Archived Information

Family & Community Students & Families Student and Secondary Support
College and Career Readiness

Selected Data Points
Academic Preparation for College and the Workplace

Employment Growth
By 2010, the Massachusetts economy is expected to expand by nine percent, or 304,500 new jobs. An additional 829,300 jobs should arise from the need to replace workers who retire, change careers or advance. In total 1.1 million jobs will result. Jobs requiring an associate's degree or higher will account for 62 percent of new jobs in contrast to the 32 percent of current jobs that require this level of education.
Source: Massachusetts Division of Career Services. http://www.detma.org/fplmiforms1.htm#MassStasPub

The Educational Pipeline
Of one hundred students entering ninth grade in Massachusetts public schools, approximately 76 students will graduate from high school, 52 students will start college, 40 students will persist for a second year and 29 students will eventually obtain a degree.
Source: National Center for Public Policy & Higher Education, Policy Alert, April 2004.

The Educational Pipeline "Gap"
In 2002, 81 percent of White ninth grade students who entered igh school in the same year graduated with their class in Massachusetts. (Compared with 78 percent nationwide.) Fifty nine percent of the same cohort of Massachusetts African American students graduated (56 percent nationwide) and 46 percent of Latino students graduated with their original ninth grade class. (52 percent nationwide)
Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates: 1991-2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm

College-Ready Graduates
In 2002 it was estimated that only 43 percent of White ninth graders in Massachusetts would graduate on time and be college-ready. (40 percent nationwide.) Only 29 percent of African American students and 14 percent of Latino students in Massachusetts would be college-ready. (Compared with 23 percent and 20 percent respectively nationwide.)
Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates: 1991-2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm.

College Remediation
Nationwide, nearly three in ten of first year college students are placed immediately in a remedial college course. 28 percent of incoming students are enrolled in reading, writing, or mathematics remedial courses. For Massachusetts, these numbers are even higher. The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education reported in 2005, thirty seven percent of incoming freshmen from public high schools had to take a remedial course in reading, writing, or mathematics.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Remedial Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions in Fall 2000, 2003. Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, 2005.

Academic Coursework Preparation
Only 13.1 percent of Massachusetts high schools require 4 years of mathematics for graduation. 13.9 percent of Massachusetts high school require 4 years of science for graduation. The Board of Higher Education requires three years of math and three years of science for admission to four-year colleges. Despite that fact, 15.4 percent of high schools report requiring just two years of mathematics and 27 percent require only two years of science. There are no state-level requirements for amount of coursework in mathematics or science for graduation.
Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Survey, 2005.