Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study

equirements (62 vs. 55 percent). This pattern was also
found for White and Hispanic males and females.
Postsecondary School Choice Factors
In 2004, among the 93 percent of high school seniors
with postsecondary aspirations, 67 percent reported that
the availability of courses was very important to them
when selecting an educational institution. Seniors with
postsecondary aspirations also reported the following as
very important choice factors: low expenses (36 percent),
the availability of financial aid (57 percent), and an
institution’s academic reputation (58 percent). Higher
percentages of females than males considered all of these
school choice factors to be very important to their school
choice.
However, higher percentages of males than females
reported other postsecondary choice factors as very
important. Among seniors with postsecondary aspirations,
15 percent thought an institution’s athletic program was
very important, and 30 percent thought an institution’s
social life was very important. Higher percentages of
males than females reported athletic programs (19 vs.
11 percent) and social life (33 vs. 27 percent) as very
important. A similar pattern was found for Whites,
Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and students of two or more
races for an institution’s athletic programs and for Whites,
Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians/Alaska
Natives for its social life.
Some 83 percent of students who were high school
seniors in 2004 had applied to college by 2006. A lower
percentage of males applied to college than females
(79 vs. 87 percent)—a pattern that held for Whites (81 vs.
88 percent), Blacks (77 vs. 85 percent), and Hispanics
(73 vs. 82 percent). No measurable differences between
males and females were found for Asians, American
Indians/Alaska Natives, and students of two or more
races.
Postsecondary Education
Enrollment Rates for 18- to 24-Year-Olds
A higher percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled
in either college or graduate school in 2010 than in
2006 (43 vs. 40 percent), a pattern that held for males
and females. In 2010, as in every year since 1980, a lower
percentage of male than female 18- to 24-year-olds were
enrolled either in college or graduate school (39 vs.
47 percent). This pattern was also observed for Whites
(43 vs. 51 percent), Blacks (31 vs. 43 percent), Hispanics
(26 vs. 36 percent), American Indians (24 vs. 33 percent),
and persons of two or more races (40 vs. 49 percent).
Entry to Postsecondary Education
In 2006, about 80 percent of 2004 high school graduates
had ever attended a postsecondary institution. Among
the graduating class, 71 percent enrolled immediately
after graduation from high school, and 9 percent delayed
enrollment. The percentage of females with immediate
postsecondary enrollment (74 percent) was higher than
that of males (67 percent). This pattern held for White,
Hispanic, and Asian students as well. A higher percentage
Executive Summary
Figure 5.
(Figure 31-1) Percentage of 2004 high school seniors who had applied to college by 2006, by race/ethnicity
and sex: 2006
Percent
100
80
79
87
81
88
77
85
73
82
89
94
67
84
83
84
60
40
20
0
Total 1 White Black Hispanic Asian American Indian/
Alaska Native
Race/ethnicity
Two or
more races
Male
Female
1
Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately in the figure.
NOTE: Reporting standards for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were not met; therefore, data for this group are not shown in the figure. Race categories
exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002/2006), “Base-year (2002) to
Second Follow-up (2006).”
Executive Summary xi