Dive Brief:
- A study of students who started two- or four-year higher education programs in 2008 found that their six-year completion rate dropped, to 55% from 56.1% one year earlier.
- The lower completion rates for the 2008 student group was attributed partly to the Great Recession, and the associated cuts in state aid for public schools and concerns for students about affordability and financial aid availability.
- The study, by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, showed that most of the decline in completion rates in 2008 was among students who were 20 years old and older.
Dive Insight:
For students who enrolled right after high school in full-time programs in 2008, the six-year completion rate was virtually unchanged from the 2007 group. The six-year completion rate for students in four-year for-profit schools dropped to 38.4% for the 2008 cohort from 42.3% for 2007. But many of the for-profit school students may not have been seeking a degree in the first place, with older students returning to school from the workforce for training or skills to improve their employment status. The number of students enrolling in four-year for-profit schools increased by 35% from 2007 to 2008. The economic recovery could have also played a role in the overall completion rate decline, with students leaving for-profit schools to return to the workforce as employment prospects improved.