Nearly 57 percent of Colorado’s high school class of 2015 enrolled in a postsecondary institution, which is up more than a half percentage point from last year.
About three-fourths of those 30,000 graduates chose to attend a Colorado college or university, according to the , which issued its report Friday.
The report points out that the state’s college-going population is also getting more diverse. Almost every ethnic group saw higher enrollment numbers in 2015. And as in recent years, more female high school graduates — 61 percent — enrolled in college than male graduates, 52 percent.
The mean grade point average for college freshman — 2.79 — climbed for a sixth straight year, and credential attainment within four years increased by more than 2 percent, according to the report.
Persistent rates — the likelihood a first-year student will remain in their program — were also above national averages for students at four-year institutions, 87 percent, and two-year colleges, 60 percent.“We are encouraged to see an increase in the college-going and success rates of our Colorado high schoolers, but we still have much work ahead of us,” said Kim Hunter Reed, acting executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. “To reach our goal of 66 percent of Coloradans earning a credential by 2025, we must see better results when it comes to recruiting, supporting and graduating students.”
