Students from low-income families face a bumpier road than their wealthier peers, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ annual Condition of Education data compendium.
It used longitudinal data to track how the poorest and wealthiest students entering 9th grade in 2009 fared seven years later. More than 60 percent of students from both groups were working in 2016. But 78 percent of the wealthiest 20 percent of students were enrolled in postsecondary-degree programs—50 percentage points more than students from families with the lowest 20 percent of income.
