College Enrollment by Income
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The 25 percentage point gap in enrollment rates between the 2008 high school graduates from the highest income backgrounds (80%) and those from the lowest income backgrounds who enrolled immediately in college (55%) was the smallest for the 24 years for which data are available.

Key Points

  • The college enrollment rate of high school graduates from the third quintile, with family incomes ranging from $35,001 to $55,050 in 2008, declined from 63% to 55% from 1998 to 2002, and was 61% in 2008.
  • The college enrollment rate of high school graduates from the two lowest income quintiles increased from 1998 to 2008.

Also Important  (View)

  • In the U.S. Census data on which the enrollment rates reported here are based, students who do not live either on campus or with their parents are not considered part of their parents’ families. The same is true for high school graduates who leave their parents’ homes and enter the labor force. More accurate representation of differential enrollment rates would require reassigning these young people to their families of origin.
  • Immediate enrollment rates of high school graduates do not capture students who wait more than a year after graduation to continue their education, a pattern more common among lower-income students than among those from higher income backgrounds.
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Figure 2.1: Postsecondary Enrollment Rates of Recent High School Graduates by Family Income, 1984–2008

Lowest Income Quintile 2nd Income Quintile 3rd Income Quintile 4th Income Quintile Highest Income Quintile
1984 34% 35% 44% 53% 72%
1985 36% 36% 47% 56% 73%
1986 36% 35% 48% 59% 73%
1987 37% 35% 47% 60% 73%
1988 38% 36% 48% 61% 73%
1989 43% 41% 49% 62% 73%
1990 46% 44% 51% 62% 73%
1991 45% 46% 52% 64% 75%
1992 42% 46% 53% 65% 78%
1993 44% 47% 57% 64% 79%
1994 45% 49% 56% 63% 79%
1995 43% 45% 58% 63% 80%
1996 42% 44% 60% 67% 80%
1997 47% 43% 62% 68% 81%
1998 51% 51% 63% 70% 79%
1999 51% 53% 63% 66% 79%
2000 49% 56% 61% 65% 77%
2001 48% 51% 58% 63% 78%
2002 50% 52% 55% 65% 78%
2003 51% 49% 58% 65% 79%
2004 52% 50% 60% 68% 79%
2005 51% 50% 62% 70% 80%
2006 51% 52% 63% 70% 81%
2007 54% 55% 62% 69% 80%
2008 55% 57% 61% 69% 80%

View Notes and Sources

Note: Based on enrollment in college within 12 months of high school graduation. Income quintiles are defined in terms of all households. In 2008, the upper income limits of the quintiles were: lowest, $19,000; 2nd, $35,000; 3rd, $55,050; and 4th, $88,230. High school graduates are not evenly distributed among income quintiles because graduation rates are lower among students from low-income backgrounds. Enrollment rates reflect moving averages, with the rate for each year the average of three years — the specified year and the two preceding years.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2010.

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