Washington's high school graduation rate has increased over the past decade. In 2022, 82 percent of high school students in the state graduated in four years, a six-percentage point increase over the 2013 graduation rate. This report looks at postsecondary enrollment trends for Washington high school graduates in the classes of 2020 and 2021…

Taking advanced courses in high school predicts a broad array of positive postsecondary and labor market outcomes. Yet students from historically disadvantaged groups and low-income backgrounds have long been underrepresented in these courses. To address this problem, more than 60 districts in Washington state implemented a policy that…

The federal government has made increasing post-secondary attainment a priority, and though much research has been done on the topic, many of these studies have focused on urban schools and students. This qualitative case study, utilizing social capital and organizational brokerage frameworks, will explore how one rural school district in…

The Washington Student Achievement Council partnered with the North Central Educational Service District to design and develop a series of animated videos to share simple and clear information with students about the Washington College Grant and the benefits of pursuing education or training after high school. The videos aimed to build an engaging…

Many U.S. students working toward a high school diploma can take Cambridge Assessment International Education courses. This article explores the characteristics and postsecondary enrolment patterns of a cohort of 2014-15 public high school graduates in the state of Washington who participated in a Cambridge program of learning. The outcomes of the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to enrollment in higher education. The overall shut down of the nation in March of 2020 forced colleges and universities to shift their content delivery primarily online, a context which continued for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. As the pandemic stretched on through the summer,…

Higher education can help improve Washington residents' outcomes so they will have the opportunity to lead productive and financially rewarding lives and contribute to the economic success and social wellbeing of the state. But the COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on higher education, and postsecondary enrollment in Washington was down 13…

The College Bound Scholarship (CBS) is designed to inspire and encourage Washington middle school students from low-income families to prepare for and pursue postsecondary education. Postsecondary enrollment rates of College Bound students match or exceed those of non-College Bound Washington high school graduates; however, the postsecondary…

This report covers fall 2014 enrollments for WUE [Western Undergraduate Exchange], WRGP [Western Regional Graduate Program], and PSEP [Professional Student Exchange Program]. It details the funds that flow between students' home states and the enrolling PSEP institutions that receive them. This newly expanded format gives detailed enrollment for…

This report analyzes data for secondary special education students in Washington who left high school during the 2013-14 school year. These data were collected by the state starting on June 1, 2015, from all 233 districts with high schools: 230 districts, two state schools, and one educational service agency (a collection of 27 small districts…

Why individuals choose not to sign up for social programs, particularly when the costs of sign-up are low and the benefits generous, is a crucial question for policy scholars. In this paper, we show that a substantial share of qualified middle school students fail to sign up for Washington State's College Bound Scholarship program, and this…

English learners and students with disabilities both need educational supports to succeed in school. However, the kinds of support these two groups of students need may be different, and not receiving appropriate supports may have negative consequences on student learning (Callahan, 2013; Scott, Boynton Hauerwas, and Brown, 2014). To provide…

Concerns over the United States' global standing have spurred a national focus on improving postsecondary attainment. At the same time, many sectors of the economy find they have difficulty recruiting highly trained individuals to fill the good jobs that exist; jobs like nursing, respiratory care, dental hygiene, and various mid-level management…

Federal policymakers have interest in three specific areas of postsecondary career and technical education (CTE): associate degrees and certificates awarded in CTE, skills and training obtained through noncredit courses, and industry-recognized certifications. Research and data are readily available on students earning degrees and certificates in…

This report is in response to the requirement of RCW 28A.150.550 that the State Board of Education, with assistance from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC), and the Washington…