The national six-year completion rate for students who entered college in the fall of 2018 was 61.1%, according to data released last December from the National
Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC). This rate was the highest recorded among entering cohorts from 2007 to 2018. The 61.1% was a 0.5% increase from the previous year.
The increase was fueled by a decrease in student stopouts and improvements to public two-year postsecondary institutions. More than 2.3 million students entered a postsecondary institution for the first time in fall of 2018.
The eight-year postsecondary completion rate, 64.7% for the fall 2016 entering cohort, also rose to the highest level recorded by the NSCRC. The increase was due to improvements in the six-year completion rate (the percentage of students who completed
college in six or seven years decreased from 2007 to 2016).
Data from the NSCRC also showed that full-time students who started in fall of 2018 were more likely to earn a college degree, as 67.2% of students completed college within six years and only 25.4% of students dropped out. Part-time students who started
in fall of 2018 experienced 52.4% dropout rates and only 33.7% of part-time students in this cohort finished college within six years.
Four-year public, two-year public, and four-year private nonprofit institutions, specifically, saw increases in six-year completion rates from 2007 to 2018. In 2007, four-year public schools, two-year public schools, and four-year private nonprofit schools
saw 64.9%, 36.8%, and 71% completion rates, respectively. In 2018, 4-year public schools, 2-year public schools, and 4-year private nonprofit schools saw 70.7%, 43.4%, and 75.5% completion rates, respectively. Two-year public schools, more specifically,
saw a 6.6% increase in six-year completion rates.
Across most state lines, six-year completion rates for students who entered college in fall of 2018 remained consistent. Only 10 states saw completion rate improvements of 1% or more.
Unfortunately, the six-year completion rate for students aged 25 and older who entered in fall of 2018 decreased compared to the previous cohort. Additionally, students from higher income backgrounds had higher completion rates than students from lower
income backgrounds.
Over time, completion rates within Asian, Black, Latino/a, and white student communities rose. Only students of Asian descent from the lowest neighborhood income quintile saw a six-year completion rate above the national average. But almost all of the
largest ethno-racial communities from the highest neighborhood income quintile saw completion rates higher than the national average.
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