This report provides information about the college access, enrollment, and degree completion outcomes for 10 consecutive cohorts of Baltimore City Schools graduates, or the classes of 2015 through 2024. It serves as a follow-up to BERC’s prior report of postsecondary data for the classes of 2011–2020 and other reports published since 2011.

The report contains three main sections, along with vignettes of several City Schools alumni sharing memorable experiences about their journey into college and words of advice for students and college access providers. The three main sections feature general enrollment trends (by cohort, by high school type, type of college where students enroll, and the most common college destinations); the process of applying to college (completing three or more applications, completing FAFSA, and incidence of summer melt); and finally, college degree completion within six years.

Much of the information in this report focuses on fall enrollment, i.e., the first fall after students’ high school graduation date. Although some graduates with college aspirations elect to take a gap year to work, travel, or consider their options, research has shown that first-fall enrollment is more strongly associated with degree completion (Bozick & Deluca, 2005; Goldrick-Rab & Han, 2011). Therefore, we focus on fall enrollment as a key outcome for college-bound students.

The reader should also note that enrollment and degree completion data in this report were derived from records that City Schools receives from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). Postsecondary institutions that participate with the NSC offer four-year degrees, two-year degrees (i.e., community colleges), and certificates achieved in less than two years, such as cosmetology, pharmacy tech, bookkeeping, etc. NSC records for shorter-term certificate programs were categorized together with two-year college enrollments and two-year degree completions, as these programs are typically offered at two-year colleges.