Aging Population Means No Growth in High School Graduates

Over the next decade, the nation will experience virtually no growth in high school graduates. 32 states and the District of Columbia will actually experience a decline in high school graduates, with statewide decreases of as much as 20 percent. Meanwhile, from 2009 to 2019, adult enrollments in college are projected to increase twice as quickly as enrollments by traditional age students (22.6 percent vs. 9.7 percent).

Source: Patrick Kelly and Julie Strawn, Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College, Center for Law and Social Policy and National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, June 2011.