Persistence and graduation indicators of postsecondary students by parental income, 2012/2013 entry cohort

This fact sheet uses longitudinal data combining information from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) with data from the T1 Family File (T1FF) to explore the association between parental income and the pathways of young adults in postsecondary education for new students in the 2012/2013 academic year. Students from low-income families have previously been shown to have lower rates of educational access and attainment. The fact sheet focuses on persistence and graduation indicators, which are now released annually, and furthers the analysis of these indicators by adding a parental income quartile dimension.

Overall, the findings provide the following insights: (1) students in the highest parental income quartile remained enrolled (persisted) and graduated at higher rates than students from the lowest parental income quartile for all selected educational qualifications and groupings; and the differences in indicators by the level of parental income were more notable for the graduation rates than for the persistence rates; and (2) for students who graduated, those in the highest parental income quartile graduated as fast or faster than students in the lowest parental income quartile for all selected educational qualifications and groupings, though these differences were generally small. These findings are consistent with similar studies regarding postsecondary experiences of students by socioeconomic status.

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