A new study shows cause for optimism about college completion trends, though racial gaps persist.
According to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, completion rates rose in 43 states. The study analyzed state-level data from the last five cohort years in 45 states, echoing national trends from a report in December.
The executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Dr. Doug Shapiro, said two major factors account for the rise: students are getting younger and enrollment is growing leaner.
The report notes that adult learners, ages 25 and over, make up only 11.5% of the latest cohort, a percentage point below the class before. These students tend to have “more complex lives” with more responsibilities – jobs and families – and leave school at higher rates. So, a younger student body means more students stay, Shapiro said.
Simultaneously, as enrollment rates decrease across the country, “rather than go out and try and find new students … many colleges are finding that it makes more sense to expend more effort trying to hold on to the students that they have,” he added. “That’s actually good for students. Colleges are doing more to help them succeed.”
In the study, some states saw more success than others. Only Alabama and New Hampshire faced declining completion rates, while a group of eight states boasted the highest increases in these rates, a jump of about nine percentage points on average: Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, New York, California, Utah, Iowa, Nevada and North Carolina.
The data also shows some promising completion trends for non-traditional students. Adult learners, especially older Hispanic women, had higher completion rates than students in the traditional age group.
