Information Services - Statistical Reports
Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 1995
May 1996
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to issue our annual publication, Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 1995. Its release at this time, earlier than in prior years, continues our effort to publish reports in a more timely manner.
This report provides information about the plans of students who graduated from Massachusetts public high schools in 1995. This information is one of several educational indicators we report in order to provide a more complete view of schools and school districts. It will be helpful to schools in determining how well they are meeting the needs of their students. It will also be useful to institutions and organizations which provide services to high school graduates, such as post-secondary institutions, employment training organizations, and social service agencies.
The percentage of graduates planning to continue their education at a two- or four-year college continues to increase. Of the 47,679 graduates of the Class of 1995, 71.2 percent planned to go on to a two- or four-year college. This represents an increase of 0.7 of a percentage point between 1994 and 1995, and a jump of 22.0 percentage points since 1975, the first year of the survey. The percentage of students planning to attend public four-year colleges (23.0 percent) and private four-year colleges (29.9 percent) are at record highs.
The importance of a college education was highlighted in a report issued by the University of Massachusetts last December. That report predicted that by the year 2010, approximately 400,000 jobs in the state requiring a college degree will go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers. Of course, all students eventually must be ready to enter the world of work. I am confident that the Education Reform Act of 1993, with its higher standards for both students and teachers, will strengthen the opportunities for Massachusetts high school graduates to obtain challenging and productive jobs, or to enter higher education, in the years ahead.
I would like to acknowledge the Accountability and Evaluation Service Cluster of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for developing this report. If you have any questions or suggestions about the report, please contact:
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Accountability and Evaluation Services
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148
(781) 338-3000
Sincerely,
Robert V. Antonucci
Commissioner of Education
Plans of High School Graduates: The Class of 1995
A total of 47,679 students graduated from Massachusetts public schools in 1995. Of these graduates, 71.2 percent planned to attend a two- or four-year college, 2.5 percent planned to attend some other post-secondary institution, 17.4 percent planned to work and 2.8 percent planned to enter the military (Figure 1 and Table 1).
A higher percentage of students planning to attend college expected to attend a public college than a private one. Of the total number of graduates, 36.8 percent planned to attend a public two- or four-year college, and 34.4 percent planned to attend a private two- or four-year college. Of those planning to attend a four-year college, more expected to attend a private one than a public one (29.9 versus 23.0 percent), and of students planning to attend a two-year college, over three times as many expected to attend a public college that a private one (13.8 verses 4.5 percent).
Table 1. Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 1995
| Number of Grads # |
2 YR Pub Coll % |
4 YR Pub Coll % |
2 YR Priv Coll % |
4 YR Priv Coll % |
Other Post Secndy % |
Mili- tary % |
Work % |
Other % |
Data Not Available % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 47,679 | 13.8 | 23.0 | 4.5 | 29.9 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 17.4 | 3.8 | 2.3 | |
| Gender | |||||||||||
| Male | 23,362 | 12.8 | 21.4 | 3.4 | 26.9 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 21.1 | 4.0 | 2.5 | |
| Female | 24,317 | 14.8 | 24.5 | 5.5 | 32.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 13.9 | 3.6 | 2.1 | |
| Racial/Ethnic Group | |||||||||||
| African American | 3,278 | 15.2 | 17.4 | 8.0 | 22.4 | 4.7 | 2.7 | 14.0 | 8.8 | 6.8 | |
| Asian | 1,804 | 9.7 | 24.2 | 4.3 | 43.3 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 7.6 | 4.7 | 3.2 | |
| Hispanic | 2,699 | 23.7 | 14.7 | 6.5 | 12.5 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 22.3 | 7.9 | 5.1 | |
| Native American | 54 | 25.9 | 16.7 | 3.7 | 14.8 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 18.5 | 1.9 | 1.9 | |
| White | 39,844 | 13.2 | 23.9 | 4.0 | 31.1 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 17.8 | 3.1 | 1.7 | |
Gender
A higher percentage of females (77.5 percent) than males (64.5 percent) planned to attend a two- or four-year college, while a higher percentage of males (21.1 percent) than females (13.9 percent) planned to work. Over five times as many males (4.8 percent) than females (0.9 percent) planned to enter the military.
Racial/Ethnic Groups
Asian graduates were more likely than graduates from other racial/ethnic groups to plan to attend a two- or four-year college. The percentage of Asian graduates (81.5 percent) planning to attend a two- or four-year college was higher than that of white graduates (72.2 percent), African-American graduates (63.0 percent), Native American graduates (61.1 percent), and Hispanic graduates (57.4 percent). Graduates of all ratial/ethnic groups, with the exception of Hispanic, were more likely to attend a four-year college that a two-year college. Hispanic graduates were more likely than graduates of other racial/ethnic groups to enter the work force, and Native American graduates were most likely to enter the military.
