Information Services - Statistical Reports
Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 2000
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 2000 and includes analyses by racial/ethnic groups and gender. 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.
Results
In 2000, a total of 52,950 students graduated from Massachusetts public high schools. Of these graduates, over 75 percent planned on attending college or some other post-secondary institution, almost 15 percent planned on working, and nearly three percent intended to enter the military (Figure 1 below and Table 1). Of the graduates planning to attend college, more than twice as many planned to attend a four-year college than planned to attend a two-year college (54 versus 21 percent of all graduates).
Figure 1. Plans of 2000 High School Graduates
Of the total number of graduates:
- 75% planned to attend college
- Private four-year college - 31%
- Public four-year college - 23%
- Public two-year college - 18%
- Private two-year college - 3%
- 15% planned to work
- 3% planned to enter the military
- 2% planned to attend other post-secondary schools
| # of Grads | Percentage of Graduates by Plans | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public College | Private College | Other Post- Second- ary | Military | Work | Other | Data Not Avail. | ||||
| 2-Year | 4-Year | 2-Year | 4-Year | |||||||
| 52,950 | 17.6 | 23.0 | 3.2 | 30.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 15.0 | 2.7 | 3.2 | |
| Male | 26,139 | 16.4 | 20.4 | 2.9 | 28.0 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 19.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 |
| Female | 26,811 | 18.7 | 25.5 | 3.5 | 33.1 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| African-American | 3,999 | 22.1 | 14.4 | 6.1 | 22.4 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 11.3 | 6.7 | 10.7 |
| Asian | 2,320 | 16.0 | 23.3 | 4.4 | 37.9 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 7.9 | 3.0 | 4.2 |
| Hispanic | 3,486 | 29.0 | 12.1 | 5.9 | 12.3 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 21.1 | 5.5 | 7.4 |
| Native American | 111 | 12.6 | 13.5 | 3.6 | 18.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 41.4 | 3.6 | 2.7 |
| White | 43,034 | 16.3 | 24.6 | 2.7 | 32.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 15.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
Trends over Time
The percentage of graduates planning to attend college has increased over the past twenty years, from 53 percent in 1980, to 65 percent in 1990, and to 75 percent of all graduates in 2000 (Table 2). Between 1980 and 2000, the percentage of graduates planning to attend a two-year college increased from 15 percent to 21 percent, and the percentage planning to attend a four-year college rose from 39 percent to 54 percent. Over that same time period, the percentage of high school graduates intending to enroll in a private college increased from 25 to 34 percent, and the percentage intending to enroll in a public college increased from 28 percent to 41 percent (Figure 2).
While the percentage of graduates planning to attend a private two-year college has remained mostly steady since 1975, the percentage planning to attend public two-year
colleges has grown considerably from 11 to 18 percent (Figure 3). The percentage of graduates planning to attend public four-year colleges has shown a general increase over the past 25 years. From 1975 to 2000, the percentage of graduates planning to attend a private four-year college has shown the highest increase, from 18 to 31 percent.
As the percentage of graduates planning to attend college has increased, the percentage of graduates planning to work, attend some other post-secondary institution, or enter the military has decreased (Figure 4). The percentage of graduates planning to work fell from 31 percent in 1980 to 15 percent in 2000. The percentage of graduates planning to attend a non-college, post-secondary institution decreased from six to two percent, and the percentage planning to enter the military decreased slightly from four to three percent over the same time period.
| Class | Number of Grads | Percentage of Graduates by Plans | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public College | Private College | Other Post- Second- ary | Military | Work | Other | Data Not Avail. | ||||
| 2-Year | 4-Year | 2-Year | 4-Year | |||||||
| 2000 | 52,950 | 17.6 | 23.0 | 3.2 | 30.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 15.0 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| 1999 | 51,465 | 17.4 | 22.3 | 3.2 | 30.5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 16.0 | 3.2 | 2.6 |
| 1998 | 50,452 | 15.5 | 22.5 | 3.0 | 30.7 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 16.2 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 1997 | 49,008 | 15.2 | 22.8 | 3.3 | 30.6 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 16.8 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
| 1996 | 47,994 | 14.1 | 23.4 | 3.9 | 30.8 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 16.2 | 3.7 | 2.4 |
| 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 |
Racial/Ethnic Groups
Post-graduate plans also varied according to racial/ethnic group (Figure 5). In 2000 the percentage of Asian graduates planning to attend a two- or four-year college (82 percent) was higher than that of white graduates (76 percent), African-American graduates (65 percent), Hispanic graduates (59 percent), and Native American graduates (49 percent). The percentage of graduates planning to attend public colleges ranged by race/ethnicity from 26 percent (Native American) to 41 percent (White and Hispanic). The percentage of those planning to attend private colleges ranged from 18 percent (Hispanic) to 42 percent (Asian).
For each race reported, the percentage of graduates planning to attend college has increased over the past ten years (Figure 6). Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of Asian graduates planning to attend college increased from 78 to 82 percent. For whites, the percentage increased from 66 to 76 percent; for African-Americans, the
percentage increased from 59 to 65 percent; for Hispanics, the percentage increased from 55 to 59 percent; and for Native Americans, the percentage increased from 41 to 49 percent.
Gender
In the 2000 graduating class, 81 percent of female graduates planned to attend a two- or four-year college, compared to 68 percent of male graduates, while a higher percentage of male graduates than female graduates (19 versus 11 percent) intended to work (Table 1). Over four times as many males as females planned to enter the military (approximately 4 to 1 percent). These differences extend a gender pattern seen in recent years. In the last ten years, females have consistently planned to attend college at a higher rate (approximately ten percentage points) than males, but each gender has increasingly planned to attend college over this time period (Figure 7).
Race/Ethnicity and Gender
The disparity between the percentages of female and male graduates planning to attend college varies by race/ethnicity, as shown in the figure below.
Data Collection and Reporting by Individual Schools and Districts
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 every school year. School officials report the number of graduating students by gender and race across nine categories of post-graduation plans. High schools reported in the data table, Plans of High School Graduates: Class of 2000, starting on page 7 are classified as follows:
- Academic High Schools (A) - offer academic courses, both college preparatory and general.
- Comprehensive High Schools (C) - offer academic courses and at least five Chapter 74 approved occupational education programs.
- Vocational High Schools (V) - offer Chapter 74 approved vocational-technical education programs.