More First-Year College Students Return for Second Year; Fewer Students Graduate in Five Years
April 26, 2001
| Special Note: Updated charts with 2001 data are now available online. |
| Note to Editors: One challenge for colleges is that many first-year students don't return for their second year. Another is the length of time it takes students to earn degrees. This release reports changes in college return and graduation rates. ACT annually averages the data for public and private institutions according to degrees offered and levels of selectivity. Reports for 1997–2000 are accessible online. Those for earlier years are available by mail or fax. |
IOWA CITY, Iowa—The percentage of first-year college students who return for their second year has increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to a report from ACT. This trend suggests that new college students may be better prepared academically or financially, better able to cope with campus life, or enrolling in more courses at their level of readiness.
But at the other end of the college experience, the percentage of undergraduates completing bachelor's degrees within five years has fallen to a new low.
The latest overall return rate for first-year students at four-year institutions is 74.2 percent, more than one percentage point above the low mark recorded in 1996. At public colleges, 72.1 percent of first-year students return for their second year, the highest on record. The rate at private colleges remains 75.1 percent, one full point above the low percentage reached in 1996.
Various factors—academic, financial, familial and social—enter into the decision not to return. The decision to not return for a second year may also be due to a transfer to another institution, or a decision to "stop out" and take a break from studies.
"About two-thirds of high school graduates now go directly to higher education," said Wes Habley, director of the ACT Office for the Enhancement of Educational Practices, "but some of them aren't prepared—whether academically, financially or socially—to succeed. Unless they're offered and take advantage of course-placement recommendations and participate in developmental courses and other support services, they can quickly find themselves in over their heads.
"Lately, more colleges report that they're addressing retention problems head-on with increased academic support, improved academic advising and the development of first-year seminars and learning communities," Habley said. "The improved return rates of the last few years may be due to these efforts."
Five-Year Graduation Rate Continues to Fall
Although more students are remaining where they first enroll, the percentage earning a bachelor's degree within five years continues to slip and is now at 51.2, four-tenths of a percent below the figure reported last year. College officials use the term "persistence" in describing the ability of a student to make progress toward graduation, and colleges often develop programs to support student persistence.
The graduation rate is considerably higher at private colleges; however, the trend for two decades has been a steady decrease at both public and private institutions. The rate at which public-college students graduate within five years has dropped to 41.9 percent, while the private rate has slipped to 55.5 percent. All figures are record lows.
"Some students aren't prepared for the rigors of college-level coursework," said Habley. "It is among the factors most influencing the decline in graduation rates because it requires students to take more courses in college just to get up-to-speed." In addition, students may take additional time identifying a college major which lengthens the sequences of courses they must take.
Finally, economic factors can play a significant part in the length of time it takes students to complete a bachelor's degree. "Students may need to hold a job, and that can reduce the number of credit hours they take," said Habley. "Part-time enrollment tends to lengthen the average time students take to complete their degrees. During the tight labor market of the past few years, some have postponed their studies to take advantage of jobs offering good salaries, particularly in high-tech fields."
Rates of Return and Graduation Continue to Decrease at Two-Year Colleges
Unlike four-year institutions, two-year colleges are not seeing an increase in their first to second-year return rate. The rate at which first-year students at all two-year colleges return for the second year is down one-half of one percent—to a record low of 54.6 percent. The return rate at public two-year colleges has also reached a new low of 52 percent.
Public two-year institutions report that the percentage of students earning an associate degree or diploma within three years has decreased to 32.4 percent, while private two-year colleges report their percentage is now down to 60.1. The figures from all institutions combine for a new record-low completion rate from two-year colleges of 37 percent.
"In the strong job market, many two-year colleges have focused on preparing students to earn certificates that require less than two or three years of study," Habley said. "The drop in the completion rate may reflect this."
The average age of a community college student is 29 and a significant number of these attend college part-time, suggesting that these students have many competing priorities in their lives—family, jobs, debts, etc.—which may also cause them to take more time in completing a degree.
"In the final analysis, the trends in second year return rates and five-year graduation rates tell us that it is definitely not 'business as usual' for college students," said Richard Ferguson, president of ACT. "Thinking of a college degree as a four-year process, moving in lockstep from freshman through senior years may be more a part of our past than our future."
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