Post-secondary Education

The continued shift to a knowledge-based economy means the best opportunities for job prospects and upward mobility will require education and training beyond high school

Although rates of college readiness in the region have begun to increase, college enrollment and completion have mostly stagnated, and not enough Houston-area students earn post-secondary credentials after high school. Disparities in college readiness, enrollment, and completion persist by socioeconomic status and race­—students who have been historically underrepresented and marginalized.

The data

Before getting into the data about readiness, enrollment and completion, it is helpful to clarify exactly what is post-secondary education. In the simplest terms, any education or training that goes beyond traditional high school coursework is considered post-secondary education. Common post-secondary options include four-year universities, two-year community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeships.

College readiness rates in the Houston region have ticked up

College readiness/preparedness refers to the cumulative knowledge and skills a high school graduate is expected to have upon entering higher education. It is commonly measured by GPA, participation in advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB), as well as performance on state-standardized tests or college entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT.

However, many freshmen who enroll in public Texas colleges and universities are placed into developmental (also known as remedial or pre-college) courses, a determination based on these and other test results. These courses do not typically earn college credit toward degrees but are usually required before students who are not considered “college ready” can begin college-level coursework. 

National data show this obstacle is shared by about a third of students nationwide. Students who are required to spend one to two years in developmental education before beginning college-credit-level coursework are less likely to graduate with a degree or certificate, and if they do, take significantly longer, incurring both financial and opportunity costs.¹ Other studies show that when colleges consider multiple measures (such as GPA, time between high school and college, or the number of courses on the subject a student has taken) to determine college readiness, students who would have been originally placed in developmental education but instead take college-level coursework immediately (or concurrently), their academic outcomes are better than if they only enrolled in developmental coursework, which calls into question the need for developmental education.² 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) offers a composite measure of College-Ready graduates that reflects the percentage of high school graduates who have met at least one of six criteria: (1) meeting the college-ready criteria on the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) Assessment (ELA/reading and math), SAT, ACT, or by successfully completing and earning credit for a college prep course; (2) earning a minimum of dual course credit hours; (3) passing at least one AP or IB exam; (4) earning an associate’s degree while in high school; (5) earning OnRamp course credits; or (6) a graduate who is identified as receiving special education who graduates under an Advanced Diploma Plan.

The share of high school graduates in Texas classified as college-ready by these criteria has ticked up over the last five years. The state average increased from 50% in 2018 to 62% in 2022-23, with the most significant increase occurring between 2022 and 2023. It is worth noting that the college-ready criterion specific to students receiving special education was not included prior to the 2022–23 school year. This additional criterion likely contributed to the increases in college-readiness rates.

Prior to 2023, there was more variation in college-readiness rates among all three Houston-area counties and the state, with Fort Bend County having the highest rates.

Between 2018 and 2022, college-readiness rates dipped by 8 percentage points in Fort Bend County and 4 percentage points in Montgomery County. College readiness in Harris County remained flat during the same period, never fluctuating  more than 1–3 points.

Between 2022 and 2023, college-readiness rates increased significantly by 12 points in Fort Bend County, 10 points in Montgomery County, and 9 points in Harris County and Texas. The definition of college readiness for the 2023 school year was updated to include an additional criterion. This likely contributed to the significant one-year increases in college-readiness rates. As of 2023, college-readiness rates are much similar across the counties and the state ranging from 61–64%.

SAT/ACT

For decades, the SAT (founded in 1926 and formerly known as the Scholastic Assessment Test) and the ACT (founded in 1959 and formerly known as American College Testing) have been used by four-year colleges and universities to inform admissions and scholarship decisions. However, in recent years, these tests have been less emphasized amid academic and legal claims that they disadvantage low-income, Black, Latino, and other students of color. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the availability of test-taking opportunities to such a degree that many universities adopted “test-optional” policies for 2021 and 2022, with some extending the policy into 2023. As of 2025, many universities considered more selective have reinstated requirements for students to submit ACT or SAT scores, although over 2,000 colleges are still test-optional. While their popularity in admissions decisions may be in decline, these tests continue to be used to evaluate the level of academic preparedness of students.

