Yearly Progress and Completion

December 4, 2024

This new report contains many elements previously published in the NSC Research Center’s primary reports focused on student progress toward credential attainment, Yearly Success and Progress and Completing College. The purpose of this new report is to combine the year-over-year look at a cohort’s journey toward completion (Yearly Success and Progress) with the in-depth analysis of six-year and eight-year cohort completion rates (Completing College) into an interactive dashboard. It also expands on these reports with additional variables and levels of disaggregation (see Methodological Notes: What’s New and Improved).

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.

The longitudinal data dashboards include the yearly progress and completion data for fall starters who entered postsecondary education over twelve cohorts (2007 to 2018). To be included, students must have enrolled full-time or part-time at any U.S. degree-granting institution. Enrollment time-type in this report refers to enrollment status when enrolling in college for the very first time.

The completion rates account for all students who enter postsecondary education for the first time each year, enrolling full-time or part-time at two-year or four-year institutions, and completing at any U.S. degree-granting institution. The results include those who complete after transfer, not just completions at the starting institution.

Highlights

Highest Six-Year Completion Rate: The national six-year completion rate for the fall 2018 cohort was 61.1 percent, the highest six-year completion rate of the cohorts tracked in this report. This year’s six-year completion rate grew over the last cohort (+0.5 pp) thanks to a decrease in students stopping out (-0.4 pp; 30.2%) and was mainly driven by improvements in the public 2-year sector (+1.2 pp; 43.4%).
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 fall 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 ten states seeing improvements of one percentage point or more.
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, in every year, students from more affluent neighborhoods had sharply higher completion rates than those from lower income backgrounds.