LANSING – Only 8 percent of high school graduates nationally receive a diploma representing career and college readiness, a report released Tuesday by the Education Trust said.
The report found some 47 percent of graduates are neither college nor career ready because their schools did not provide a coordinated study program or they did not pass all of the classes required in that program (though still had enough credits to graduate).
Nationally, the study found 31 percent of students are completing a college-preparatory curriculum and 13 percent are completing a career-preparatory program.
Among low-income students, some 53 percent graduate with a diploma preparing them for neither, the report said.
“Instead of cohesive learning experiences that prepare students for next steps, the data suggest that high schools are prioritizing credit accrual,” the report said.
It did not break down any of its findings by state, so there was no comparison of Michigan students to those national statistics.
The report noted that students are also more likely to complete all of their available credits under a more cohesive curriculum. Under a career- and college-ready curriculum, 79 percent of students lost no credits to failures or withdrawals. For those in curricula not geared toward either, those with no lost credits fell to 46 percent.
But the report also showed some mixed results for final educational attainment based on the different curricula.
Of those graduating from a non-cohesive curriculum, 22 percent got no higher than that high school diploma, but 33 percent completed a graduate-level degree. From career-ready curricula, 26 percent had a high school diploma and 23 percent finished a graduate degree.
College-ready, as might be expected, produced 10 percent with only high school and 49 percent with a graduate degree. The mixed curricula produced 12 percent with only high school and 38 percent with an advanced degree.
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