72% Of 2009 Hamilton County High School Graduates Enrolled In College

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posted April 21, 2010

The Hamilton County Department of Education and the Public Education Foundation released data on Tuesday on the number of May, 2009 Hamilton County public school graduates who enrolled in college for the fall of 2009. 1,522 students enrolled in 146 public and private colleges and universities around the country. This number represents 72% of the May graduating class, and is up from 2008, when 70% (1509 students) enrolled in college.

“The most recent national statistics we’ve seen are for 2008,” says Hamilton County School Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales. “That number was just under 69%, so we’re ahead of the curve. But we’d still like to do better. Everything we see tells us that students need some post-high school training to be successful in life, whether they attend college or technical school. We’d like to see our students take advantage of those opportunities.”

Most Hamilton County high schools saw an increase in the percentage of graduates who enrolled in college. For example, at Howard School of Academics and Technology, an inner-city school, the rate rose from 53% in 2008 to 60% in 2009.

At more suburban Central High School college enrollment jumped from 65% in ’08 to 74% in ‘09. Principal Finley King offered this explanation, “Central High School has been on a mission to create a college culture among our student body, parents, and community. We have been working hard to make college a topic that is on the minds of every student from freshmen to senior. We have visually added college banners in our cafeteria; we have made displays in the halls that highlight each teacher in our building and where they went to college. Our students review their transcripts regularly to have pointed discussions about their credits and GPA. Finally, a huge part of our success has been our College Access Coordinator, Teresa Reagan. She is diligent about having students complete their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms, submit college applications, and submit scholarship requests. With her planning, we have also been successful getting our students on numerous college campuses.”

Mr. King said, “We believe that graduation from high school starts in 9th grade, and we also believe that college awareness should begin there too. We have a number of students at Central High that are first generation college students, so we feel like it is our responsibility to be their college connection.”

Small rural schools such as Lookout Valley and Sale Creek also saw increases in 2009: in 2008, only half of Lookout Valley graduates enrolled in college. Almost every student - 91% - enrolled in college in 2009. Similarly, at Sale Creek, the percentage of graduates attending college increased from 59% in 2008 to 85% in 2009.

Sale Creek Principal Robin Copp explained her increase as a long-term effort: “College going has been a major push at Sale Creek for the last five years. We talk about it all the time – it’s become part of our school culture. We also have a wonderful college advisor, Krista Dodson, who really connects with our students and parents and works hard to make sure that every student knows what he or she needs to know about finding the right college and applying to it on time.”

For the first time, the partners have tracked student persistence rates (the percentage of students who began in fall and returned to start their second year of college). Of the Hamilton County graduates who enrolled in 4-year colleges in the fall of 2008, 89% were still in college during the fall of 2009. Of those who enrolled in 2-year colleges during the fall of 2008, 60% were still enrolled in 2009. These numbers are consistent with the trend of the last three years, which averaged 87% for 4-year colleges and 61% for 2-year colleges.

In 2009, Hamilton County graduates headed off to colleges and universities in 27 states. Geographically, they can be found from Washington State to Massachusetts and from Southern California to the tip of Florida at schools like Vanderbilt, Stanford, Wake Forest, Furman, New York University and the University of Chicago. The total includes 42% who enrolled in 4-year and 58% who enrolled in 2-year institutions.

More than 91% percent of local graduates enrolled in Tennessee institutions, many taking advantage of tuition assistance through the HOPE scholarship. Of those, 91 students are attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, 314 are enrolled at UTC, and 565 are attending Chattanooga State.

 Currently, 33% of the population of Hamilton County has a two- or four-year college degree. This is significantly lower than the national average of 40%, and much lower than a number of other countries, including Canada (55%), Japan (54%) and Korea (53%). Yet employers in Hamilton County – from the fire department to Volkswagen – are starting to demand a higher level of training among their prospective employees. (See videos at http://pefchattanooga.org/podcasts/PEFPodcast6CollegeMentors.wmv and http://pefchattanooga.org/podcasts/PEFPodcast4VW.wmv for more on these issues.)

 “The fast-changing world means that students of today will need to be lifelong learners,” said Dan Challener, president of the Public Education Foundation. “Jobs are getting more technical and demanding a higher level of skill. PEF and its partners are doing everything we can to make sure that every student in Hamilton County is aware of the opportunity to go to college or technical school.”

 The Public Education Foundation has recently merged with the College Access Center, and partners with Hamilton County schools, UTC, Chattanooga State, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Gear Up Tennessee, the Urban League and Girls Inc. Together these partners have developed an array of programs to help more students enroll in college, including the placement of half-time college advisors in each high school. These advisors provide information and encouragement to students who are interested in college, and reach out to parents who have questions about how to help their children apply and pay for college. For more information on Hamilton County’s college access initiative, visit http://www.pefchattanooga.org/initiatives/college