Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN – Less than a third of Texas students complete high school with the necessary knowledge and skills to attend a four-year college, according to a national study released Tuesday by a conservative think tank, which also pegged the state's actual graduation rate at 68 percent.

The New York-based Manhattan Institute found that just 32 percent of Texas students from the Class of 2002 were ready to take college-level classes, a percentage that ranked Texas 36th among the 50 states. New Jersey ranked first at 45 percent, and Alaska was last at 27 percent.

The percentages were calculated based on graduation rates for each state, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and an NAEP survey of high school coursework for students in each state. Students deemed ready for college had to have four years of English, three years of math and two years each of science, social studies and foreign language.

The authors of the study, Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, said many parents are surprised to learn that a student can graduate from high school and still lack the necessary academic qualifications to attend a state college or university.

"The minimum standards for earning a high school diploma are often lower than those required to enter even a minimally selective four-year college," the study said.

College readiness levels were lowest for minority students. According to the study, 25 percent of black students and 23 percent of Hispanics in Texas were found to have the minimum skills necessary for college. Those figures were slightly above the national averages for blacks and Hispanics.

For white students, 40 percent in Texas and across the nation were considered ready to handle college work, according to the institute study.

The study also questioned the accuracy of graduation rates and dropout data reported by states and school districts. Although the Texas Education Agency reported a graduation rate of 83 percent for the Class of 2002, the Manhattan Institute researchers said the figure is actually 68 percent in Texas, based on their calculations.

Texas ranked 34th with its graduation rate and was below the national average of 71 percent. The highest state was New Jersey at 89 percent, and the lowest was South Carolina at 53 percent. The rates were calculated based on the number of ninth-grade students who graduated after four years of high school.

Based on the data, the researchers said there was "very little difference" between the number of students who graduate from high school ready to go to college and the number of students who enroll in college for the first time.

"Nearly all students who are minimally qualified to enroll in college already do so," the study said. "The findings indicate that in order to substantially increase the number of students who attend college, we must improve the K-12 education system so that it produces more students who leave high school with the qualifications necessary to enroll."

Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said that is exactly what was intended when the state last fall began requiring high school students to take the "recommended" program – a college preparatory plan that includes more science and social studies courses as well as two years of foreign language.

Ms. Shapiro said lawmakers this session will be focusing on the problem of college readiness for high school students when they consider a series of school reforms.

"We have a long way to go in Texas. We know we've got to do something about it soon," she said.