About 9% had received a certificate, 9% had received an associate’s degree, and 31% had received a bachelor’s degree within 6 years from any institution…Another 15% had not yet received a degree but were…enrolled at some institution (7% at a four-year institution and 8% at a less-than-four-year college), while an another 35% had not received a degree and were not enrolled at any institution.
December 22, 2010
College Graduation Rates Can Be Misleading
College and university graduation rates typically only count students who enter and graduate from the same institution. For instance, students who transfer from one school and graduate from another are often not counted in the second school’s graduation rate. But a new report from the U.S. Department of Education looks at college completion from the student’s perspective, measuring the percentage of students who earned a degree or credential from any institution within six years of starting college. The study reports data from the group of students who began college in 2003-04. Here is an excerpt from its findings about students who began college that year:
About 9% had received a certificate, 9% had received an associate’s degree, and 31% had received a bachelor’s degree within 6 years from any institution…Another 15% had not yet received a degree but were…enrolled at some institution (7% at a four-year institution and 8% at a less-than-four-year college), while an another 35% had not received a degree and were not enrolled at any institution.
About 9% had received a certificate, 9% had received an associate’s degree, and 31% had received a bachelor’s degree within 6 years from any institution…Another 15% had not yet received a degree but were…enrolled at some institution (7% at a four-year institution and 8% at a less-than-four-year college), while an another 35% had not received a degree and were not enrolled at any institution.
