New national data on the Class of 2025 shows modest gains in who goes straight to college — and a 23-point gap between low- and high-poverty high schools that's held roughly steady for years.
Higher Ed Dive reported on the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's latest High School Benchmarks report, which tracks how many graduates from a given high school class enroll in college the fall right after graduating. For the Class of 2025, immediate enrollment held essentially steady versus the Class of 2024, moving less than a percentage point across most types of schools.
But the report's real story is the gap that hasn't closed. At low-poverty high schools, 73.9% of 2025 graduates enrolled in college that fall, up slightly from 73.1% the year before. At high-poverty high schools, just 51.2% enrolled — up from 50.8%. That's a roughly 23-point gap between the two groups, barely narrower than it's been in recent years.
There was better news on persistence: among students who did enroll, more returned for a second year. Gains were largest at urban and rural high schools, up 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points respectively, while suburban schools — which persist at the highest rate of the three — held roughly steady at 86.8%.
None of this is really "news" in the sense of a policy changing overnight — it's a data check-in. But it's a useful one, because it's a reminder of how much geography and family income still shape who even shows up to apply, years after every college said it wanted to fix that.
We've covered Common App's direct admissions program and state-level direct-admission portals growing this year specifically to reach first-generation and low- and middle-income students — no essay, sometimes an offer before you've even applied. This data is exactly why those programs exist. If your school qualifies, opting in costs you almost nothing and can only add options.
We reported this spring on the Class of 2026's record FAFSA completion rate. That progress and this enrollment gap can both be true: completing the form is necessary but not sufficient. If cost is the thing standing between you and enrolling, file as soon as the 2027–28 FAFSA opens rather than waiting to see admissions decisions first — aid estimates can shape which schools are realistic before you commit time to applications.
The persistence gains here are encouraging, but a gap that opens at enrollment doesn't close itself once you're on campus. If you're a first-generation student, find your school's advising or TRIO-style support office in orientation week, not after a rough first semester — the students who used those resources early are a large part of why persistence numbers move at all.
Direct-admission programs and FAFSA outreach are real progress, but this report shows a stubborn gap even with both running at scale. Treat every free or low-effort path to more options — fee waivers, direct admission, early FAFSA filing — as something to actively pursue, not something a school will hand you by default.
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