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State data reveal student life after diploma
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE INVERNESS -- High school guidance counselors, principals and administrators attended a special presentation Friday morning and learned more about how their students are faring after graduation. The presentation at the Withlacoochee Technical Institute highlighted the effectiveness of Florida schools in general and Citrus County schools in particular. Leading the session was Jay Pfeiffer, director of the state's office of K-20 information, accountability and education. Using more than 40 graphs, he shared information he had collected about the success of Florida education, in particular the state's Class of 1991, for which he has gathered specific data. Pfeiffer said students' choices were very limited back in 1961, when he graduated from high school. The majority of students went to work or started four years of college. Today there are many more options, and the state would like to promote those choices. "Postsecondary education doesn't necessarily mean college work," Pfeiffer said. He showed graphs that explained the number of Florida students enrolled in various postsecondary options. The largest number represented were those in community colleges. Students can also opt for public universities; private, nonprofit colleges and universities; private for-profit colleges and universities; nonpublic career schools; religious schools; and adult postsecondary classes that many school districts offer. Pfeiffer noted how many students who choose to pursue postsecondary education hadn't completed their programs. "There's, I think, a perception at (the) high school level that once students are gone, there's no longer an obligation to worry about them," Pfeiffer said. Even though people may look at successes of students who immediately go to college, they need to concentrate on the final successes, he explained. Some students go in and out of the postsecondary school system, trying to further their educations while handling other personal commitments and finances. "They're not doing it the old-fashioned, four-year way," he said. Many students are working, raising families and going to college at the same time. This is where securing a vocational certificate can make sense for students, he said. Citrus students who go to work right out of high school, with a standard diploma, can expect to make average pay of $3,818 per quarter, compared with the Florida per capita income of $6,959 per quarter, Pfeiffer said. Students who have a vocational certificate can expect wages of about $7,003 per quarter. "A fairly short-term investment in postsecondary education had immediate payoff for students," Pfeiffer said. Many times, students can achieve this by enrolling at a vocational school, such as WTI, while still in high school. Students can go to high school and, with dual enrollment, be ready to work at a reasonably well-paying job. They might even be able to work that job while going to college, he said. Pfeiffer said data concerning the Florida Class of 1991 illustrated the need for schools to help students find successful ways to acquire some kind of postsecondary education. Ten years after graduation, 61.2 percent of Florida students who graduated from high school in 1991 had not earned higher education credentials, he said. About 6.1 percent of students in that class had vocational certificates, while 7.7 percent had earned associate of arts degrees, 2.7 percent had earned associate of science degrees, 14.7 percent had successfully completed a four-year degree program, 2 percent had secured master's degrees, less than 1 percent had earned higher than a master's degree and about 5 percent had received postsecondary education outside Florida. Citrus County had 421 graduates in 1991. Of them, 61 percent had not advanced beyond earning their high school diplomas after 10 years, Pfeiffer's research showed. About 10.5 percent had earned bachelor's degrees, 12.1 percent had earned associate degrees, 8.8 percent had earned vocational certificates, 1.9 percent had secured college credit vocational degrees, less than 1 percent had earned a master's degree or higher and about 5 percent left the state after graduation and attained some sort of postsecondary education. Things may be looking up. The Class of 2001's continuing education also has been studied according to individual schools. Currently, 56.9 percent of Citrus High School students are in some kind of postsecondary education program, and 6.2 percent have entered the military. Of Lecanto High School's Class of 2001, 55.3 percent are continuing their education, and 2.3 percent have entered the military. And among Crystal River High School's 2001 graduates, 48.5 percent of students are involved in postsecondary education, and 4.7 percent are in the military. The question is: Ten years from now, how many of these students will have completed their postsecondary education?
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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