Some high schools in Colorado do a much better job of getting graduates to nationally ranked colleges than others, and in many instances it doesn’t matter if the students come from well-off, minority or small-town families.
So says A+ Colorado, a nonprofit agency that studies education issues in the state. The group this week issued a first-of-its-kind study that tracks which high schools are sending students to top-tier, selective colleges.
It’s no surprise that schools in affluent areas such as Boulder, Cherry Creek, Aspen and Douglas County sent as many as 24 percent of their graduates to the country’s top 300 colleges between 2009 and 2015, according to A+ Colorado.
But some schools with high percentages of low-income students also did well at sending students to well-regarded colleges, said A+ Colorado CEO Van Schoales. Those select colleges, as named by U.S News & World Report, include the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, University of Denver, Colorado School of Mines, U.S. Air Force Academy and Colorado College.
DSST: Green Valley Ranch, a Denver charter school where 67 percent of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, sent 12 percent of its graduates to a select college between 2009 and 2015, A+ Colorado reported.
“All of this points to a culture — both in the community and the school — that expectations are very high that seniors are going to go to college,” Schoales said. “It all boils down to expectations.”
Still, the study shows wide gaps among Colorado high schools’ efforts to get students into top colleges or even into certificate programs.
A+ Colorado found that 200 of Colorado’s 580 high schools had no graduates that enrolled at one of the top 300 colleges between 2009 and 2015. And only half of all Colorado high schools sent a majority of graduates to any post-secondary program in those years.
“Unfortunately,” Schoales said, “the disparities by race, income and geography are enormous, with some Colorado high schools doing a great job supporting students to succeed, while far too many high schools support next to none of their students to go to these colleges.”
In its report, “A Seat at the Table: Colorado Students’ Access to Top Colleges,” A+ Colorado states it initiated the study in part because “improving access to college and other postsecondary pathways is key to making the American Dream a reality. … While college may not be the best path for every student, a college degree is one of the most important factors in determining a person’s lifetime economic opportunities.”
Twenty-two Colorado high schools sent at least 10 percent of graduates who were not eligible for free or reduced-price lunches to a top college or university in the years studied. But only two high schools — DSST: Green Valley Ranch and Boulder Valley School District’s Peak To Peak Charter School — sent 10 percent of their graduates who were eligible for free or reduced-prices lunches to a top college, according to A+ Colorado.
Gaps by race and ethnicity are also vast, Schoales said. Seventeen high schools sent 10 percent of their white graduates to a top school after graduation, while only six sent the same proportion of black graduates and two sent the same proportion of Latino graduates.
Many of the high schools in low-income communities that sent larger percentages of students to college are charter schools, which are public schools that operate independently from their home school district. But some are traditional public schools, including George Washington High School in Denver. George Washington sent 2 percent of its graduates to a top-tier college and 56 percent to post-secondary programs.
Those schools probably emphasize rigorous college-level courses such as those offered through George Washington’s International Baccalaureate program, said Samantha Haviland, director of counseling support services at Denver Public Schools. “Students start taking these courses in ninth grade, and the expectations for them are very high,” Haviland said.
Costs associated with attending top-tier colleges and universities probably inhibit many students from even applying, she said. “A lot of students struggle to pay for college, and for many, a top-tier school is just out of reach,” Haviland said.
Rural schools that sent larger percentages of students to top-tier colleges were in affluent communities such as Aspen, which sent 23 percent of its students to a top school, Schoales said.
But even tiny Peetz High School, with an enrollment of 165 in pre-K-12, sent 7 percent of its graduates to a top school and 83 percent to a post-secondary program.
It helps that Peetz — about 4 miles from the Nebraska border — is so small, school counselor Megan Schumacher said. Teachers get to know each student and can help them establish specific goals and plans to achieve them. “It’s really all about knowing your students and what they want to do with themselves,” Schumacher said.
She starts advising students about their careers as early as seventh grade.
“Not every kid is cut out for college or wants to go to college,” Schumacher said. “I try to help them find the best education best suited for them.”
A+ Colorado recommends improving the number of students sent to top colleges by improving information about graduates, reporting systems, students’ access to information and the high schools.
