National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Releases New Data on Postsecondary Graduation Rates, Outcome Measures, Student Financial Aid, and Admissions

Below, find the full text of a National Center for Education Statistics “Newsflash”  (e-mail only) with some of the findings from today’s data release.

From NCES:

21 percent of first-time full-time students who enrolled in 2-year institutions in 2013 graduated within two years (100 percent of normal time), according to new postsecondary data. However, that rate jumped to 39 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, 2011-16; Outcome Measures for cohort year 2011-12; Student Financial Aid in Postsecondary Institutions, Academic Year 2018-19; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2019. The findings are from the winter data collection of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). These tables include data from the 2018-19 academic year, cohorts that ended prior to Fall 2019, and admissions data from Fall 2019. 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 63 percent of full-time, first-time students enrolled in 2013 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, 46 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 508,000 (44 percent) of the 1.1 million who received a Pell Grant completed an award, while 227,000 (63 percent) of the 362,000 who received a Direct Subsidized Loan but not a Pell Grant completed an award, and 641,000 (60 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 2018-19 academic year varied by institutional sector. For those attending public 4-year institutions, average cost was approximately $20,400 and net price was about $12,600; for those attending nonprofit 4-year institutions, average cost was roughly $42,500 and net price was about $23,000; and for those attending for-profit 4-year institutions, average cost was approximately $29,800 and net price was about $23,100;
• For cohort year 2011-12, the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled full-time—but not for the first time—who completed an award at the same 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 for-profit institutions, approximately 36 percent of full-time, non-first-time students completed an award compared with 31 percent of full-time, first-time students.
• The 1,947 Title IV institutions that do not have an open admission policy received approximately 11.5 million applications for fall 2019 admission.  About 6.6 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

Filed under: Awards, Data Files, Funding, News