Massachusetts High School Cohort Progression to College

Massachusetts data tracks cohorts of public high school students through graduation, immediate college enrollment, persistence to a second year, and degree completion. The dataset is published by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as part of its District Analysis and Review Tools (DARTs). It was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between student group (STU_GRP) and graduation rate (GRAD_PCT) using logistic regression.
• Model college persistence (PERSIST_PCT) as a function of district (DIST_NAME) and cohort year (COHORTYR).
• Compare the degree completion rate (OBTAINDEGREE_PCT) across different indicators (INDICATOR) for tracking progress to a second year versus full completion.
• Forecast future college enrollment (IMMEDIATEENR_CNT) trends by district using time-series analysis on COHORTYR.

Strengths

• Contains 18 distinct columns for detailed cohort breakdowns.
• Data is part of an official state accountability tool (DART) with a dashboard companion.
• Tracks two key outcome indicators: progression to second year and degree completion.

Limitations

• Sample size (row count) and total cohort counts are unknown.
• Geographic scope is limited to Massachusetts public schools, limiting national generalizability.
• Data freshness is unclear as the 'last updated' date is in the future (2026-03-03), suggesting potential metadata error.

Provenance

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (educationtocareer.data.mass.gov).

Collection Method

Administrative data collection from Massachusetts public school districts.

Geography

Massachusetts, United States.