Rice University studies how HISD students fare six years after graduating

See which Houston high schools have the highest graduation rates. See which Houston high schools have the highest graduation rates. Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Rice University studies how HISD students fare six years after graduating 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

A new Rice University study is showing what happens to high school seniors in Houston's largest school district years after graduating.

According to the research report, which tracked the lives of three groups of HISD graduates, only 31 percent earned a degree within six years of high school.

In addition, researchers said they found a high rate of idleness, with one-third of the graduates neither studying nor working after high school.

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On the other hand, students who entered college immediately after high school saw higher rates of certificate, diploma and degree completion, the study showed.

To conduct the study, Rice University tracked high school seniors from the classes of 2006-08 using data provided by HISD.

One predictable finding from the research: College enrollment appeared out-of-reach for students with frequent absences and poor to mediocre test scores and grades.

Researchers also found a gap in college completion rates for students of different backgrounds.

"There are gaps across race and ethnicity but when you account for other background characteristics like limited English proficiency, socioeconomic status, achievements, school characteristics, a lot of those relationships disappeared and for blacks the relationships actually reversed," Brian Holzman, an author of the report, said in a news release.

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Researchers said HISD has since implemented and expanded its college advising program to help curb the gap.

You can read the full study here.

Above: See which Houston high schools have the highest graduation rates.

Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93.