Graduating Seniors Report 2024

As part of our goal to help the industry better understand its audiences, Carnegie holds a survey each year in May with its CollegeXpress users who are graduating high school and attending college in the fall. This year’s annual Graduating Seniors Report covers the opinions and perceptions of more than 3,000 students. Importantly, we released an earlier report in May that only included questions regarding FAFSA Delays.

The full report includes breakouts across 38 respondent categories based on demographics, student personality, and student behaviors. There are also 11 institutional breakouts so that data can be reviewed regarding students attending or intending to attend only the type of college or university most important to your institution.

Here are just a few of the key data insights found in this year’s report:

• Applications for respondents (7) were down from 2023 and continue to drop since a high mark in 2020 (9) while the acceptance rate (77%) is slightly up
• Student travel flexibility is up slightly, but two-thirds of respondents still preferred attending a college within 150 miles of where they went to high school
• The importance of learning about a passion dropped slightly from 2023, replaced with a few more pragmatic motivations; this was tied to frustrations with this cycle’s FAFSA issues
• Barriers to college attendance are down across almost all categories, except for students considering alternative educational options like coding camps or MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course).

For more key insights, recommendations from Carnegie’s strategists, and full demographic and institutional breakouts, download the report now.