A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 Table of Contents I. The Importance of College ..................................................................................................................3 II. Data & Methodology................................................................................................................................7 III. Findings....................................................................................................................................................8 IV. Recommendations.................................................................................................................................9 V. Results......................................................................................................................................................10 VI. Endnotes................................................................................................................................................18 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 Acknowledgments A+ Colorado would like to thank the Colorado Department of Higher Education, and in particular Beth Bean, Chief Strategy and Research Officer, and Luke Banaszak, Director of Information Technology, for collecting, validating, and providing the data that were foundational to this report. 2 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 The Importance of College Whether students are set up to access students such as enlisting in the military or and succeed in postsecondary programs earning a postsecondary trade certificate. is a critical measure of the value of a This report, however, focuses on a college student’s high school education. Given degree as a powerful engine for upward this, A+ Colorado put out a report in 2014, mobility. “Missing the Bus” which took a look at which Colorado high schools sent students College graduates’ median income is to our nation’s most selective colleges. twice the median income of high school We thought it was time to fine tune this graduates. The median lifetime earnings inquiry, and dig deeper into the data for of people with a bachelor’s degree is 74%, a broader group of students, focusing on or nearly $1 million, more than those who students from different family economic hold just a high school diploma.5 The most backgrounds, and students of different recent unemployment rates for people with races and ethnicities. bachelor’s degrees is 2.5% while the rate for high school graduates is 5.3%.6 This The centerpiece of the American Dream gap grows dramatically during economic is upward mobility, but over the past downturns. 50 years in the United States we have seen economic inequality increase, and However, particular colleges and degree economic mobility decline to one of the programs vary enormously in their quality lowest mobility rates amongst major and return on investment. Not all colleges industrialized economies.1 Improving support all students to graduate and not all access to college and other postsecondary degrees are created equal.7 Some colleges pathways is key to making the American provide students with a $1 million return Dream a reality.2 on investment over 20 years. On the other hand, some for-profit and online colleges While college may not be the best path end up delivering a net loss to students.8 for every student, a college degree is Research shows that earnings for students one of the most important factors in at any given college do not vary widely for determining a person’s lifetime economic students from low- and high-income family opportunities. All students should be given backgrounds.9 This means it is critical for the opportunity to attend college, not just students to be prepared for college, and it our country’s upper class, for whom access is equally critical that students are prepared to higher education has been concentrated. to choose a college that will serve them It should be a choice for every student, not well. one made for them by a school system that sorts students by race, income and About 57% of all Colorado graduates geography.3 Regardless of their family’s from the class of 2015 enrolled in a post- economic position, students who attend secondary institution the year after they college are significantly more likely to earn graduated. While an uptick from the class of more money than their parents or students 2014, it is still below the peak when 59% of without a college degree.4 Of course, there 2009 Colorado graduates matriculated to a are other postsecondary paths that provide postsecondary institution.10 Figure 1 shows excellent economic opportunities for that statewide matriculation rates have 3 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 not changed significantly over time and The linchpin for college success is the that there remain massive gaps in college high school. High schools, like colleges, matriculation and remediation in Colorado vary enormously in quality. There are along lines of income and ethnicity. approximately 580 high schools in Colorado. Some prepare most students Further, when looking at matriculation for college and career, while others fail to top postsecondary programs (see to equip students with the essential Methodology on page 7 for how top knowledge and skills to navigate life after programs are defined in this report), graduation. Most high schools are reflective access is similarly unequal by race and of the demographics of their communities socioeconomic background. Figure 2 and often do little to prepare students to shows that while access to top schools access programs that would improve their improved from 2009 to 2015 for some economic opportunities. A high quality students, including Asian or Pacific Islander high school education is one that can students, white students, multiracial dramatically change a person’s lifetime students, and more affluent students, earnings and trajectory. access remained much lower and relatively unchanged for others including American In this follow up to “Missing the Bus”, A+ Indian and Alaska Native students, black Colorado takes a look at where Colorado students, Latinx students, and low-income high school students attend college students. over seven years, since the state started collecting the data from the National An analysis in the New York Times Student Clearinghouse in 2009. Few showed that, despite affirmative action states collect disaggregated college policies and increases in the number matriculation data that includes public and of black and Latinx students enrolled in private institutions across the country. We college, those students have become are fortunate to have this data in Colorado, increasingly underrepresented at elite but even here this information is not colleges compared to their share of the widely distributed. Indeed we have little college-age population.11 While there is information about the types of programs a critical role for elite higher education that students are attending beyond two- institutions to play to broaden access, versus four-year programs. The data in much of the underrepresentation of the this report are one look at access to students of color and low-income students quality programming. There are other ways in elite postsecondary institutions stems to examine the data to investigate student from inequities these groups face earlier access and success in postsecondary in the education system that leave them programs, and there is an opportunity unprepared to access these institutions.12 for Colorado to be a leader in providing transparent information about student access to quality options. 4 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 Percent of Graduates Matriculating to Any College or University (2 or 4 year) by Ethnicity/Race 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Black Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Latinx Two or More Races Whit e Percent of Graduates Matriculating to Any College or University (2 or 4 year) by Free or Reduced Priced Lunch 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 FRL Ineligible Matriculation Rate FRL Eligible Matriculation Rate 2014 data missing due to data validity issues. 5 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 Percent of Graduates Matriculating to Top College or University (2 or 4 year) by Ethnicity/Race 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Black Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Lat inx Two or More Races White Percent of Graduates Matriculating to Top College or University by Free or Reduced Priced Lunch 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 FRL Ineligible Matriculation Rate FRL Eligible Matriculation Rate 2014 data missing due to data validity issues. 6 A SEAT AT THE TABLE, DECEMBER 2018 Data & Methodology The Colorado Department of Higher weighted by school size. In Colorado, it Education (CDHE) tracks Colorado high includes University of Colorado-Boulder, school graduates’ matriculation to any Colorado School of Mines, Colorado postsecondary institution (two- and four- State University, United States Air Force year degree programs), using its own Academy, and Colorado College. The list data system to track in-state matriculation, also includes schools that are part of the and partnering with the National Student Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), Clearinghouse to track matriculation to where Colorado students are eligible for a private and out-of-state programs. reduced tuition rate, including University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University CDHE provided