More Hermiston High School graduates are moving on to college, according to a new report released by the Hermiston School District.
Based on data compiled from five years of graduates (from 2008-2012), the district saw a 7-percent increase in senior moving on to attend two- and four-year colleges.
The data shows that 47 percent of HHS grads moved directly onto college in 2008, but that figure jumped to almost 54 percent by the fall of 2012.
This rate has increased notably faster for Hispanic students where the district has all but closed the Hispanic to Caucasian college-attending achievement gap; nearly 50 percent of all Hispanic graduates boasted college enrollment by fall term 2012 compared to about 34 percent in 2008.
HSD contracted with Baker Evaluation Research Consulting, a.k.a. The BERC Group, to draft a comprehensive report summarizing analyses of college enrollment and persistence data for Hermiston High School graduates from 2008 through 2012.
BERC compared Hermiston High School student graduation information with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) database to track graduates over the five-year timeframe. NSC is a national repository of college student attendance created by colleges and universities to track students for financial aid reporting purposes.
“We are extremely proud of this data, and it is a testament to our dedicated staff and programs we have in place to support and emphasize the importance of post high school education,” said Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith. “If we continue to see the gains we have experienced over the last four years, we are well poised as an educational community to meet Oregon’s 40-40-20 goal by the year 2025, where 40 percent of graduates are expected to attain a four-year college degree, 40 percent a two-year or trade certificated credential, and the remaining 20 percent workforce ready.”
According to the study, students of poverty, though demonstrating continued growth over the study cycle, remain the least likely to attend college after graduating, at about 43 percent.
