Poverty Level Remains Driving Factor in Postsecondary Outcomes

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s latest High School Benchmarks report shows an increase in the persistence rates of recent high school graduates — that is, the percentage of those who enrolled in college during their first year after graduating high school and stay enrolled for their second year. The highest increase in persistence was seen among graduates from high-poverty high schools, reaching 76% for the high school graduating class of 2023.

The 2026 High School Benchmarks report looks at postsecondary enrollment, persistence and completion outcomes for high school graduating classes of 2018 through 2025.

Immediate Enrollment Shows a Clear Gap by Poverty Level

Rates of immediate fall enrollment, which is the share of high school graduates enrolling in college the first fall after graduation, were steady between the 2024 and 2025 graduating classes. Across all high school characteristics, immediate enrollment rates fluctuated less than one percentage point (pp).

While overall enrollment remains steady, there remain differences between graduates from higher- and lower-poverty high schools. For the high school graduating class of 2025, 51.2% of graduates from high-poverty high schools immediately enrolled in college, compared with 73.9% of graduates from low-poverty high schools.

Of the characteristics examined, high school poverty characteristics showed the most notable difference in immediate college enrollment for the class of 2025, compared to high school income, minority status, and urbanicity.

Persistence Rates Improve Among Graduates From High-Poverty High Schools

The report found that postsecondary persistence has increased across the board. Among students who enrolled in higher education within one year of graduating high school, the share who continued into a second year increased across every high school characteristic between the 2022 and 2023 graduating classes. However, the high-poverty high schools saw the largest increase in persistence, rising 1.7pp from the previous year.

Nevertheless, while the differences between high- and low-poverty high schools are narrower when looking at first-year to second-year persistence, poverty level is still correlated with the largest percentage-point difference among the characteristics examined. While 76% of students who graduated in 2023 from high-poverty high schools persisted into their second year, 90.6% of students who graduated from low-poverty schools persisted into their second year.

“The improvements in persistence are modest, but they point to more students enrolling and persisting in college,” said Matthew Holsapple, Senior Director of Research at the National Student Clearinghouse. “What stands out most is that graduates of high-poverty high schools saw the largest gains in both enrollment and persistence.”

Completion Rates Show a Wider Gap

The differences between high-poverty high schools and low-poverty high schools become more pronounced when looking at completion. Among high school graduates from the 2019 cohort, 24.6% from high-poverty schools completed a postsecondary degree within six years, compared with 58.8% of graduates from low-poverty schools — a difference of 34.2 pp.

STEM Degree Completion Stands Out

Differences between graduates from high- and low-poverty high schools are less pronounced across the five most common fields of study among the high school class of 2019. The largest difference across these fields was 3.5 pp in Business, Management, Marketing and related support.

However, a significant difference emerges when looking at the share of 2019 high school graduates who completed a degree in a STEM field within six years of graduating. The difference between graduates from high- and low-poverty high schools was 14.8 pp, compared with 8.4 pp for income level, which showed the next-largest difference among the characteristics examined.

A Closer Look at Postsecondary Outcomes

The 2026 High School Benchmarks report provides a look at postsecondary outcomes from enrollment through degree completion. Across these stages, the data show how outcomes vary by high school poverty level, which stands out as a key factor associated with differences in postsecondary outcomes. While the size of these differences varies across enrollment, persistence and completions, the data shows a consistent gap between graduates from high- and low-poverty high schools.

“The improvements in persistence are modest, but they point to more students enrolling and persisting in college. What stands out most is that graduates of high-poverty high schools saw the largest gains in both enrollment and persistence.”

Matthew Holsapple
Senior Director of Research, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center