College Completion Rates Edge Upward

Six-Year Completion Rates Reach 61.1 Percent, the Highest Rate of the 12 Years Tracked

HERNDON, VA – (DECEMBER 4, 2024) – After several years of stalled progress in the national college completion rates, there are promising signs of improvement in the percentage of college students who are earning credentials within a six-year period, according to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

The Yearly Progress and Completion report found that, most notably, 61.1 percent of the learners who began college in the fall of 2018, the most recent cohort tracked, earned a credential within six years. This is the highest six-year completion rate of the 12 cohorts tracked for this report.

“Higher completion rates are welcome news for colleges and universities still struggling to regain enrollment levels from before the pandemic,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.  “Even as fewer students are starting college this fall, more of those who started back in 2018 have stayed enrolled through to the finish.”

The six-year college completion rate edged upward this year (+0.5 pp). The improvement is due to a decrease in the share of students stopping out (-0.4 pp; 30.2%) and was mainly driven by more students completing college in the public 2-year sector (+1.2 pp; 43.4%).

This is the first report in the annual Yearly Progress and Completion series, a new report series containing elements previously published in the Yearly Success and Progress and Completing College reports. This report reflects data quality and methodology enhancements that enable the Clearinghouse to leverage more of its longitudinal data to accurately identify and evaluate first-time in college individuals. This report re-states the historical trend for the six- and eight-year college completion rates nationally and by state by tracking the enrollment and completion outcomes starting with the fall 2007 cohort of beginning college students.

Highlights of the report include:

• Eight-Year Completion Rate Trends: The eight-year completion rate for the cohort starting in fall 2016 reached 64.7 percent, also the highest of the cohorts tracked. This increase is due to improvements in the six-year completion rate, as the share of additional completers in years seven and eight declined over time (-1.3 pp compared to the fall of 2007).
• Impact of Enrollment Status: Full-time students from the fall 2018 cohort were significantly more likely to earn a degree, with 67.2 percent completing by year six and only 25.4 percent stopping out. In contrast, students who started attending part-time had a much higher stop-out rate (52.4%) and a much lower completion rate (33.7%) by year six.
• State-Level Variations: Six-year completion rates for the fall 2018 cohort remained stagnant for most states, with only 10 states seeing improvements of one percentage point or more. Of the 50 states, Alaska continues to have the lowest completion rate (35.1%), while Rhode Island has the highest (72.2%)
• Student-Level Characteristics: The six-year completion rate for students aged 25 or older declined compared to the previous cohort (-0.7 pp; 37.8%). At every income level, every year, students from more affluent neighborhoods had sharply higher completion rates than those from lower-income backgrounds.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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