Despite heavy emphasis from the State Board of Education to improve Idaho’s go-on rate, the number of Idaho high school graduates who go on to college has fallen sharply.

It’s the second year in a row that effort has headed in the wrong direction.

According to the Education Analytics System of Idaho, the percentage of students who immediately enrolled in college after high school graduation decreased from 50 percent to 48 percent between 2013 and 2015, and then fell to 44 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available.

This is worrisome, education officials agree, considering in 2010, the state set a goal that 60 percent of Idaho citizens between ages 25 and 34 will have a postsecondary education degree or certificate by 2020.

An Idaho Education News article reported the State Board of Education reviewed the data at its meeting Wednesday.

“Nobody explained why the rate dropped so dramatically between 2013 and 2015,” the article stated, “...despite all the attention, effort and funding investment in go-on programs and dual credit courses.”

Post Falls School District Superintendent Jerry Keane told The Press that go-on rates are complicated.

“There is very little doubt that the lower state rate has something to do with the economy,” he said. “I don’t think the efforts to help students go on have been wasted... Other variables may be that younger folks are delaying further education to pursue other interests.”

He said the Post Falls High School graduation rate is currently 93.3 percent. He also said more are getting college credit while in high school, often through dual credit courses.

The high school also has two “Near Peers,” recent college graduates who help students navigate getting into post secondary education.

The Coeur d’Alene School District has similar resources for students looking to continue their education after high school.

Both Lake City High School and Coeur d’Alene High School have a college and career counselor, both of whom also serve Venture High School. Between the two counselors, each high school student in the district is seen each year. The counselors work with students on their four-year plan and help direct them to post-secondary schools that might fit their needs and interests.

The district also boasts growing advanced placement and dual enrollment numbers. According to the district’s director of curriculum and assessments, Mike Nelson, 22 percent of high school seniors and 20 percent of juniors are taking at least one “college-bearing” course.

Despite all the hard work by local districts, Graydon Stanley, North Idaho College vice president for student services, said he isn’t surprised the go-on rate has dropped. He said that fact is reflected in decreased enrollment across the state.

Stanley said NIC’s enrollment has dropped about 23 percent over the past three years.

“Go-on rates are directly linked to the availability of employment,” he said. “There are jobs everywhere and the immediate prospect of getting a job and making money is more important to some than putting in time to eventually develop a career.”

Unlike other colleges, Lewis-Clark State College is reporting an 8 percent spike in enrollment this year. According to the school’s communications director, Logan Fawler, the increased enrollment is due to the school’s effort to make college more accessible, especially to first-generation college students.

He said the college strives to maintain low tuition rates and its  teachers “pride themselves in taking students from where they are and bring them to where they need to be.”

He said 70 percent of enrollment is first-generation college students.