More than 400 school districts across the state participate in SAT School Day — when students can take the SAT on their high school campus during the school day, rather than on the weekend (which is typical) — at least once in the last five years.

Texans are much more likely to take the SAT than the ACT. According to the Texas Education Agency, nearly 280,000 graduates from Texas public and private high schools in 2023 took the SAT compared to 89,000 who took the ACT.  For students in the class of 2023, 71% took the SAT, compared to 50% nationally, and 23% took the ACT, compared to 37% nationally.

In 2023, about 90% of high school graduates in Fort Bend and Harris counties took either the SAT or ACT. Montgomery County participation rates are lower at about 73%, which lags Texas as well. After a decrease in SAT/ACT participation rates during the school years most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-21 and 2021-22), rates ticked up in 2023. Between 2018 and 2023, participation rates increased by 10 percentage points in Fort Bend County, 9 points in Montgomery County, and 3 points in Harris County.

The rate of examinees who score at or above criterion for the SAT or ACT tells a different story however. As participation in these tests increases, performance tends to decline. Between 2018 and 2023, the percentage of examinees who were at or above the score required to be considered college ready decreased 15 percentage points in Montgomery County, 14 points in Fort Bend County, 9 points across Texas, and 7 points in Harris County. Fort Bend and Montgomery counties historically have had the highest percentage of examinees who were at or above criterion while Harris County’s rate has been the lowest. As of 2023, college-readiness rates per the SAT/ACT  were 43% in Montgomery County, 39% in Fort Bend County, 29% across Texas, and 28% in Harris County.

Participation rates and performance vary considerably by gender, racial group and socioeconomic status. As with most racial/ethnic disparities in education, this is partly because of discriminatory practices that have existed since our nation’s founding (such as redlining and segregation), exacerbated by present-day imbalances (i.e., poverty, disinvestment in public schools).

Across all counties and the state, Asian-American students were the most likely to take the SAT or ACT while economically-disadvantaged students were the least likely.  The SAT/ACT participation rates by demographic groups vary the most in Montgomery County with only 60% of economically-disadvantaged students taking the SAT or ACT compared to 96% of Asian-American students.

Differences between demographic groups are much larger for SAT/ACT performance than participation. Participation rates across groups are usually apart by single-digit percentage points compared to the overall average. But when it comes to the percentage of students meeting the college-readiness benchmark, the gaps are often in the double digits. For example, in Fort Bend County, Black and Hispanic students meet the college-ready criteria for SAT/ACT performance at a rate 18 percentage points lower than all students in the county despite participating at lower rates.

Texas Success Initiative (TSI) Assessment

Students who enroll in public colleges and universities in Texas for the first time must take the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) Assessment unless they scored above a certain threshold on the ACT, SAT, or STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) exams; have military experience; are transferring from another higher education institution; or are enrolling in a certificate program that can be completed in less than a year.

Students who take the TSI Assessment must meet minimum standards in mathematics, writing and reading, which indicate they are prepared for freshman-level college coursework. Students who do not meet the benchmark on the TSI Assessment must work with an academic advisor and develop a plan to become classified as “college ready.”

About 56% of Texas high school graduates in 2022 who took the TSI Assessment met or exceeded the college-ready criteria in all areas, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).

Success rates in the three-county region and across Texas on the TSI Assessment increased from 2015 to around 2019 but then began to fall. Between 2015 and 2022, the percentage of graduates who met TSI minimum standards decreased the most significantly in Montgomery County by 12 percentage points, followed by Fort Bend County at 5 points, and Harris County and Texas at 3 points each.

Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have typically had higher TSI success rates while Harris County has typically had the lowest. As of 2022, the percent of graduates considered college ready through the TSI assessment was 65% in Fort Bend County, 57% in Montgomery County, 56% in Texas overall, and 54% in Harris County.

