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Ensuring that more students succeed in postsecondary education is vital to our nation's economic health.

• Approximately 54% of all new job openings in the 2004-2014 decade are projected to be filled by workers with education beyond high school.ⁱ  
• As of 2003, full-time workers with a bachelor's degree had median earnings of $49,900, which was 62% more than the $30,800 annual earnings of a typical high school graduate. In addition to the increased economic output implied by this higher salary, this median wage differential translates into an additional $5,300 in annual taxes paid per worker.ⁱⁱ
  

Too few students from low-income backgrounds and from underrepresented minority groups graduate from high school prepared for college.

• In today's economy, work readiness requires similar reading and math competence as does readiness for college, making a "college-preparatory" program beneficial for all, even those students who enter the workforce after high school rather than immediately attending college.ⁱⁱⁱ  
• For the class of 2002, only 41% of African American high school graduates left school with reading skills and a course record that could qualify them to apply to a four-year college. For Hispanics, the figure was 38%. In contrast, 51% of White students graduated from high school prepared for entry into a four-year college program.^iv  
• In 2002, only 52% of African American students and 56% of Hispanic students graduated from high school on time, as compared to 78% of their White peers.^v  
• In 2005, the high school graduation rate for students from the bottom income quartile (up to $36,174 annual income) was 68.6%, as compared to 83.4% for the second quartile, 89.0% for the third, and 92.5% for the highest-income students ($96,560 or more annual income).^vi 

Enrolling in college is strongly correlated with family income and race/ethnicity.

• Only 47% of recent high school graduates from families in the bottom income quartile (up to $36,174 annual income) enter college, compared to 85% of students from the top income quartile (more than $96,560 annual income).^vii 
• Of students who were in eighth grade in 2000, only 20% of the lowest-income students are projected to attain a bachelor's degree by 2012, as opposed to 68% of the highest income group.^viii 
• In 2002-04, 47.3% of White high school graduates aged 18 to 24 attended college, as compared with only 41.1% of African Americans and 35.2% of Hispanics.^ix 

College has become increasingly expensive and financial aid hasn't kept up.

• The average published charges (tuition and fees combined with room and board) for attending a public four-year college are $12,796 per year and $30,367 for attendance at a four-year private college. The average annual price increase at public four-year colleges has outpaced inflation by about 4% for the past two decades.^x 
• The maximum Pell Grant of $4,050 (2005-06) - the primary source of federal financial aid for low-income students - pays for only 1/3 of the published price of attendance at a public for-year college.^xi 
• In 2003-2004, just 56% of full-time students from families earning less than $30,000 received sufficient grants and tax benefits to cover tuition and fees at a public four-year college.^xii 

Getting students into college is not enough. Low-income and underrepresented minority college students earn degrees at significantly lower rates than their peers.

• Only 43% of low-income, college-qualified students who entered college in 1992 aiming for a bachelor's degree earned their degree by 2000, as compared to 80% of high-income students.^xiii 
• Among students who began college in 1995-96, 58% of White students earned a bachelor's degree within six years, as compared to 42% of Hispanics and 36.4% of African Americans.^xiv 

References

1. Hecker , D.E. (2005, November). "Occupational employment projects to 2014." Monthly Labor Review, p.80.
2. College Board . (2005) Education Pays. Washington, D.C.: Author.
3. ACT, Inc . (2006). Ready for college and ready for work: Same or different? Iowa City, IA: Author.
4. Extrapolated  from data present in Greene, J. & Winters, M. (2005). Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates: 1991-2002. New York, NY: Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research.
5. Greene,  J. & Winters, M. (2005). Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates: 1991-2002. New York, NY: Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research.
6. Mortenson , T. (2006, December). Family income and higher education opportunity: 1970 to 2005. Postsecondary Education Opportunity (174). Note that Mortenson follows the Census Bureau definition in including GED recipients in his count of high school graduates.
7. Mortenson , T. (2006, June). "College continuation rates by family income for recent high school gradutes 1987 to 2004." Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 168.
8. Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. (2006). Mortgaging our future: How financial barriers to college undercut America's global competitiveness. Washington, DC: Author.
9. American  Council on Education. (2006). Minorities in higher education: Twenty-second annual status report. Washington, D.C.: Author.
10. College  Board. (2006). Trends in college pricing. Washington, D.C.: Author.
11. College  Board. (2006). Trends in student aid. Washington, D.C.: Author.
12. College  Board. (2006). Trends in college pricing. Washington, D.C.: Author.
13. Advisory  Committee on Student Financial Assistance. (2006). Mortgaging our future: How financial barriers to college undercut America's global competitiveness. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
14. American  Council on Education. (2006). Minorities in higher education: Twenty-second annual status report. Washington, D.C.: Author.