Getting to the Finish Line: A Seven Year Longitudinal Study of the Boston Public Schools Class of 2000

For the past several years, the Center for Labor Market Studies has been working together with the Boston Private Industry Council, the Boston Public Schools, and a number of local universities and colleges to obtain data on the college persistence and graduation experiences of Boston public school graduates from the classes of 2000 through 2006. Data from the Boston Public Schools, the Boston PIC annual follow-up surveys, annual exit surveys of new high school graduates, the National Student Clearinghouse, and from four private and public colleges in Massachusetts have been combined to produce for the first time a comprehensive portrait of the longer term college enrollment, persistence, and graduation experiences of recent BPS graduates. This report focuses on the college enrollment and graduation experiences of BPS graduates from the Class of 2000. Data from the summer of 2000 through the winter/spring semester of 2007 are used in conducting this analysis. Findings are presented for all graduates combined, for gender, race-ethnic, and combined gender/race-ethnic subgroups of graduates, and for selected groups of high schools attended by those graduates.