Life After High School 2019

As the data in this section focuses on the postsecondary outcomes of New Orleans public high school students, it’s important to understand some basic demographic information about these students and the context of their school system. New Orleans’ public education system often receives national attention due to its unique governance model, being the only public school system in the country comprised almost exclusively of charter schools.

As of October 2018, New Orleans’ 86 public schools were serving 50,451 PK-12 students. The majority of New Orleans public school students are students of color (91.4%), most of whom are Black (78.5%). As is common in other urban districts, most of the city’s students are from low-income backgrounds (81.1%). Enrollment in the system follows a school choice model and no students are assigned to neighborhood schools according to geographic catchment zones. Despite citywide open enrollment policies, inequities persist along racial and economic lines.

Given the uniqueness of the governance model, New Orleans schools’ measurable outcomes are closely watched by education reformers, policymakers, researchers, and community advocates. As has been widely discussed, academic performance and high school graduation rates in New Orleans saw an increase over the past decade but have stagnated in recent years. The 2017 cohort graduation rate for public school students in the city was 72.8%, with a growth rate of 0.1% from 2013-14 to 2016-17. This is well below the average cohort graduation rate for the state of Louisiana (78.1%), as well as the statewide growth rate (3.5%). A similar trend has been seen with ACT scores.

Nevertheless, college enrollment among students from New Orleans public high schools has increased over time. In 2017, an estimated 61% of New Orleans public high school students enrolled in college. This is an approximate 4% increase over a five year period. While there are a number of contextual factors that make it difficult to compare current educational outcomes to those pre-Katrina, the increase in college-going is particularly visible when we compare with 2004 rates. While the current report aims only to provide descriptive baseline data on college-going, recent research has taken a more in-depth approach to understanding the factors influencing this change in college outcomes among New Orleans graduates.

However, while there appears to be a trend of increased college enrollment across the city, there are differences along racial and socioeconomic lines. While 83% of white public school students enrolled in postsecondary education after high school graduation, 59% of Black public school students did the same. As with previous data, this varied greatly by school, as demonstrated in the graphic below.

The vast majority of New Orleans' college-goers attend schools in the state (77%) or in the city (65%). Among recent New Orleans high school students who enrolled in college, the largest percentage enrolled in Delgado Community College (22%), followed by University of New Orleans (12%), Southern University New Orleans (11%), and Xavier University (9%). Combined with students who enrolled in Dillard (6%), Loyola (3%), and Tulane (2%), nearly two thirds of recent New Orleans public high school graduates enrolled in colleges in the city. Of the 23% of public high school graduates who enrolled in colleges out of state, the largest percentage attend schools in the neighboring states of Mississippi (18%)and Texas (16%).

Mirroring national trends, New Orleans data reveals inequities in college persistence rates along the lines of race and socioeconomic status. Of the graduating high school class of 2016, 59.6% of New Orleans public school graduates enrolled in college the fall after their senior year, which was slightly higher than the state average of 57.5%. Of that initial cohort of college-goers, 72.1% remained enrolled in college in the fall of 2017. This is in line with the national second-year college re-enrollment rate of 73.4% and translates to approximately 44% of New Orleans public high school graduates. However, the second year re-enrollment rate varied dramatically along the lines of race: 91.2% of white students returned to college in the fall of their second year, compared to 68.3% of Black students. Approximately one third (33.7%) of economically disadvantaged students and half (50.0%) of students with a special education designation did not return to college in the fall the year after enrolling. Among all three populations (students from low-income backgrounds, special education students, and Black students), New Orleans youth persisted at a slightly lower rate than comparable groups at the state and national levels.

On the state level, there are discrepancies in persistence and completion rates between students at two-year and four-year institutions. Of first-time, full-time degree seeking students in the freshman class of 2011 who attended a four-year institution, 51.5% completed their degree within 150% of the allotted time (six years). However, only 18.2% of the same cohort seeking a two-year degree completed in 150% of the allotted time. There has been an improvement in the total number of completions among students in public technical or community colleges across the state over the past four years but the rate, 21.4%, remains notably lower than the persistence and completion rate of those students in public, in-state four-year institutions.

Anecdotally, there is discussion of students who start college at a two-year college and then transfer to a four-year college or university to earn a bachelor’s degree. However, Board of Regents data shows that this pathway is actually uncommon in our public, in-state colleges and universities. Only 12.1% of Louisiana students from the high school class of 2011 who started in a two-year institution earned any undergraduate degree in the six years following matriculation. Of first-time students who start at Delgado Community College, the postsecondary institution where the most New Orleans public school students matriculate, only 5.4% completed any undergraduate degree within six years.

When discussing postsecondary education in New Orleans, it’s important to consider the range of local, regional, and contextual factors that may impact college-going and college persistence. Of importance is the fact that the cost of postsecondary education in the state of Louisiana has been steadily increasing. While this is true of public and private higher education institutions across the country, the rate of increase in Louisiana has outpaced many other states.

Higher performing students, specifically those who have at least a 2.5 GPA and an 18 (TOPS Tech) or 20 (TOPS) ACT score, are eligible for TOPS, a statewide scholarship. A TOPS award covers tuition at public institutions across the state, or the award can be used to cover some of the tuition at private institutions. Students with higher academic performance are eligible for additional funding through TOPS for supplies and additional fees, which can often be prohibitively expensive for low-income students. The relationship between higher education funding and the TOPS scholarship has grown complicated in recent years. As tuition rates increase to account for the reduction in allocated higher ed funds, the amount that the state pays in TOPS scholarships has subsequently increased. Over the past several legislative sessions, TOPS has been a topic of discussion and debate as policymakers weigh the feasibility of the program in the face of increasing budgetary shortfalls. For now, TOPS remains intact, but the long-term stability of the program is in question.

Another important contextual factor influencing postsecondary education and access in Louisiana is related to the FAFSA. Starting in 2017-2018, all Louisiana high school seniors are required to complete the FAFSA (or a waiver) in order to graduate. This policy aims to increase students’ access to federal higher education funds and ultimately, their access to postsecondary education. In June 2018, Louisiana led the nation in FAFSA completion rates.