New report shows college completion rates of BPS graduates dipped slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain near recent trends
June 16, 2026
Boston – Boston Public Schools graduating classes are enrolling and persisting in postsecondary education at higher levels than during COVID-19, but they have not yet caught up with where they were before the pandemic. That’s the overall finding from a new assessment of BPS postsecondary enrollment and completion conducted by the Boston Private Industry Council in collaboration with the Boston Foundation.
The report, entitled Persisting Through the Pandemic and Beyond: Trends in the College Enrollment, Persistence, and Completion Experiences of BPS Graduates, also noted disparities in college enrollment and completion for BPS graduates across gender and race-ethnic groups, and a persistent gap between Boston’s exam and non-exam schools.
“The gender and race-ethnic differences in college enrollment and completion outcomes for Boston Public School graduates are not unique to Boston and mirror national findings. The recent trend in college completion rates points to a need to expand efforts that go beyond college access and improve college success rates” said Joseph McLaughlin, Director of Research and Strategy at the Boston Private Industry Council and co-author of the report.
“This report highlights the hard work and long-term commitment that is needed to recover from the disruption of the pandemic and the instability and challenges facing higher education more broadly,” said Antoniya Marinova, Associate Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation. “Creating promising initiatives is part of the solution – but we also need to restate the case for the importance of postsecondary credentials, the doors they open for higher incomes and quality careers, and the supports needed to help students get there.”
Reversing the Trends – Slowly
BPS graduates are recovering from pandemic lows in college enrollment and persistence. Overall first-year college enrollment rates, which dropped from 63.8% for the BPS Class of 2019 to 54.6% for the Class of 2020, have recovered to 57.3% for the Class of 2024. But rates for Black and Latino students, which fell most sharply during the pandemic, are not recovering as quickly. Just 49% of Latino graduates from the BPS Class of 2024 enrolled in higher education the first year after graduating, in sharp contrast to the 62.8% of the BPS Class of 2018 who did so.
TRENDS IN FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT RATE OF BPS CLASSES OF 2015-2024
The effects of the pandemic were particularly pronounced for student enrollment in 2-year public colleges. Programs such as MassEducate and MassReconnect have proven widely successful in increasing overall enrollment at community college campuses, but they have not yet helped generate the same enrollment gains among BPS students. The percentage of BPS graduates choosing 2-year public college right after graduation has fallen sharply from 19.6% of the BPS Class of 2019, to 12.9% for the Class of 2020, and just 13.9% for the Class of 2024.
TRENDS IN FIRST-YEAR ENROLLMENT RATES BY TYPE OF POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS FIRST ATTENDED, BPS CLASSES OF 2015-2024
Persistence and Completion – Continuing Gender and Racial Gaps
One-year persistence rates showed that more students stopped out of college during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, but persistence rates have improved more recently. The improved persistence into the second year of college for more recent BPS graduates may increase completion outcomes over time.
The six-year college completion rates remained fairly stable (in the low 50s percentages), rising slightly for the Class of 2017, before dipping for the Classes of 2018 and 2019. The pandemic closures and switch to remote learning in 2020 interrupted these graduates’ first years of college and likely contributed to the slight decline in their completion.
But the data continue to show wide racial and gender gaps. For the Class of 2019, over 55% of female BPS graduates who enrolled in postsecondary programs had completed a postsecondary credential in six years, versus 45% of males. And while 78% of enrolled White BPS graduates and 75% of Asians received their postsecondary credential in six years, just 41% of Latinos and 37% of Black enrollees did. Black and Latino male enrollees were less than half as likely as Asian or White peers to graduate in six years.
SIX-YEAR COLLEGE COMPLETION RATES OF FIRST-YEAR ENROLLEES BY GENDER AND RACE-ETHNIC GROUP, BPS CLASS OF 2019
A similarly large gap persisted for exam school students versus non-exam school students from the Class of 2019. While nearly 79% of exam school students completed college in six years, just 36% of non-exam school graduates who enrolled were able to do so.
An examination of the data by type of institution suggests a continuing opportunity for the region’s community colleges to attract and retain students. Just 21% of the BPS Class of 2019 who enrolled in a two-year public college had earned a credential six years later, a third of the rate of those who enrolled in 4-year public or 4-year private colleges. Notably, the two-year college completion rate for BPS graduates was less than half the two-year college completion rate for the Class of 2019 nationally.
SIX-YEAR COLLEGE COMPLETION RATES OF BPS CLASS OF 2019 FALL ENROLLEES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION COMPARED TO U.S. AVERAGES FOR FIRST-TIME, FALL 2019 ENROLLEES (UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE)
Understanding the impact of new and strengthened programs to support BPS students and graduates in finding, persisting and completing their chosen college and career paths will take further study. But more work is likely ahead. “To make substantial gains in the college completion rates of BPS graduates,” the report notes, “policymakers, education leaders, and private sector employers will likely need to collaborate on additional strategies to improve completion and post-graduation employment outcomes.”
One new collaborative effort to boost college enrollment and ensure that recent BPS graduates are aware of MassEducate and other postsecondary training opportunities is planned for this summer. BPS is launching a new collaboration to support Class of 2026 graduates and recent alumni with the transition to postsecondary education and training during the summer months. BPS is partnering with Boston University’s Path Advising Program, the PIC, and other partners to provide support to recent graduates to help them with college enrollment and financial aid decisions as well as provide access to training opportunities.
“This report highlights both the progress we have made and the work that remains to ensure every student is prepared for success after high school,” said Assistant Superintendent of the Office of College, Career & Life Readiness, Brett Dickens. “Through expanded access to Early College, Advanced Placement, and other advanced coursework opportunities, more students are building the skills and earning the credits needed for postsecondary success. We have seen a nearly tenfold increase in Early College participation and significant growth in AP coursework, and we are continuing to build on that momentum through targeted efforts, including a new Early College consortium designed to expand opportunities for multilingual learners, while strengthening supports such as our summer transition center to help more students enroll in, persist through, and complete their postsecondary pathways.”