By Jeremiah Pacheco

   Once you’ve completed your four years of high school, you come to the next chapter in your life. What are you going to do for the rest of your it? Whether it’s engineering, teaching, coaching, or business, most high school graduates choose to go to college and acquire a degree to help them find a job on something they enjoy. But how many graduates go to college? 

   In the United States of America, 66.2 percent of high school graduates go to college according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. Out of these graduates, 62 percent of them are men and 69.8 percent are women. With over 19.9 million students enrolled in colleges or universities according to the National Education Statistics, it is no surprise that over half of the United States high school graduates attend a college. However, students can attempt to go to an out of state college or university but it is much more difficult.

“…19.9 million students enrolled in colleges…”

National Education Statistics

   Over half of the high school graduates go on to any college. Just how many attend an out-of-state college? According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, “17% of the college-going graduates from higher-income schools enrolled at out of state institutions, compared to just 5 percent of those from lower-income high schools.” With this in mind, over half of the current college enrolled students are enrolled in an in-state college. Being accepted to an out of state college is more challenging even more difficult if the graduate was in a low-income high school. 

   With these statistics in mind, America has the most college students with 14,261,800 students enrolled in a college. According to Capex, “The official four-year graduation rate for students attending public colleges and universities is 33.3 percent. The six-year rate is 57.6 percent. At private colleges and universities, the four-year graduation rate is 52.8 percent, and 65.4 percent earn a degree in six years.”