Twelfth Grade Math and College Access

Students’ academic preparation during high school, including the courses they take, influences their educational and economic success in adulthood. Research on the association between course taking and academic or economic outcomes consistently suggests that taking a more advanced math curriculum in high school improves students’ likelihood of enrolling in college, and in a four-year college specifically, and increases their earnings in adulthood. This report examines the effects of taking math in 12th grade on several academic outcomes, including high school grade point average and course completion and college enrollment and persistence. We also investigate whether particular types of math courses (for example, Calculus or Statistics) are especially beneficial for students’ academic success.

Categories: Math Equity, Student Success