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The Mobility of the LSAY Participants

Monday, December 14, 2009

When the LSAY began in 1987, the LSAY participants (grade 7 and grade 10) lived in 23 states.  By 2007, there was at least one LSAY participant in each of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Europe and East Asia. Overall, 71 percent of the LSAY participants lived in the same state in 2007 as they did in the 12th grade in high school (see Figure 1).

Participants who earned a Baccalaureate or graduate degree by 2007 were less likely to live in the same state (63 percent) than those with a high school diploma or less (77 percent). Males and females were equally likely to live in the same state. Participants with active service in the military were significantly less likely to live in the same state (54 percent) than those without active military service (73 percent).

Percent of LSAY Participants Living in Same State in Grade 12 and 2007

Figure 1: Percent of LSAY Participants Living in Same State in Grade 12 and 2007.


To assess the general mobility of the participants, we looked at the distance between each student’s current residence and the place that they lived in the 12th grade. Using GIS software, we computed the distance in miles. The results indicate that most of the 12th grade LSAY students have not moved far from their high school locale (see Figure 2). Over 60 percent of the LSAY participants live within 50 miles of their 12th grade home. Only 26 percent of the participants currently live more than 200 miles from their 12th grade home.

Figure 2: Distance Live from Grade 12 Home in 2007.


Prepared by Linda Kimmel and Marian Mitchell