Three Stats Highlight the Ambition-Access Gap in U.S. High Schools 

By Brennan LaBrie

There’s a troubling and persistent gap in high schools nationwide — between student ambition and access to academic opportunities.  

Many students aspire to earn a college degree, yet aren’t in the classes that put them on track to college success.  

Three stats highlighting the ambition-access gap: 

In our 2024/25 surveys of 270,000 students nationwide, we identified three data points that illuminate this ambition-access gap:

• 89%: The percentage of students surveyed who want to attend college.

• 38%: The percentage of these students who are enrolled in advanced courses.

• 16%: The percentage point gap between educators estimation of how many students want to go to college (73%) and the 89% that actually do.   

Digging into the ambition-access gap:  

Advanced courses like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment and the Cambridge AICE certificate, are fundamental pathways to college success for many reasons. 

Here are just a few of their benefits: 

• They introduce students to the rigor and expectations of college classes 

• They instill confidence in students that they can handle college-level curriculum.

• The chance to knock out college credits — saving students and their families thousands of dollars

• They allow students to explore potential majors and careers, saving them time and money in college. 

In every school in the U.S., there are students with high potential and aspirations who are overlooked for these opportunities.  

But why? 

Ambition isn’t the problem. Access is.

Ambition isn’t the problem. After all, 89% of students say they want to attend college. However, they might not realize the role that advanced courses play in helping them reach that goal — or they’re intimidated by the challenge of rigorous curriculum. 

This is where educators come in — to point students towards academic opportunities and offer them encouragement and support to take on the challenge.  

The perception gap fuels the access gap — and creates gatekeeping

Stat 3: 16%

The 16,500 teachers and counselors we surveyed in 2024/25 estimated that 73% of their high school students aspire to earn a college degree. The problem? 89% of students reported college aspirations. This means there is a gap of 16 percentage points between students and teacher perception of college aspirations.

This perception gap has major implications for advanced course enrollment.  

• Fewer students recommended: Many schools have recommendation-based systems for enrollment, and both teachers and counselors are less likely to suggest students for college-prep courses who they don’t believe have postsecondary ambitions. 

• Over-reliance on specific metrics: Teacher perceptions often stem from academic performance. While these metrics matter, they are insufficient in telling a student’s full story.  Educators may write off a student who is struggling or not applying themselves in class as not “ready” for the rigor of advanced coursework — creating a barrier to the rigor that actually helps to boost readiness.  

Closing the Gap

Adult encouragement is the biggest barrier to advanced course enrollment reported by students we survey. This is a powerful insight, because it tells us how the ambition-access gap can be closed.  

An adult identifying a student with college aspirations and encouraging them to enroll in advanced courses — regardless of academic performance — can provide the boost of confidence a student needs to reach their full potential.  

Learn more about the ambition-access gap, and how educators can close it, in our new report.

Brennan LaBrie helps amplify the work, mission, and impact of the EOS team and our partners across the education landscape. With a background in local journalism, he seeks to share the stories of individuals and organizations driving impact in their community and beyond.