Postsecondary Graduation Rates, Outcome Measures, Student Financial Aid, and Admissions

About 22 percent of first-time full-time students who enrolled in 2-year institutions in 2015 graduated within two years (100 percent of normal time), according to new postsecondary data. However, that rate jumped to 40 percent when the time for graduation was extended to four years (200 percent of normal time).  The National Center for Education Statistics released a set of web tables today (October 14) that contains data on Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2012-17; Outcome Measures for cohort year 2012-13; Student Financial Aid in Postsecondary Institutions, Academic Year 2019-20; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2020. The findings are from the winter data collection of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). These tables include data from the 2019-20 academic year, cohorts that ended prior to Fall 2020, and admissions data from Fall 2020. This is important to note as these data represent educational decisions and outcomes about how postsecondary education is delivered that occurred before the coronavirus pandemic. Other findings include: Approximately 64 percent of full-time, first-time students enrolled in 2014 at 4-year institutions who were seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree completed a bachelor’s or equivalent degree within 6 years at the institution where they began their studies; Among full-time, first-time students who enrolled in 2015 at less-than 2-year institutions, 44 percent graduated within 100 percent of the normal time. When that time span was extended to within 200 percent, the graduation rate rose to 70 percent; Among full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students in the adjusted cohort, approximately 506,000 (45 percent) of the 1.1 million who received a Pell Grant completed an award, while about 226,000 (63 percent) of the 358,000 who received a Direct Subsidized Loan but not a Pell Grant completed an award, and about 655,000 (61 percent) of the 1.1 million receiving neither a Pell Grant or a Direct Subsidized Loan completed an award; Among full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students awarded any grant aid, differences in average cost of attendance and net price of attendance for the 2019-20 academic year varied by institutional sector. For those attending public 4-year institutions, average cost was approximately $20,700 and net price was about $12,800; for those attending nonprofit 4-year institutions, average cost was roughly $43,700 and net price was about $23,300; and for those attending for-profit 4-year institutions, average cost was approximately $30,700 and net price was about $23,800; For cohort year 2012, the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled full-time—but not for the first time—who completed an award 8 years after entering the institution differed from the percentage of full-time, first-time undergraduate students who completed an award at the same institution, by institutional control and level. For example, at 4-year public institutions, approximately 62 percent of full-time, non-first-time students completed an award, compared with 58 percent of full-time, first-time students; The 1,926 Title IV institutions that do not have an open admission policy received approximately 11.6 million applications for fall 2020 admission.  About 7.0 million of these applications resulted in admission, and around 1.6 million students enrolled.   To view these tables and the corresponding data release memo, please visit https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/survey-components