More students are graduating on time and with honors from Hawaii’s public schools, but the college enrollment rate remains flat at just 55%, according to a report released today.

Those who do go to college, though, are better prepared for college-level work, with fewer needing remedial classes. The data are in the latest statewide “College and Career Readiness Report” from Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education.

Altogether, 28% of the class of 2018 earned Honors Recognition Certificates, a big jump from 18% two years ago. They include honors in academics; career and technical education (CTE); or science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“We see more of our students graduating with honors, which means they are taking more rigorous courses and doing well in those courses,” said Stephen Schatz, executive director of Hawaii P-20. “It bodes well for them in their future.”

“I personally think our schools have done a great job of raising expectations for our students, and students are getting more and more excited about what they’re studying and what their careers may be,” he said.

The overall on-time graduation rate continued to tick upward for Hawaii’s public schools, reaching 84% statewide for the class of 2018, up from 82% in 2015 and 83% in 2016 and 2017.

The popularity of dual credit classes, which count for both high school and college, has shot up in recent years. Statewide, 18% of the class of 2018 had earned college credits before graduation, up from 10% in 2015.

And the data show that students entering UH from the public schools are better prepared and need less remediation. The rate of freshmen who enrolled in “below college-level” courses in English dropped to 12% for the c lass of 2018 from 25% three years earlier. The need for math remediation showed a similar decline, falling to 19% from 28%.

“We are thrilled to see that Hawaii’s public high school graduates are more prepared for college than ever,” said David Lassner, president of the University of Hawaii. “I encourage these high school graduates to consider which UH campus will help them meet their career goals.”

The percentage of graduates enrolling in college has been steady at 55% for the last three years, although the number of graduates entering college last fall did rise to 6,236 from 6,012 the previous year.

A booming economy typically lures more high school graduates to work rather than further education. Hawaii’s robust employment picture may be helping keep college enrollment rates from rising, and some students defer college so they can work and save up money for it.

Through Hawaii P-20 the University of Hawaii and the Department of Education have worked for a decade to strengthen the path from high school to college and careers. That includes offering college courses in high school, and policy changes, such as allowing freshmen to place into courses at UH based on their Smarter Balanced statewide test scores and achievements in high school.

“I think the really good news is that we track the data as these students progress in those courses, and they’re doing really well,” Schatz said.

The report spotlighted some high schools that have shown dramatic improvement in college-going rates and other indicators.

At Waiakea High School on Hawaii island, for example, 68% of the class of 2018 enrolled in college, up from 56% in 2016. Honors graduates made up 39% of the class in 2018, more than double the 16% with that distinction two years earlier.

“We make a concerted effort to push our kids to take higher-level courses, rigorous courses,” said Kelcy Koga, principal. “That’s the culture of the campus. We try as hard as we can to encourage our kids to experience real life.”

The school offers free college courses on its campus after school, with funding from P-20. Students take the classes on top of their regular high school load, Koga said.

“We’ve been trying as hard as we can to identify first-generation students, whose parents didn’t go to college,” Koga said. “That’s the ones we try to target.”

The full report can be found online at p20hawaii.org.