College Completion Declining, Taking Longer, Study Shows
LOS ANGELES
Fewer students today are completing college in four years than was the case a decade ago, according to a new national study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
“Degree Attainment Rates at American Colleges and Universities,” prepared by education professor Dr. Alexander W. Astin and doctoral student Leticia Oseguera, found that among freshmen that entered baccalaureate-granting colleges in fall 1994, only 36.4 percent were able to complete their bachelor’s within four years. That compares to 39.9 percent a decade earlier and 46.7 percent in the late 1960s. The degree-completion rate jumps by nearly two-thirds, to 58.8 percent, for students taking six years to complete college, and to 61.6 percent when including those enrolled after six years are counted as “completers.”
The data also shows degree-completion rates varying substantially across race and gender lines, as well as by the type of institution attended. The highest four-year completion rates are enjoyed by Asian-American (38.8 percent) and White (37.6 percent) students, while the lowest rates occur among underrepresented groups: Mexican Americans (21.3 percent), American Indians (21.6 percent), Puerto Rican Americans (23.6 percent) and Blacks (28.9 percent).
