State Reports: (Pennsylvania, 2006)

select another state:

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Pennsylvania compares well with most states in preparing students for and enrolling them in college. However, this relatively strong performance conceals large disparities in opportunity based on income and ethnicity, and some of these disparities have widened since the early 1990s. In addition, the proportion of 9th graders graduating from high school within four years has declined since the early 1990s, although of those who do graduate, more now enroll in college directly after high school. The state trails in providing college-level education and training opportunities for working-age adults. Since the early 1990s, colleges and universities in Pennsylvania have become less affordable for students and their families. If these downward trends are not addressed, they could limit Pennsylvania’s access to an educated, competitive workforce and weaken its economy over time.

2006 REPORT CARD

Preparation
Participation
Affordability
Completion
Benefits
Learning

CHANGE IN PENNSYLVANIA SINCE 1992


Preparation	Participation	Affordability	Completion	Benefits	Learning

What do the arrows mean?

	The state has improved on more than half of the indicators in the category.
	The state has improved on some, but no more than half, of the indicators in the category.
	The state has declined on most or all indicators.

STRENGTHS

Preparation

Pennsylvania is a top performer in the proportions of high school students enrolled in upper-level math and science courses. The state has improved substantially on the science measure over the past 12 years.
Pennsylvania 8th graders perform very well on national assessments in reading.
Three-quarters of secondary school students are taught by teachers with an undergraduate or graduate major in the subject they are teaching.

Participation

Compared with other states, the chance that a Pennsylvania 9th grader will enroll in college within four years is high. However, proportionately fewer 9th graders are graduating from high school in four years. Of those who do graduate, more of them are enrolling in higher education. The state has improved on this measure over the past decade, in contrast to a national decline.

Affordability

Pennsylvania makes a very high investment in need-based financial aid, placing it among the leading states on this measure, and it has increased this investment since 1992. Despite this improvement, low- and middle-income families must still devote a very large share of family income to pay for college.

Completion

A very high percentage of freshmen at two- and four-year colleges in the state return for their sophomore year. The state has consistently performed very well on the measure for four-year colleges.
A very large proportion of students complete certificates and degrees relative to the number enrolled. However, the state has declined on this measure over the past 12 years.

Benefits

Over the past 12 years, Pennsylvania has shown some of the greatest improvement among the states in the percentage of residents who have a bachelor’s degree, and the economic benefits that the state enjoys as a result have increased substantially as well.

WEAKNESSES

Preparation

Low-income 8th graders perform very poorly on national math assessments.
Small proportions of 11th and 12th graders take and score well on Advanced Placement tests and college entrance exams.

Participation

A small percentage of working-age adults enroll in education and training beyond high school. This percentage has decreased over the past decade—more than the nationwide decline.
Over the past decade, the gap in college participation between 18- to 24-year-old whites and non-whites has widened substantially. Whites are twice as likely to attend college as non-whites.
In addition, young adults (ages 18-24) from high-income families are about twice as likely as those from low-income families to attend college.

Affordability

Net college costs for low- and middle-income students to attend community colleges represent 40% of their annual family income. (Net college costs equal tuition, room, and board after financial aid.) For these students at public four-year colleges and universities, net college costs represent 59% of their annual family income. These two sectors enroll 59% of college students in the state.

Completion

Over the past decade, the gap has widened between whites and blacks in the proportion of students completing certificates and degrees relative to the number enrolled.