See which Michigan high schools send most graduates to college

Statewide, 38.2% of last year’s high school graduates in Michigan are attending four-year school
In some districts, the rate is closer to 80%
Statewide, the percentage of recent graduates attending college has risen for the first time in years

Students in Michigan’s wealthiest communities continue to enroll in four-year colleges at high rates, double the rate of Class of 2023 as a whole, new state data shows.

More than 80% of the graduates from schools in Birmingham, Rochester, Grosse Pointe and Troy headed off to four-year schools, well above the 38.2% of all Michigan public school grads last spring.

The school-by-school data shows that the drop in four-year attendance experienced in 2020 in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt most in schools with more students from less wealthy families.

For instance, at Battle Creek Central High School, where 72% of students come from economically disadvantaged families, 18% of the 179 grads in 2020 went immediately to a four-year school the following fall.

But last fall, as the pandemic waned, that rate jumped to 38% of 153 grads, the biggest jump in the state among schools with at least 100 grads.

In Birmingham, 85% of the 335 grads at Seaholm High School in 2023 went to a four-year school last fall, up from 77% in 2020. Just 8% of Seaholm students are from economically disadvantaged families, records show.

The school-by-school data adds new details to new records showing the percentage of Michigan recent high school graduates attending college increased this fall for the first time since the pandemic began.

But the increase was slight, up to 53.7% for the Class of 2023 from 52.8% from the previous class, and not as large as some officials had hoped after a major state investment to make higher education more affordable.

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Enrollment at four-year colleges rose to 38.2% from 37% of graduates, while two-year college enrollment dropped a hair to 15.8% from 15.5%, according to data released by the Center for Educational Performance and Information.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made increasing college attainment a priority, pledging upwards of a half billion dollars annually to create the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.

For grads who meet income requirements, the scholarship program awards up to $5,500 to attend four-year public schools, $4,000 for four-year private schools and $2,750 for those at community colleges.

First offered last fall, the money may have helped stem a three-year slide in enrollment that coincided with the pandemic.