Nearly 40 percent of students who started at a public two-year college completed their credential over a six-year period, according to a new report.
The 39.2 percent completion rate calculated by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center followed a fall 2012 cohort of students over six years. The figure includes full-time, part-time and mixed-time students.
More than a one-quarter (27.9 percent) of students from the cohort completed their credential at the same college, with 3.3 percent completing at a different two-year college and 8.1 percent completing a credential at a four-year institution, according to the center. About 15 percent were still enrolled in college, whether at their starting college or another one. About 46.2 percent were not enrolled at any higher education institution.
The report also examined states’ rates, with 24 surpassing the national average for public two-year colleges. In four states — Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota — more than half of public two-year college starters completed a credential in six years.
The center also looked at transfer students. Nationally, 16 percent of students who started at public two-year colleges transferred and completed a degree at a four-year institution, including those who did so with and without first earning a two-year credential. Again, it included full-time, part-time and mixed-time students.
In Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Kansas, one in five two-year public starters finished at a four-year institution in six years, according to the report.
