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This report from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) provides a comprehensive analysis of the postsecondary trajectories of students who were ninth graders in fall 2009. Conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), it explores various aspects of these students’ educational journeys, including enrollment rates, completion rates, and financial aid usage through June 2021.
Main Takeaways:
Postsecondary education enrollment and completion outcomes for students who had ever enrolled in postsecondary education:
- About two-fifths of students who had ever enrolled in postsecondary education had not completed a postsecondary degree or certificate by June 30, 2021. Of those who had completed, 8 percent earned a postsecondary certificate or diploma as their highest credential, 10 percent an associate’s degree, 35 percent a bachelor’s degree, and 7 percent a graduate degree.
- Among those who had completed a postsecondary degree or certificate by June 30, 2021, about four-fifths completed their highest degree in a field other than science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. A greater percentage of students who scored in the lowest fifth of the 11th-grade mathematics assessment completed their highest degree in a non-STEM field compared to those who scored in the highest fifth of mathematics achievement.
- A higher percentage of students whose parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher enrolled in graduate programs compared to students whose parents had a high school credential or lower and students whose parents had a postsecondary certificate or associate’s degree.
Postsecondary education pathways for students who ever enrolled in a postsecondary credential or degree program:
- Nearly a third of students who ever enrolled in a postsecondary credential or degree program had not earned a postsecondary credential and were no longer enrolled by June 30, 2021. Another small percentage had not earned a credential and were enrolled in a less-than-4-year institution, and a similar fraction in a 4-year institution. The remaining majority had attained a credential.
- A greater percentage of students whose family income in 2011 exceeded $115,000 had earned a postsecondary credential by June 30, 2021, compared to students at lower family income levels.
- Among students who had not earned a postsecondary credential by June 30, 2021, a smaller percentage participated in dual enrollment compared to those who had earned a postsecondary credential.
- A greater percentage of students (52 percent) who did not attain a postsecondary credential by June 30, 2021, experienced at least one stopout greater than 4 months, compared to the percentage of students who did attain a postsecondary credential (39 percent).
Federal financial aid receipt for students who had ever enrolled in postsecondary education:
- The percentage who received a Pell Grant was greater than the percentage who received a federal loan for Asian (67 vs. 49 percent), Black (85 vs. 73 percent), and Hispanic (74 vs. 53 percent) students. In contrast, among White students, the percentage who received a loan (61 percent) was greater than the percentage who received a Pell Grant (48 percent).
- Among students who received federal student loans for undergraduate education, the average cumulative amount received was $17,900, which exceeded the average cumulative amount of grants received by Pell Grant recipients ($10,800). This pattern held true for all race and ethnicity groups, except Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, for whom there was no statistically significant difference between the two amounts.