AAC&U News | April 2005 | Facts & Figures

High School Graduates Understand the Importance of College but Many Are Underprepared, Surveys Show

Two recent surveys of high school graduates have shed new light on young people's preparation for and attitudes toward higher education. A survey by Public Agenda, Life after High School: Young People Talk about Their Hopes and Prospects, revealed that a vast majority of students, regardless of their race or ethnic background, believe it is important to go to college. In exploring the reasons underlying the choices students actually make after graduating from high school, however, the survey found substantial differences in attitudes between different racial groups and between men and women. Another recent survey, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?, focused on the beliefs of college instructors and employers as well as high school graduates. Conducted for Achieve, Inc., this survey found that more than a third of public high school graduates believe they are lacking some of the skills and abilities that are expected of them in college and in work, and that an even higher proportion of college instructors consider public high school graduates to be underprepared. Like the Public Agenda survey, the Achieve survey suggests that higher expectations and better preparation could ease the transition from high school to college and encourage more young people to attend college.

FINDINGS

Perspectives on Life after High School (Public Agenda Findings)

The vast majority of young adults see the value of a college degree: roughly three-quarters believe that "college helps prepare you for the real world," and about nine in ten believe that "it's easier to move up in a company when you have a college degree" and that "in the long run, you will make more money if you have a college degree."
Although they are less likely to have college-educated acquaintances, young African Americans and Hispanics are nearly twice as likely as whites or Asian Americans to report that college is seen as an impressive accomplishment in their circle of friends.
Young men are more attracted to work immediately after high school than young women: of those who chose to attend college, more women than men (69 versus 58 percent) say they went because they enjoy being in school, while of those who do not attend, more men than women (56 versus 42 percent) say they didn't continue with college because they wanted to work and make money.
Eighty-six percent of young adults who go on to college have parents who instilled in them the importance of college and 77 percent say the job they want specifically requires a college education.

Student and Instructor Perspectives on High School Preparation (Achieve Findings)

Thirty-nine percent of public high school graduates say they have gaps in the skills and abilities that are expected today in college and in work.
Only 24 percent of public high school graduates say they faced high expectations and were challenged in high school.
Instructors estimate that 50 percent of their public high school graduates are not adequately prepared in math; they also estimate that 50 percent are not prepared in writing.
Seventy percent of college instructors are dissatisfied with the job public high schools are doing to prepare students to read and understand complicated materials.
Seventy percent of instructors report spending at least some time in first-year classes reviewing material and skills that they feel should have been taught in high school.

DID YOU KNOW?

Knowing what they know today, 65 percent of college students say they would have worked harder in high school.
High school graduates who faced high expectations in high school are twice as likely as others to feel prepared for college or a future job.
About half of the young people who don't go on to college say that they couldn't afford it.

Life after High School, the Public Agenda report, and Rising to the Challenge, the Achieve report, can both be downloaded for free.

To learn more about students' aspirations for college and their understanding of liberal education, see the summary of findings from focus groups with high school and college students conducted for AAC&U's Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) campaign.