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While the majority of Texas’ eighth-grade students successfully graduated from a state public high school, only 25% went on to earn a higher education degree or certificate within the state.
This insight emerges from new data released by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which tracked the educational journeys of 400,000 students who were in eighth grade during the 2013-14 academic year over a span of ten years.
The results exhibit significant disparities across different demographic groups, particularly when factoring in income levels. In total, only 16% of economically disadvantaged students achieved a degree or certificate, in contrast to 36% of their more affluent peers.
The Texas Tribune obtained detailed student outcome data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to analyze the differences in educational attainment across various school districts. It is noteworthy that districts with a higher concentration of economically disadvantaged students generally reported lower attainment rates, regardless of whether they were located in urban, suburban, or rural areas.
To explore how your district or school performed, search for it below:
“There’s an opportunity to learn from those outlier schools that are performing above average,” remarked Brian Holzman, an assistant professor at Texas A&M, who has researched the disparities in college completion and degree acquisition.
About this Analysis
The district-level data utilized for this analysis was gathered from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board through a public information request. This dataset followed a specific cohort of students who were in eighth grade during the 2012-13 school year to determine if they obtained a higher education credential by 2023. This cohort is a year older than the state-level data released recently.
The Texas Tribune has merged this data with additional state education information that has been collected. For more details on our methodology, please refer to our main story.
Learn more about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our collaboration with The Trust Project aimed at enhancing transparency in journalism.
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You have read articles this month, and there are no limits on the remaining articles since we do not operate behind a paywall.
Texans deserve the truth. Support our efforts in reporting it.
Independent journalism in Texas requires your support. The Texas Tribune is committed to delivering fact-based news for Texans, by Texans. Our community of members, who contribute donations, enables our work to continue. Help us provide you and millions of others with comprehensive news and information. Will you consider supporting our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount?
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Tagged: education, Texas Education Agency
Rob Reid is the Tribune’s education data developer. He joined in 2024 after completing Columbia University’s Lede Program for Data Journalism and has previously supported the investigative reporting program.
Alex Ford is a designer and developer based in Austin, Texas. Before joining the Tribune, she was an interactive designer for NBC News Digital and NBC Local. Originally from Baltimore, she graduated from the University of Maryland.
Carla Astudillo serves as a senior data visuals developer with a specialization in elections and political data. Prior to joining the Tribune in 2019, she worked as a data and interactive visuals journalist at NJ.com and The…
