Queen Creek, Arizona — A decade after Arizona leaders set a goal that 70 percent of high school graduates would continue their education, the state's college-enrollment rate has moved in the opposite direction, falling to roughly 50 percent, according to an analysis by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
The investigative report, published July 1, found that only half of Arizona high school graduates pursue postsecondary education within a year of finishing high school, a three-point decline since the initiative began. The national average stands at 63 percent, federal data show.
Queen Creek, a community in the Phoenix metro area, is among the Arizona towns whose high school graduates are part of the statewide enrollment trend examined in the report. Arizona leaders set the 70 percent goal in 2016 for completion by 2030.
Arizona has poured at least $166 million into boosting college enrollment since 2017, the analysis found, funding programs that include the Arizona Promise Program, a scholarship covering tuition and fees at public universities for qualifying low-income students. Researchers and education leaders told the reporting center that the state lacks sustained funding and a central body to coordinate the work.
Researchers attributed the decline in part to growing skepticism about whether a degree is worth the cost, fueled by rising living expenses and rapid shifts in the job market, including the spread of artificial intelligence. A Gallup survey found just 35 percent of people consider a college education very important, down from 75 percent in 2010.
