What is Giving Compass?
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Giving Compass' Take:
• National Center for Education Statistics breaks down data that shows that the socioeconomic status of ninth-grade students in 2009 was a significant factor in pursuing adult education.
• How can funders work to ensure that all students get the opportunity to pursue and complete adult education?
• Learn about qualified high schoolers who can't afford college.
The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) collected data on a nationally representative cohort of ninth-grade students in 2009 and has continued to survey these students at certain points as they progress through secondary and postsecondary education and the workforce. The initial 2009 survey collected information from both students and their parents. Parents reported information on their occupation, highest level of education, and income, which was used to construct a variable representing student SES. The SES data were used to divide students into five groups (quintiles), with the lowest fifth representing the lowest SES group and the highest fifth representing the highest group.
This indicator uses data from the second HSLS:09 follow-up survey administered in 2016 to examine how the employment status, postsecondary enrollment status, and timing of postsecondary enrollment varied between the lowest and highest fifths of students by SES (“lowest SES students” and “highest SES students,” respectively). In addition, focusing on 2009 ninth-graders who ever attended a postsecondary institution, this indicator examines the relationship between SES and several characteristics of the first postsecondary institution in which the student enrolled: type of credential pursued (certificate or diploma, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or no credential); control (public, private nonprofit, or private for-profit); level (2- or 4-year); and selectivity.
In 2016, which was 3 years after most of the cohort had completed high school, 31 percent of 2009 ninthgraders were both enrolled in postsecondary education and employed. Some 17 percent were enrolled in postsecondary education but were not employed, 37 percent were employed but were not enrolled in postsecondary education, and 15 percent were neither enrolled nor employed.
Among 2009 ninth-graders, there was no measurable difference between the highest and lowest socioeconomic status (SES) students in the percentage who were employed in 2016 (62 vs. 64 percent), but the percentage who were enrolled in postsecondary education in 2016 was 50 percentage points larger for the highest SES students (78 percent) than for their lowest SES peers (28 percent).