The vast majority of Staples High School’s Class of 2025 graduates — 93.4% — headed to 4-year colleges.
Another 2.0% are in 2-year colleges. 1.4% took a gap year; 0.6% went to a college prep school; 1.0% are employed; 0.7% are engaged in career education, transition or other higher education; 0.4% entered the military. Just 0.4% were undecided, or had no reported plans.
The 5 most popular colleges for Class of 2025 graduates were the University of Connecticut (21 students, including Storrs and branches), Tulane University (11) and the Universities of Maryland, Michigan and Vermont (10 each).
Nearly 1 in 3 intended to study business or economics.
Those are some of the many takeaways from a 26-page report, presented Thursday to the Board of Education by director of school counseling William Plunkett. He was assisted by Sandra Zeigler, Staples’ college and career center coordinator,
The Class of 2025 graduated 6 months ago. Where are they now? (Photo/Ryan Allen)
While Westport-centric, the report noted national trends toward “increased pressures on colleges and scrutiny over holistic review practices, a growing emphasis on career readiness and fit to major, shifting values around higher education, the proliferation of AI, and further changes to standardized testing policies.”
Of the 93.4% enrolled in 4-year colleges, students applied to 369 different institutions — from nearby Fairfield University, to faraway Western Australia University. This fall, they enrolled in 153 of them.
June grads applied to an average of 8.12 colleges each. The overall acceptance rate of 61.5% was, the report says — Staples’ highest in over a decade.
Plunkett’s report says that “while national acceptance rates at the most selective colleges remain low, Staples students continue, by and large, to be accepted at rates at or above the national average.”
While the school counseling department encourages students to “broaden their thinking around fit and selectivity,” over half of “highly regarded colleges with favorable acceptance rates for students” appear in the best-selling book “Dream School.”
The report adds, “we remain mindful of the intense pressure many of our students and families face within the context of an ever-evolving, complex landscape of college admissions and highly competitive school and community.”
Other statistics:
- The colleges with the most applications: UConn (140), Indiana (83), Penn State (73), Wisconsin (66) and Colorado (62).
- 54% of ’25 grads are attending private schools; 43% are at public institutions. 3% study internationally.
- The mean composite ACT score was 29.1. The SAT mean total was 1239. The mean Advanced Placement score as 4.3, with 97% scoring 3 (out of 5) or higher.
- A total of 607 students — 84% of all those enrolled in AP courses — took the AP exam.
- Staples is among the top 10 schools in the state for participation in University of Connecticut Early College Experience courses.
- 54% of seniors completed the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). 28% applied for local or community scholarships.
- Intended areas of study include business and economics (32%), social sciences (20%), STEM (16%), undecided (15%), health and life sciences (10%), and humanities and the arts (7%).
- The top 5 individual majors are business, undecided, psychology, communications and political science.
- 14% of students in the Class of ’25 said they intended to play an intercollegiate sport. 6% said they applied to a visual or performing arts program.
- 43% of students submitted test scores to all college. 26% submitted to some colleges. 31% did not submit test scores to any college.
The report also included quotes from graduates, about the college process. Students said:
Try not to get caught up in competing with other people when applying to schools. It adds so much stress and at the end of the day the decision is only meant to satisfy yourself.
Work on college applications a little at a time and don’t get overwhelmed with trying to make it “perfect,” just make sure it sounds like you.
Self-care! Take a bath, listen to music, do things that make you happy in between moments of hard work and stress.
Just try to remember your grades and test scores don’t define who you are and at the end of the day everything turns out good for you as long as you show up and put your best work in with effort.
Plan ahead, get started over the summer, and set boundaries about when you talk about plans, be willing to tell people you don’t want to discuss them at this time.
Click here for a video of student voices.
Click here for the full report.
(Photo/Ryan Allen)
(“06880” regularly covers education in Westport — at all levels, and from all angles. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
We’re a privileged corner of the country where 46% of our graduates did not choose to add to the current $1.6T in Federal student loan debt.