Information Services Statistical Reports
Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 2002

Introduction

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education collects data annually from public high schools regarding the plans of their graduates. This report summarizes the data at the state level for the Class of 2002 and includes analyses by racial/ethnic groups, gender, vocational-technical schools, and charter schools. Comparison data from past years are also provided, as well as district and individual school data. It is important to note that the data represent the intentions of high school graduates and may not reflect what students actually do after graduating from high school.

Changes in Data Collection

Prior to the 2001-02 school year, data about the plans of high school graduates were obtained from the Year-End School Indicator Report, a survey of Massachusetts public schools conducted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at the end of each school year. School officials reported the number of graduating students by gender and race across nine categories of post-graduation plans.

In 2001-02, Massachusetts changed its collection system and began collecting student-level data through the Student Information Management System (SIMS). This report marks the first year that the plans of high school graduates are reported based on student-level data submitted by districts through SIMS. As a result of this new collection method, data may not fully represent actual changes in the plans of high school graduates from previous years, but rather may be representative of changes in data collection and in reporting requirements. Despite these limitations, student-level data collected through SIMS for this and the following years will ensure more accurate reporting by districts and will allow for more in-depth analysis of the plans of high school graduates in Massachusetts.

Results

Class of 2002

In 2002, a total of 56,930 students graduated from Massachusetts public high schools. Of these graduates, over 74 percent planned on attending college or some other post-secondary institution (e.g. trade schools), 13 percent planned on working, and two percent intended to enter the military. One percent of the graduates reported having plans other than the ones listed above, and data was not available for the remaining nine percent of graduates (Figure 1 and Table 1). Of the graduates planning to attend college, more than twice as many planned to attend a fouryear college than planned to attend a two-year college (52 versus 20 percent of all graduates).

Next