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

Among full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students who enrolled in 2-year institutions in 2019, 23 percent graduated within two years (100 percent of normal time), according to new postsecondary data. However, that rate rose to 40 percent when the time for graduation extended to four years (200 percent of normal time).  The National Center for Education Statistics released a provisional set of web tables on December 5 that contains data on Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2015-20; Outcome Measures for cohort year 2015-16; Student Financial Aid in Postsecondary Institutions, Academic Year 2022-23; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, fall 2023. Other findings include: Of the full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students enrolled in 2017 at 4-year institutions who were seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree, 65 percent completed a bachelor’s or equivalent degree within 6 years at the institution where they began their studies; Among full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students who enrolled in 2019 at less-than 2-year institutions, 38 percent graduated within 100 percent of the normal time. When that time span extended to within 200 percent, the graduation rate rose to 67 percent; For students whose entering year would be 2017 for students enrolled at a 4-year institution and 2020 for those students at 2-year institutions, they are considered completing an award if earned within 150% of the normal time of their program. Among full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students in the adjusted cohort, 495,000 (47 percent) of the 1.0 million who received a Pell Grant within their entering year completed an award, while 224,000 (64 percent) of the 351,000 who received a Direct Subsidized Loan but not a Pell Grant within their entering year completed an award, and 689,000 (62 percent) of the 1.1 million receiving neither a Pell Grant nor a Direct Subsidized Loan within their entering year 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 2022-23 academic year varied by institutional sector. For those attending public 4‑year institutions, average cost was $21,800 and net price was $13,200; for those attending private nonprofit 4-year institutions, average cost was $46,700 and net price was $23,900; and for those attending private for-profit 4-year institutions, average cost was $34,000 and net price was $27,100; For cohort year 2015-16, the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled full-time—but not for the first time—who completed an award within 8 years after entering the institution differed from the percentage of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students who completed an award at the same institution, by institutional control and level. For example, at 4-year public institutions, 66 percent of full-time, non-first-time students completed an award, compared with 60 percent of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students; The 1,904 Title IV institutions that do not have an open admissions policy received 13.9 million applications for fall 2023 admission. Of these, 8.1 million applications resulted in admission, and 1.7 million first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students enrolled. To view these tables and the corresponding data release memo, please visit https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/survey-components .