New data tracks Idaho graduates after high school

BOISE (AP) - New state education data that tracks high school students after graduation show they enrolled last year in more than 450 colleges and universities in every state in the country.

Still, the new system shows fewer than half of the 16,647 graduates went on to post-secondary schools in the months after getting their diplomas.

The new information is expected to help the State Board of Education, the Albertson Foundation and other groups figure out why more graduates don't go on to community colleges, public universities and private schools, according to a story published Tuesday by The Idaho Statesman.

Idaho, where 48 percent of students go on to college, has one of the lowest rates in the nation for graduates enrolling in post-secondary institutions.

The state board shared some of the new data with lawmakers this summer. The information is a mix of data tracked by the Longitudinal Data System, which provides information on everything from location to test scores, and the National Student Clearing House, which gets information from colleges Idaho students attend.

Of the 2012 graduates who went on to post-secondary institutions, 30 percent ventured outside the state.

Boise State University reported the highest enrollment of Idaho students, according to the data system.

Andy Mehl, the board's project coordinator for the data system, said there are no clear answers yet why students opt to leave Idaho. But one hunch, he said, is the lack of course offerings for students interested in pursuing careers in medicine or dentistry.

"I was kind of surprised a lot of them showed up around San Francisco, because it is really expensive there to live, much less go to school. I don't know what the draw is there," Mehl said.

In the past, Idaho hasn't had much raw data to show how the investment taxpayers have made in colleges and getting kids ready for college is paying off, said Mike Rush, the board's executive director.

"We haven't been able to say 'Given this investment in higher education, how many students go to Idaho institutions? How many are transitioning to institutions out of state,'" he said.

Idaho is also working on a tracking system involving the Idaho Department of Labor that would help show what happens to college students after graduation. By following Social Security numbers into the workplace, the state can see if those students get jobs in Idaho. That won't be ready until 2016.

The number of students going on to college is important because 60 percent of Idaho jobs could require some type of post-secondary degree within five years, foundation officials say.