Across the nation, a growing number of states launched '15 to Finish' campaigns to encourage on-time graduation in their two- and four-year institutions. Although studies show a consistent relationship between enrollment intensity and completion, exclusively full-time enrollment may not be appropriate for all students.
"Higher education policy is almost entirely driven by memories of the four-year, residential experience most policymakers had," said Robert Hansen, CEO of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). "A small minority of students still experience higher education that way, but it's time to arm higher education leaders with data on the students they are now serving."
The nation's first effort to benchmark persistence patterns of non-first-time (NFT) college students found that only 33.7 percent of NFT students completed their degree, compared with 54.1 percent of first-time students. The study also found that NFT students are more likely to complete an associate degree if they combine full-time and part-time enrollment.
"It makes sense that some of the strategies employed to help traditional, first-time in college students complete their degrees, such as encouraging full-time enrollment, may not be appropriate for non first-time students," said Michael Reilly, AACRAO Executive Director.
"By definition, these students are returning to their degree pursuit after a break from their studies- often an extended break- where they have had to address family or work needs or financial challenges. Many of these obligations still remain, so returning to college full time is simply not feasible. What is important is that these students find a balance that allows them to make whatever progress they can toward their degrees."
The benchmarking initiative is a cooperative effort between the American Council on Education (ACE), InsideTrack, NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, UPCEA and the National Student Clearinghouse. The study includes results segmented by level of institution, age, gender, geographic location, enrollment intensity and the type of degree pursued.
ACE, InsideTrack, NASPA, UPCEA and the National Student Clearinghouse will continue their analysis through February 2015 before releasing their entire dataset to the public.
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Read InsideTrack's news release.
Join us for this year's AACRAO Annual Meeting in Baltimore for best practices on accommodating the needs of NFT and other nontraditional students in your institution.