Information Brief 2012-20
Degree Completion Status at Year 7 by Second-Year Re-Enrollment Status
among ACT-tested high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year institution
For seven years, we tracked the progress of a group of ACT-tested 2003 high school graduates who enrolled in a four-year college in fall 2003. This brief focuses on the degree completion status of these students seven years later (through academic year 2009–2010) in relation to the students’ re-enrollment status one year after starting college (in fall 2004).
As shown below:
- Students who returned to the same four-year institution in fall 2004 were slightly more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree by the end of year 7 than students who re-enrolled in a different four-year institution in year 2, and they were considerably more likely to do so by year 4.
- Students who re-enrolled in any four-year institution in the fall of year 2 were about 3 times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree by the end of year 7 than students who re-enrolled in a two-year institution, and 5 to 6 times more likely to do so than students who did not re-enroll in any institution in the fall of year 2.
- Of students who re-enrolled in a two-year institution in fall 2004, 40% earned some type of degree within 7 years of enrolling. In comparison, only 18% of students who did not re-enroll in any institution in fall 2004 completed a degree by the end of year 7.
Year 7 Degree Completion Status by Year 2 Re-Enrollment Status
| Degree Completion Status | Percent |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree by year 4 | 42 |
| Bachelor’s degree year 5 to 7 | 33 |
| Associate’s degree only | 3 |
| No degree, but still enrolled | 7 |
| No degree, not enrolled | 15 |
| Degree Completion Status | Percent |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree by year 4 | 28 |
| Bachelor’s degree year 5 to 7 | 40 |
| Associate’s degree only | 5 |
| No degree, but still enrolled | 9 |
| No degree, not enrolled | 19 |
| Degree Completion Status | Percent |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree by year 4 | 4 |
| Bachelor’s degree year 5 to 7 | 19 |
| Associate’s degree only | 17 |
| No degree, but still enrolled | 19 |
| No degree, not enrolled | 41 |
| Degree Completion Status | Percent |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree by year 4 | 2 |
| Bachelor’s degree year 5 to 7 | 11 |
| Associate’s degree only | 5 |
| No degree, but still enrolled | 20 |
| No degree, not enrolled | 61 |
Note: Percentages do not always sum to 100 due to rounding. Based on National Student Clearinghouse data for a stratified random sample of 18,860 ACT-tested 2003 high school graduates who enrolled in a four-year college in fall 2003. The sample was weighted to be representative of the entire 2003 ACT-tested graduating class who immediately enrolled in college. For students enrolled in multiple institutions in fall 2003, initial institution type was based on the institution from which the student ultimately earned the highest degree by the end of the seven-year study and/or in which the student had enrolled for the greatest number of fall terms during the study. In the sample, less than 1 percent of the students were initially enrolled in more than one institution. Degree certificates were not examined for this study.
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