Significant disparities can be found in the TSI Assessment success rates across race/ethnicity in Texas — ranging about 40 percentage points — and these gaps have persisted over the past several years. This trend, sometimes referred to as the achievement gap, is actually an opportunity or access gap; it is primarily an extension of the extreme pre-existing differences in the delivery of pre-K through 12th grade education and its resulting disparities in academic outcomes.

College enrollment rates directly from Texas high schools have declined over the last decade

After two consecutive years (between 2020 and 2022) of declines in higher education enrollment nationally, we are seeing a rebound, with public 2-year and primarily associate-degree-awarding institutions seeing the greatest gains. Overall, college enrollment fell across the nation by about 3% in 2020 and 2021 and remained flat in 2022. Beginning in 2023, enrollment numbers began to tick back up increasing by 1.1% that year and then by 4.5% in 2024.

For public colleges and universities in Texas, the most recent data available at publication is for students who graduated in 2022 and enrolled in higher education the following fall. During this time, college enrollment numbers were still decreasing nationally. Across Texas and the Houston three-county region, college enrollment rates have been in decline over the last decade, mirroring national trends with particularly steep drops in fall 2020 (the pandemic’s peak). However, enrollment rates stabilized or showed modest increases in 2021 and 2022. Because students who go out-of-state or attend private universities are not trackable in this data set, this figure tells only part of the college-going story. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) estimates that about half of high school graduates are not tracked or identified in Texas’ public higher education system, suggesting they do not enroll or enroll out-of-state. An analysis from Texas A&M found that about 14% of students who enrolled in college immediately after graduation in 2022 went out of state. The percentage of high school graduates enrolled in Texas public higher education institutions has declined to 45% in 2022 from 50% in 2013.

Across Texas between 2019 and 2020, enrollment in 2-year colleges decreased by 4 percentage points while 4-year enrollment rates did not change. Between 2020 and 2022, enrollment rates in 2-year colleges stagnated while they ticked up slightly in 4-year colleges, which led to a gap of only 1 percentage point between 2-year and 4-year enrollment rates in 2022—the gap was 10 points in 2013. From 2013 to 2022, four-year university enrollment across Texas and Houston’s three-county region has remained relatively stable, consistently hovering around 20% of graduates, while two-year college enrollment tended to fluctuate more.

Among high school graduates in Fort Bend County, 2-year college enrollment dropped in 2020 and then leveled off, while 4-year enrollment remained steady. By 2022, 4-year enrollment reached 30% compared to 22% for 2-year colleges—making Fort Bend the only Houston-area county where more students choose 4-year institutions over community colleges. In Harris County, 2-year enrollment rates in fall 2022 were 25% compared to 19% for 4-year enrollment rates. In Montgomery County, 2-year and 4-year rates decreased by about the same amount in 2020 and increased by about the same amount in 2021. In 2022, 2-year enrollment rates were 26% while 4-year enrollment rates were 19%.

Between 2013 and 2022, overall college enrollment rates (combining 2- and 4-year enrollment) decreased by 8 percentage points in Fort Bend County, 6 points across Texas, 5 points in Harris County, and 3 points in Mongomery County.

College enrollment by race/ethnicity is available only at the state level. Texas high school graduates who identify as Asian American enroll in the state’s public four-year universities or two-year colleges at the highest rate among the four largest racial/ethnic groups (61%), and Black students have the lowest enrollment rates at 41%. Asian-American students have the highest rate of enrollment in 4-year universities (43%) and the lowest enrollment rates in 2-year colleges (18%). Hispanic students have the lowest enrollment rates in 4-year universities (18%) and the highest rate of enrollment in 2-year universities (25%).

