Community colleges continue to be a popular destination for former college students who didn’t earn a credential but have returned to college, according to a new report. That goes for so-called “some college, no credential” (SCNC) students who previously attended community colleges and public four-year institutions.
“Almost across the board, the No. 1 destination is a community college, regardless of where they dropped out/stopped out of,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which produced the annual report on SCNC learners.
Community colleges are the most common type of institution of last enrollment, re-enrollment and first credential attainment for SCNC students, according to the report. Across all re-enrollment pathways, students who returned to the community college they last attended comprised the largest share (24.7% or 213,500), a trend the center noted was consistent with previous years. Recent stop-outs were even more likely to return to the same community college.
For students who did not return to the institution of last enrollment (61.2%), about 41% returned to a different sector, with community colleges and primarily online institutions being the two most popular re-enrollment destinations, according to the report. Among returning students who last attended a community college, 46.8% (124,553) enrolled at a community college again. Among SCNC students who last attended a public four-year college, 44.4% (45,775) enrolled at a community college.
Increases in short-term certificates
The overall SCNC population continued to grow, adding another 1.4 million students in the 2020-21 academic year, bringing the total to 40.4 million. These students have left college and stopped out for at least 18 months without earning a credential. There were 2.3 million new stop-outs compared to last year’s report, and 80,000 fewer students re-enrolled.
Outcomes declined as well. Among those who re-enrolled, 7,000 fewer learners completed a credential, and 23,000 fewer stayed re-enrolled into their second year. Short-term certificate earners increased more than associate and bachelor’s degree earners, with certificates accounting for 42.1% of all completers, up 7.1 points from a year ago, according to the report.
Shapiro noted that those under age 35 are most likely to re-enroll. And he also observed that the SCNC population is more diverse than the current undergraduate population. It’s more Black, Hispanic and Native American, he said.
“This population represents a certain level of opportunity for states and institutions that are looking to increase college enrollment and college attainment rates, particularly to reduce equity gaps among college-degree recipients,” he said during a press call on Monday.
Beneficial behavior
SCNC students differentiate from other adult learners in two key ways, said Mikyung Ryu, the center’s director of research publications. The first is that SCNC students don’t move much after they return — they tend to stay put until they earn their credential. That has an effect on the second point: they complete more quickly, and they are less likely to lose credits.
For many students who return to college, they earn a credential in the same year they enroll, Ryu said. She noted the median time to complete an associate degree for those students is only four months, and it’s only slightly longer for those seeking a baccalaureate.
“That’s quite an impressive progress and success rate,” she said.