Trends Over Time
The percentage of graduates planning to attend a two- or four-year college increased by 0.7 percentage points between 1994 and 1995 and by 22.0 percentage points between 1975 and 1995 (Table 2 and Figure 2). The percentage of graduates planning to attend a four-year college increased by 1.0 percentage point between 1994 and 1995, while the percentage planning to attend a two-year college decreased by 0.3 percentage point. Between 1975 and 1994, the percentage of graduates planning to attend a four-year college increased by 19.0 percentage points, while the percentage planning to attend a two-year college increased by 3.0 percentage points.
As the percentage points of graduates planning to attend college has increased, the percentages of graduates planning immediately to work, attend a non-college post-secondary institution or enter the military have in general decreased. The percentage of graduates planning to go from high school directly to work increased by 0.4 percentage points between 1975 and 1995. The percentage of graduates planning to attend a non-college post-secondary institution decreased by 0.3 percentage point between 1994 and 1995 and decreased by 3.1 percentage points between 1975 and 1995. The percentage of graduates planning to enter the military decreased by 0.1 percentage point between 1994 and 1995 and by 1.2 percentage points since 1975.
Technical Information
Data about the plans of high school graduates were obtained from the Year-End School Indicator Report for 1994-95, a survey of Massachusetts public schoolsconducted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at the end of every school year. School officials report the number of graduating students by gender and race across nine catergories of post-graduation plans.
High schools reported in the table Distribution of High School Graduates - Class of 1995 at the end of this report are classified as follows:
- academic high schools offer general and college preparatory courses
- vocational high schools offer Chapter 74 approved vocational-technical education programs
- comprehensive high schools offer academic courses and at least five Chapter 74 approved occupational education programs
Figure 2. Plans of High School Graduates: 1975 - 1995
Table 2. Plans of High School Graduates: 1975-1995
| Number of Grads # |
2 YR Pub Coll % |
4 YR Pub Coll % |
2 YR Priv Coll % |
4 YR Priv Coll % |
Other Post Secndy % |
Mili- tary % |
Work % |
Other % |
Data Not Available % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 47,679 | 13.8 | 23.0 | 4.5 | 29.9 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 17.4 | 3.8 | 2.3 |
| 1994 | 47,453 | 14.1 | 22.7 | 4.5 | 29.2 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 17.0 | 4.2 | 2.7 |
| 1993 | 48,394 | 14.2 | 21.7 | 5.0 | 28.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 17.4 | 4.4 | 2.9 |
| 1992 | 50,323 | 14.8 | 21.4 | 4.7 | 27.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 17.9 | 4.1 | 2.8 |
| 1991 | 50,216 | 14.9 | 22.7 | 4.6 | 24.6 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 19.2 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| 1990 | 51,496 | 15.1 | 20.7 | 5.2 | 24.3 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 21.6 | 3.9 | 2.3 |
| 1989 | 57,328 | 14.5 | 21.0 | 5.3 | 23.2 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 23.6 | 3.7 | 2.2 |
| 1988 | 59,515 | 13.5 | 21.4 | 4.9 | 23.7 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 24.5 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| 1987 | 59,552 | 12.4 | 20.7 | 5.0 | 22.4 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 24.9 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| 1986 | 61,261 | 10.9 | 20.5 | 5.2 | 21.9 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 27.9 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
| 1985 | 63,411 | 10.5 | 19.8 | 5.0 | 21.7 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 28.0 | 4.5 | 1.9 |
| 1984 | 65,885 | 10.3 | 18.5 | 4.9 | 22.0 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 28.6 | 4.3 | 2.6 |
| 1983 | 71,225 | 10.7 | 18.3 | 4.9 | 20.4 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 28.9 | 4.5 | 2.6 |
| 1982 | 74,299 | 10.9 | 18.1 | 4.8 | 20.3 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 29.7 | 4.1 | 2.5 |
| 1981 | 74,876 | 10.9 | 18.7 | 4.4 | 19.5 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 30.4 | 4.7 | 2.1 |
| 1980 | 73,802 | 10.1 | 18.2 | 4.4 | 20.3 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 31.1 | 4.0 | 2.3 |
| 1979 | 76,391 | 10.2 | 17.2 | 4.3 | 19.5 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 32.8 | 4.7 | 2.4 |
| 1978 | 78,348 | 10.2 | 17.2 | 4.0 | 19.3 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 32.2 | 5.0 | 3.1 |
| 1977 | 72,393 | 11.0 | 16.5 | 4.2 | 19.3 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 31.8 | 4.8 | 2.7 |
| 1976 | 75,386 | 10.7 | 15.6 | 4.5 | 18.4 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 30.8 | 6.6 | 3.7 |
| 1975 | 78,408 | 11.1 | 16.4 | 4.2 | 17.5 | 5.6 | 4.0 | 30.9 | 6.1 | 4.3 |
Distribution of High School Graduates - Class of 1995