The Persistence and Retention report series examines first-year persistence and retention rates for beginning postsecondary students. Persistence rate is measured by the percentage of students who return to college at any institution for their second year, while retention rate is by the percentage of students who return to the same institution.…

As the ninth in the "Completing College" series, the report presents the latest information on the six-year completion outcomes of the fall 2014 cohort of beginning college students, nationally and by state, and the eight-year completion outcomes of the fall 2012 cohort of beginning students, through June 2020. The national completion…

About 30 percent of California's future jobs will require some training beyond high school but less than a four-year college degree. And in today's economy, jobs that offer family-supporting incomes often require some postsecondary education. Career education prepares students for these "middle-skill" jobs by providing occupation- and…

In a year that has upended higher education and created great uncertainty, it is more important than ever for students to understand which colleges payoff and how quickly. In April of 2020, Third Way released a report outlining the use of a Price-to-Earnings Premium (PEP) to evaluate the value of attending college and help students assess and…

In 2015, Lumina Foundation introduced the Rule of Ten, a new method for assessing college affordability for students in the U.S. The rule rests on the assumption that an "affordable" cost for college should not exceed the total of: (1) what a student and his family can save by putting away 10% of their income for the 10 years before…

Among all students who enrolled in college for the first time in fall 2017, 73.8 percent persisted at any U.S. institution in fall 2018, while 61.7 percent were retained at their starting institution. This brief report presents the following statistics on first-year persistence and retention for the Fall 2017 Cohort: (1) First-Year Persistence and…

The report looks at the various education pathways first-time students traversed toward a degree or certificate completion, as well as the completion outcomes for the different groups of students who followed each pathway from the fall of 2011 or the fall of 2013 through spring (June) 2019, that is, within eight years or six years of enrolling.…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions. This "First Look" presents findings from the provisional data of the IPEDS fall 2017 data collection, which included three…

In the classic game of "Chutes and Ladders," the player can see square 100--the finish line--but it is not easy to get there. The player may climb one ladder only to land on the wrong spot and be sent spiraling down a chute. In the game, players are aiming for the blue ribbon on square 100, but for students enrolling in college, the…

The California Community Colleges (CCC) are central to the economic strength and social mobility of California and its residents. They serve the majority of undergraduates in California. Each year, over 2 million students attend one of the 116 community colleges across the state, including the online campus--Cal Bright. Like "Chutes and…

Despite the importance of teachers, the preparation programs intended to train them and provide them with the foundational skills they need to grow into high-quality educators vary in format, curriculum offered, quality, and more. Alternative teacher certification programs that are run outside of institutions of higher education (IHE) are an…

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Education released groundbreaking data showing that half of Black or African American borrowers who first entered college in the 2003-04 academic year defaulted on their student loans within 12 years. New federal data released this fall show that these numbers have not improved: Black or African American borrowers…

The US population is becoming more educated, but large gaps in postsecondary attainment based on race or ethnicity remain, particularly at more selective colleges. As a growing number of jobs require a college degree, it is imperative to increase college access among all racial and ethnic groups. In this report, we examined whether different…

Of all students who started college in fall 2016, 73.9 percent persisted at any U.S. institution in fall 2017, while 61.6 percent were retained at their starting institution. The persistence rate is the percentage of students who return to college at any institution for their second year, while the retention rate is the percentage of students who…

This Signature Report examines the rate of completion of postsecondary certificates and degrees by first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who initially enrolled in two- and four-year colleges and universities (public, private nonprofit, or private for-profit) nationwide in fall 2011. It tracks their enrollment behaviors and outcomes for six…