Education Data SREB Fact Book on Higher Education

SREB Fact Book on Higher Education

50th Anniversary Edition

Summary of Findings

SREB states can lead the nation in educational progress. Nothing influences a state’s prosperity more than the education of its people.

SREB Goals for Education: Challenge to Lead, 2002

Population changes could put gains in education attainment at risk.

More than half of the population growth in America over the next 20 years will be in the 16 SREB states. The most dramatic increase will be in the Hispanic population. By 2018, Hispanic students are expected to account for 28 percent of the region’s public high school graduates, up from 13 percent in 2004. White students, who represented 61 percent in 2004, will account for 45 percent.

The SREB region faces the possibility of a historically unprecedented stagnation of progress in educating the population. If the education levels of black, Hispanic and low-income youth and young adults are not improved, by 2020 the region will have a higher percentage of working-age adults who have not graduated from high school; a lower percentage with a high school diploma or GED credential, some college or an associate’s degree; and no increase in the percentage with a bachelor’s or higher degree — reversing the region’s longstanding trend of progress. All of this will happen at the same time that the fastest-growing jobs will require postsecondary training or college degrees.

College enrollment trends are promising, but alarming gaps remain.

From 1995 to 2005, women accounted for 67 percent of college enrollment growth in the SREB region. The enrollment of black students in the region rose 52 percent to a total of 1.1 million. This means that, for the first time, black individuals represented as high a percentage of college students (21 percent) as of the total population (19 percent). The number of Hispanic students rose 71 percent in the region to 552,400 over the period. Despite this gain, the college-going rate of Hispanic 18- to 24-year-olds (25 percent) lagged behind the rates for black students (33 percent) and white students (43 percent) in the U.S. in 2005.

Higher education is still the best bet for higher pay.

Adults with some high school education but no diploma or GED credential in 2005 earned 74 percent of the salary earned by a person with such credentials. In turn, those with high schoollevel credentials earned 80 percent as much as those with associate’s degrees and just 56 percent as much as those with bachelor’s degrees. Meanwhile, future jobs in the U.S. for people with associate’s degrees are projected to increase by 25 percent (1.4 million) by 2014, and for those with bachelor’s degrees, by 20 percent (3.3 million) — both surpassing the overall U.S. job growth rate of 13 percent.

College graduation rates in the SREB region are below U.S. averages, but more students are sticking to their studies.

At 17 percent, the graduation rate of the SREB region’s public two-year colleges was below the U.S. average of 22 percent. At the region’s public four-year colleges and universities, the graduation rate of 52 percent was below the U.S. average of 54 percent. However, for full-time freshmen in SREB states who enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs in 1999, 73 percent graduated, were still enrolled at the institution first attended or had transferred to another college (“progressed”) within six years. The progression rate for those beginning college in 1994 was 69 percent. At public two-year colleges, the progression rate improved from 45 percent for those beginning in 1997 to 48 percent for those starting in 2002.

Women and minorities lead growth in degrees.

Women and minorities accounted for most of the SREB region’s increases in degrees awarded from 1995 to 2005. Women accounted for 69 percent of the total increase in bachelor’s degrees. Black and Hispanic students accounted for 42 percent of the total increase. Nearly 64,600 more women, about 24,200 more black students and 14,500 more Hispanic students earned bachelor’s degrees in SREB states over the period.

Affordability gap grows for middle- and lower-income students.

Sixty-three percent of undergraduates at public four-year colleges and universities in the United States in 2004 did not have enough money to cover the annual costs of college. Even after family contributions, scholarships, grants and work/study participation, students from middle- to lower-income families faced a shortfall, or gap.

The portion of annual income needed to attend a public university for one year increased significantly for students from middle- and lower-income households. Students from middle-income families ($47,500 average) used the equivalent of 21 percent of income in 1996 and 29 percent in 2006. For students from families below the poverty line in the lowest fifth of incomes ($10,900 average), one year at a public university in 2006 cost the equivalent of 125 percent of income — up from 87 percent in 1996.

A collision is coming between demographic trends and college affordability.

Black and Hispanic students, who were 35 percent of public high school graduates in 2004 in the SREB region, are expected to increase to 44 percent by 2014 and to 48 percent by 2018. These student groups more often come from middle- and lowerincome families. Efforts to ensure that affordable college opportunities are available to all students will be increasingly important to the region’s and nation’s continued education progress.

Entire SREB Fact Book on Higher Education (3MB)

For more information, e-mail Joe Marks at joe.marks@sreb.org.