainment is strongly associated with college attendance among students above150% of poverty. Atthis income level, 51% of the graduates whose parents lack a Bachelor's degree went on to college compared to 75%of thegraduates whose parents have a Bachelor's degree. (9)

Table 3. College Enrollment in the Fall of 2000 Among Spring 2000 High School Graduates by Parent's Educational Attainment and Family Income Status

Source: Current Population Survey.

Note: Columns may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Conclusion

The findings presented here indicate that rates of college enrollment vary greatly by family income and parental educational attainment. Rates of college enrollment among low-income and first generation students were muchlowerthan the overall rate for 2000 high school graduates. In the final analysis of the combined effects of these factors,firstgeneration status was found to have little association with the rate of enrollment of low-income students, but wasstronglyassociated with the rate of enrollment of students from families with greater income.

These results have particularly important implications for the TRIO programs since the legislation stipulates that not lessthan two-thirds of program participants be both low-income and first generation students. The results which show that firstgeneration status does not impact upon the enrollment rate of low-income students might lead some to argue forremoval ofthe first generation portion of this requirement. However, since the findings do reveal lower college going ratesamongfirst generation students from higher income families, some might argue that the statute should be amended to read"or"rather than "and." Another possibility would be an amendment to the definition of low-income to include studentsatgreater income levels whose enrollment likelihood is impacted by first generation status.