Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study

The National Center for Education Statistics has released Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study. The 46 indicators and multivariate analyses presented in the report document the scope and nature of gaps in access and persistence in higher education by sex and race/ethnicity.

Report findings include:

• In 2008-09, a lower percentage of males than females graduated with a regular high school diploma (71.8 vs. 78.9 percent). This pattern was also found for Whites (78.9 vs. 84.0 percent), Blacks (57.3 vs. 69.3 percent), Hispanics (60.3 vs. 69.7 percent), Asians/Pacific Islanders (88.0 vs. 93.1 percent), and American Indians/Alaska Natives (60.5 vs. 67.7 percent).

• In 2010, 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).

• Among beginning postsecondary students who were recent high school graduates in 2004, the odds of attaining either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by 2009 for males were 32 percent lower than the odds of degree attainment for females, after accounting for other student, family, high school, and postsecondary institutional characteristics. Compared with White students, Black students had 43 percent lower odds and Hispanic students had 25 percent lower odds of attaining an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, after accounting for background variables.