Note: Educational outcomes vary significantly within the “Asian” category as the term includes a group of people who descend from about 50 different countries with distinct political and immigration histories. For example, according to a 2025 report from the Pew Research Center, 77% of Indian Americans and 58% of Chinese Americans have a bachelor’s degree compared to 20% of Bhutanese and 18% of Laotians.  Additionally, given that the general terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” are used to describe a group of people who originate from a wide variety of Spanish-speaking or Latin American countries, and who understand their identity in different ways, the diversity within that broad group can often go unnoticed. Similar to Asian Americans, the educational attainment varies within this broader group. The latest data available from the Pew Research Center shows that 57% of Venezuelans and 46% of Argentines have at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 13% of Salvadorans and 11% of Guatemalans.

Several factors contribute to a high school graduate’s decision to not enroll in a higher education program to which they have been accepted. Students may opt to attend a different higher education institution such as community college, a private university, or somewhere out of state, or to not enroll entirely — a phenomenon known as “summer melt.” Research shows that access to financial aid is among the largest factors that contribute to “summer melt,” and that targeting interventions for students who come from low-income backgrounds or racial/ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented and under-supported in higher education could have the most significant impact.^3,4,5

The share of Texas high school graduates who applied to in-state public four-year universities for the fall semester immediately following high school graduation reached a decade high in 2022, although not much progress has been made. The application rate grew 2 percentage points from 34% in 2013 to 36% in 2022.

Similarly, the college admission rate for this population ticked up in 2022 to 33% from 29% in 2013. We see a similar trend in the rate of college applicants who are accepted and enroll in a four-year university, increasing by only 1 percentage point between 2013 (20%) and 2022 (21%). Concerningly, the percentage of college applicants who were accepted to a four-year in-state public university but did not enroll increased from 9% in 2013 to 12% in 2022.

Low graduation rates from Texas colleges creates wide-ranging costs for the region

Completing college with a degree or certificate is important for both individuals pursuing higher education and the region at large. Students who finish college are more likely to work in jobs that earn livable wages and provide benefits, and be  civically engaged.⁹ Moreover, when students leave college without completing a degree, many are saddled with the debt without benefitting from the wage premium that higher education degrees typically provide. This double-negative situation where costs increase without improvement in earnings leads to a higher likelihood of defaulting on student loans, which jeopardizes future earnings, job and housing prospects; damages credit history and limits the ability to borrow money in the future; and hinders overall economic mobility and prosperity.⁶

Nationally, 49% of students who enroll full-time in a four-year university graduate within four years and about 65% graduate in six years (150% of normal time), though graduation rates at private nonprofit universities tend to be higher than at public universities. At two-year colleges, 34% of similar degree-seeking students finish with a credential within 150% of normal time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The following data shows the percentage of high school students who received a degree or credential from a public Texas four- or two-year college within eight years of their high school graduation. These data should be interpreted differently from the national graduation rates above: The national graduation rate is representative of the overall number of students who enroll in college whereas the Texas-related data below is representative of the number of graduating public high school students. It is for this reason the Texas “completion” rates are significantly lower than the national rates and should not be compared.

About 20% of students who graduated from a Texas public high school in 2016 (the most recent year for which there is complete data) received a degree from a public in-state four-year university within eight years of their high school graduation. Only about 10% of high school graduates in 2016 who earned a four-year degree finished within four years An additional 6% took five years, and 3% more took six years (150% of normal time) to finish a “four-year” degree.

About 11% of students who graduated from a Texas public high school in 2016 (the most recent year for which there is complete data) received a degree or certificate from a public in-state two-year college within eight years. For high school graduates who earn a two-year degree, 7% completed their degree within three to four years (150%-200% of normal time). For the high school class of 2016, about 3% of high school grads completed in two years or fewer (normal time) after high school graduation. An additional 3% took five to six years to finish a “two-year” degree. The traditional mission of community colleges is different from four-year universities as students typically hope to transfer from a two-year college to a four-year university, and they may or may not receive a credential on that path.

Too few eighth graders earn a college credential by the time they turn 25

Tracking the educational progress of eighth graders who attend Texas public schools shows that a small share ultimately received a college credential from a Texas higher education institution within six years of their projected high school graduation date, or by the time they are 25 years old.

