NUMBER OF LOUISIANA GRADUATES ENTERING COLLEGE IMPROVES BY SIX PERCENT

Students Attending College Reaches All-Time High, Low-Income Graduates See Gains

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Education today announced that 22,972 recent public high school graduates enrolled in college in 2014, an increase of 1,228 over 2013 and a 6 percent one-year improvement. The 2014 number marks an all-time high for the state. The number of public high school graduates enrolling in college directly after high school has increased by 3,146, or 16 percent, since 2011.

Similarly encouraging, the number of students from low-income backgrounds attending college increased by nearly 750 this year and the number of minority students increased by nearly 740 – both accounting for more than half of the overall state growth.

“The numbers are positive but not surprising. We have raised expectations through more challenging standards, the ACT, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment courses, and Jump Start,” said State Superintendent John White. “Our state should heed these results: we cannot afford to go backwards.”

Statewide, 59 percent of graduates in the class of 2014 matriculated into college in the fall semester following graduation, a one percentage point increase in the annual matriculation rate. Since 2011, the matriculation rate has increased by four percentage points. Roughly two-thirds enroll in four-year institutions while one-third enroll in two-year colleges. Ninety-two percent of the total is made up of graduates who remain in state for post-secondary education.

Initiatives implemented through the Louisiana Believes plan have equipped students to meet increasing college and workforce demands and to seek a college education. Those initiatives include:

• Implementation of the higher academic standards, comparable with states across the country.
• ACT series: 11th grade students – regardless of background or income – are provided access to the ACT to ensure all students are on track to graduate with the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and career.
• Advanced Placement and dual enrollment: offering students the opportunity to earn college credit by taking rigorous courses in high school.
• Jump Start: the state’s new program for school districts, colleges, and businesses to collaborate in providing career courses and workplace experiences to high school students.
• A high school accountability system that measures how well schools equip students for college and the workplace.

“Record-breaking numbers of Louisiana high school graduates enrolling in post-secondary education is cause for real celebration across the state,” said LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander. “LSU is committed to continuing its mission of educating Louisiana students from all backgrounds, and we couldn’t be happier to see the state making these strides."

“Louisiana’s community and technical colleges applaud the strong efforts of our K-12 partners in increasing the number of high school graduates moving directly to college,” said Dr. Monty Sullivan, Louisiana Community and Technical College System president. “With each year, we are making strides in educating and skilling Louisiana’s workforce of tomorrow. These numbers are evidence the education reform work done over the last decade is paying dividends.”

“Louisiana Tech engages its entire campus community in the recruitment of high school students and has worked hard to increase the quality and quantity of each year’s freshmen class. Over the past two years, we have seen our first-time, full-time freshman enrollment grow by nearly 42 percent, while consistently having one of the highest average freshman ACT scores in the state and earning national recognition for value, return on investment, and high starting and mid-career earnings for graduates,” said Dr. Les Guice, president of Louisiana Tech University.

District Successes:

Top 10 Local Education Agencies (LEAs) by Percent of 2014 Graduates Enrolling at the Post-Secondary Level:

Post-Secondary Enrollments:

Top 10 Post-Secondary Institutions (2 & 4 Year) Based on Number of Freshmen Enrolling:

To view fall 2014 college enrollment data by district, please click here.

To view fall 2014 college enrollment by high school, please click here.
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