How Many Somerville Graduates Attend College?
Somerville high school graduates have one of the lowest college attendance rates in the region, according to numbers from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Seniors at Somerville High School graduated earlier this month, and in August, many of them will be heading off to college.
We previously learned that just over half of Somerville residents have college degrees.
Just how many high school graduates in Somerville go to college? Where do they go, and how do their enrollment numbers compare to those in neighboring communities?
According to the latest figures available on the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website, which are from the 2009-2010 school year, Somerville had one of the lowest percentages of high school graduates attending college, at 64.8 percent.
Of communities in the Somerville region, only Everett and Chelsea had lower percentages of graduates going to college (58.2 percent and 57.6 percent, respectively).
Meanwhile, Somerville's immediate neighbors had higher percentages: Boston was 67.1 percent, Medford was 68 percent, Cambridge was 76.8 percent and Arlington was 81.3 percent. See the chart below.
The chart also shows what types of colleges Somerville graduates attended. Most, 36.4 percent, attended two-year public institutions. About 32.1 percent attended four-year private institutions, and 30.4 percent attended four-year public institutions.
See the chart below for percentages by city or town.
Figures are the most recent numbers available, from the 2009-10 school year, from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, showing high school graduates attending institutions of higher education.
| Community | Percent Attending Coll./Univ. | Percent Private Two-Year | Percent Private Four-Year | Percent Public Two-Year | Percent Public Four-Year |
| Arlington |
81.3 | 0 | 47.9 | 14.7 | 37.3 |
| Boston | 67.1 | 0.6 | 42.1 | 32.6 | 24.8 |
| Cambridge | 76.8 | 0 | 54.7 | 18.5 | 26.8 |
| Chelsea | 57.6 | 1.5 | 27.9 | 51.5 | 19.1 |
| Everett | 58.2 | 1.6 | 25.4 | 47.3 | 25.8 |
| Lynnfield | 86.8 | 0 | 50.3 | 15.9 | 33.8 |
| Malden | 72.8 | 1.5 | 36.3 | 36.3 | 26.0 |
| Medford | 68.0 | 0 | 35.5 | 30.3 | 34.2 |
| Melrose | 84.7 | 0 | 39.9 | 19.1 | 41.0 |
| Reading | 86.7 | 0 | 53.6 | 11.9 | 34.5 |
| Revere | 66.8 | 0.4 | 41.6 | 33.5 | 24.5 |
| Saugus | 71.8 | 0.8 | 33.8 | 26.9 | 38.5 |
| Somerville | 64.8 | 1.1 | 32.1 | 36.4 | 30.4 |
| Stoneham | 82.5 | 0 | 39.7 | 26.5 | 33.8 |
| Wakefield | 82.3 | 0 | 41.0 | 19.0 | 40.0 |
| Winchester | 83.7 | 0 | 65.7 | 4.2 | 30.1 |
| Winthrop | 77.8 | 1.1 | 41.8 | 16.5 | 40.7 |
| Woburn | 73.8 | 0 | 35.5 | 27.8 | 36.8 |
Steve S
5:08 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
The recent US News & World Report college edition reports that the graduation rate at Somerville High is 81% and that 77% of the grads go on to college. I'm not sure where they (US News) got their data, but that's significantly better than the 65% reported in 2009-2010. So, either there was major improvement in the past 2 years or their numbers are off.