Among Texas students who started eighth grade in 2012, 83% graduated from high school, 53% enrolled in a university or college in Texas, and only a quarter graduated with a post-secondary degree or credential within six years of completing high school.

What about the progress of Houston-area public school students going to college in Texas? Outcomes in Houston’s three-county region closely mirror that in the state. Nearly 74,000 eighth-graders were enrolled in Houston’s three-county region in 2012-13: about 7,700 in Fort Bend; 59,000 in Harris; and 7,300 in Montgomery

Students who live in Fort Bend County have had better outcomes than those in Texas and Harris and Montgomery counties. While students in Harris and Montgomery public schools have outcomes that are similar to the state average. In Fort Bend County, 34% of eighth-grade students earned a postsecondary degree or credential within six years of graduating high school compared to 24% in Harris County and 25% in Montgomery County.

As we’ve seen with other educational indicators, disparities exist across groups partly due to discriminatory practices that have existed since our nation’s founding which are exacerbated by present-day imbalances. Given this, Black and Hispanic eighth-grade students are less likely than their white peers to complete a post-secondary education within six years of graduating high school. In the Houston region, 16% of Black and 19% of Hispanic students in the eighth-grade cohort completed postsecondary education compared to 34% of white students.

Female students are more likely than their male classmates to earn a postsecondary degree by 9-12 percentage points across the three-county region and the state of Texas.

After decreases, the share of high school graduates classified as career or military ready has been increasing

Beyond the focus of college-ready graduates, the TEA also measures College, Career, or Military Readiness (CCMR). In 2019, Texas House Bill 3 established a CCMR outcomes bonus, which provides extra education funding to districts to offer students greater access to career opportunities, and more advanced career and technical education (CTE) courses to ensure that every child is prepared for success in college, career or the military. A graduate is considered CCMR if they meet at least one of 10 criteria, including one of the six college-ready criteria or one of the four career or military readiness criteria.

Of the nearly 380,000 Texas public high school graduates in 2023, over 287,000 (or 77%) demonstrated college, career, or military readiness. That was an increase of 11 percentage points from 2018.

The share of graduates classified as CCMR in each county of the region and the state ticked up between 2018 and 2019 but declined the following year in 2020. Rates mostly stagnated the following year (2021) but began to tick back up in 2022. As of 2023, the rate of CCMR high school graduates is higher than it was in 2018, except for in Fort Bend County. The CCMR rate increased by 9 percentage points in Harris and Montgomery counties and 11 points across the state of Texas since 2018. The percent of graduates classified as CCMR in 2023 was 70% in Fort Bend County, 74% in Harris County, 80% in Montgomery County, and 76% across the state of Texas.

Read about foundational academic readiness in early childhood education in Texas.

Career or Military Ready

While most post-secondary outcomes focus on higher education (“college ready”), Texas high schools can help students achieve alternative paths to employment. In 2019, Texas House Bill 3 took into account these alternatives when constructing the CCMR Outcomes Bonus awards.

According to the TEA, a high school graduate is considered career or military ready if they meet any of the four career or military readiness criteria: (1) earn an industry-based certification; (2) graduate with an individualized education program and demonstrated workforce readiness skills; (3) graduate with a level I or level II in a workforce education area; or (4) enlist in the armed forces.

The share of high school graduates who were designated as career or military ready over the past three years had a similar trend to that of CCMR. Students made progress between 2018 and 2019 but then fell further back in 2020.  Since then, these rates have increased in all regions except Fort Bend County (where more graduating students are classified as “college ready” than “career or military ready”). Rates of career or military readiness in each of the greater Houston region’s three counties and the state overall in 2023 were above where they were in 2018, increasing most significantly in Montgomery County by 18 percentage points. As of 2023, 43% of high school graduates in Montgomery County were considered career or military ready, compared to 36% across Texas, 35% in Harris County, and 20% in Fort Bend County.

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