There were minimal changes in the rates of high school seniors who enrolled in college immediately after graduation (the following fall) between 2024 and 2025, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s 14th annual High School Benchmarks report.
Published in September, the report covers the most current data on the postsecondary journeys of high school graduates to monitor and evaluate young people’s progress as they transition from K-12 to college. The data is disaggregated by high school poverty and income levels, minority levels and urbanicity.
“Secondary education practitioners can use these benchmarks to evaluate and monitor progress in assisting students to make the transition from high school to college,” the report states.
The report breaks down information into high school graduation cohorts: immediate enrollment rates, first- to second-year persistence and six-year completion rates.
Comparing the Class of 2025 to students who completed high school in 2024, 51.2 percent of those from high-poverty schools (where at least 75 percent of the student population is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) were enrolled in college immediately versus 50.8 percent in 2024. For individuals who attended low-poverty schools (where less than 25 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), rates were 73.9 percent compared to 73.1 percent.
Among those from low-income high schools (where at least 50 percent of the entire student population is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), rates were 52.6 percent in 2025 compared to 52.5 percent in 2024, and 63.2 percent versus 64.1 percent for students from high-income schools.
The rates for high-minority schools (where at least 40 percent of 12th grade students are either Black or Hispanic) and low-minority schools were both virtually unchanged year-over-year at 54 percent and 62 percent, respectively.
Immediate college enrollment rates saw slight declines across students who attended urban (58.7 percent in 2025 versus 59.4 percent in 2024), suburban (62.7 percent compared to 63.2 percent) and rural (53.2 percent versus 52.4 percent) high schools.
Evaluating persistence with the Class of 2023 as a benchmark, the report found that “enrollment within two years of graduating high school stayed steady or increased between the 2022 and 2023 high school graduates across all high school characteristics. Notably, enrollment rates within two years of graduating increased the most among graduates from high-poverty schools (2.1 percentage points).”
The report states that “persistence rates from the first to second year of college for high school graduates between 2022 and 2023 remained steady or increased across all high school characteristics ranging from +0.3 percentage points (urban high schools) to +1.7 percentage points (high-poverty high schools).”
Another key finding was that across high school characteristics, immediate fall enrollment was higher at in-state colleges compared to those out of state, although second year persistence was higher at out-out-state colleges than in-state.
Find additional details and data on college enrollment by major in the report.
