Title page
Contents
1. How do high school students whose parents did not enroll in college fare in high school compared with their peers whose parents attended at least some college? At what rates do these groups transition to college and in what types of institutions do they enroll? 5
2. Compared with students whose parents attended at least some college, how do first-generation students fare after enrolling in postsecondary education? At what rates do they attain degrees or certificates or remain enrolled? 8
3. Among bachelor's degree recipients, how do first-generation students fare compared with their continuing-generation peers in the labor market or further postsecondary enrollment? 10
REFERENCES 22
APPENDIX A. DATA TABLES 24
APPENDIX B. STANDARD ERROR TABLES 28
FIGURE 1. Percentage of 2003-04 high school graduates who took an academically focused curriculum, earned credits for Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, and highest level math courses taken, by parents' highest level of education 5
FIGURE 2. Percentage of 2002 high school sophomores who had completed high school, and percentage who had enrolled in postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 6
FIGURE 3. Among 2002 high school sophomores who had enrolled in postsecondary education by 2012, percentage distribution of the level and control of the institution they first attended, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 7
FIGURE 4. Percentage distribution of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students' status on the persistence track after 3 years, by parents' highest level of education: 2006 8
FIGURE 5. Percentage of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students who had attained a degree or were still enrolled 6 years after entering postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education and control and level of first institution: 2009 9
FIGURE 6. Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' labor market participation and degree enrollment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 10
FIGURE 7. Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had not enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree and had a primary job, median annualized salary for their primary job, by parents' highest level of education and work intensity: 2012 11
FIGURE 8. Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' highest degree enrollment after the bachelor's degree, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 12
FIGURE 9. Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree, percentage distribution of their highest postbachelor's degree attainment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 13
Exhibits
Exhibit 1. Selected statistics on the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) third follow-up data collection 15
Exhibit 2. Selected statistics on the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) data collections 16
Exhibit 3. Selected statistics on the 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/12) data collections 17
Exhibit 4. Bias analysis results 20
Table A-1. Estimates for figure 1: Percentage of 2003‒04 high school graduates who took an academically focused curriculum, earned credits for Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, and highest level math courses taken, by parents' highest level of education 24
Table A-2. Estimates for figure 2: Percentage of 2002 high school sophomores who had completed high school, and percentage who had enrolled in postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 24
Table A-3. Estimates for figure 3: Among 2002 high school sophomores who had enrolled in postsecondary education by 2012, percentage distribution of the level and control of the institution they first attended, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 25
Table A-4. Estimates for figure 4: Percentage distribution of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students' status on the persistence track after 3 years, by parents' highest level of education: 2006 25
Table A-5. Estimates for figure 5: Percentage of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students who had attained a degree or were still enrolled 6 years after entering postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education and control and level of first institution: 2009 25
Table A-6. Estimates for figure 6: Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' labor market participation and degree enrollment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 26
Table A-7. Estimates for figure 7: Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had not enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree and had a primary job, median annualized salary for their primary job, by parents' highest level of education and work intensity: 2012 26
Table A-8. Estimates for figure 8: Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' highest degree enrollment after the bachelor's degree, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 27
Table A-9. Estimates for figure 9: Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree, percentage distribution of their highest postbachelor's degree attainment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 27
Table B-1. Standard errors for table A-1 and figure 1: Percentage of 2003‒04 high school graduates who took an academically focused curriculum, earned credits for Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, and highest level math courses taken, by parents' highest level of education 28
Table B-2. Standard errors for table A-2 and figure 2: Percentage of 2002 high school sophomores who had completed high school, and percentage who had enrolled in postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 28
Table B-3. Standard errors for table A-3 and figure 3: Among 2002 high school sophomores who had enrolled in postsecondary education by 2012, percentage distribution of the level and control of the institution they first attended, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 28
Table B-4. Standard errors for table A-4 and figure 4: Percentage distribution of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students' status on the persistence track after 3 years, by parents' highest level of education: 2006 29
Table B-5. Standard errors for table A-5 and figure 5: Percentage of 2003-04 beginning postsecondary students who had attained a degree or were still enrolled 6 years after entering postsecondary education, by parents' highest level of education and control and level of first institution: 2009 29
Table B-6. Standard errors for table A-6 and figure 6: Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' labor market participation and degree enrollment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 29
Table B-7. Standard errors for table A-7 and figure 7: Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had not enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree and had a primary job, median annualized salary for their primary job, by parents' highest level of education and work intensity: 2012 30
Table B-8. Standard errors for table A-8 and figure 8: Percentage distribution of 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients' highest degree enrollment after the bachelor's degree, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 30
Table B-9. Standard errors for table A-9 and figure 9: Among 2007-08 bachelor's degree recipients who had enrolled in a degree program since earning their bachelor's degree, percentage distribution of their highest postbachelor's degree attainment, by parents' highest level of education: 2012 30