National six-year college completion rates have increased by 0.3% to reach 60.1%, the smallest growth rate within the last five years, according to a new report released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC).
Dr. Mikyung Ryu, director of research publications at NSCRC said the results highlighted in the report titled, “Completing College: National and State Reports,” were not surprising based on how the data has been trending.
Since the 2010 cohort, six-year completion rates have increased, but the progress has started to occur at a slower pace.
“So sooner or later, we expected it was going to plateau,” said Ryu. “It was just a matter of time.”
Comparably, for the first time in three years, the national eight-year completion rate was 61.3%, a decrease of 0.5%. The previous rate was 61.8%, according to the report.
At community colleges, six-year completion rates, which has grown over the last two years, dropped by 0.5%. On the other hand, public four-year colleges improved by 0.7% while private non-profit four-year institutions saw an increase of 0.2%, the study found.
In terms of demographics, the six-year completion rate of community college decreased for Hispanic and Black students. Asian students however, had a 1.3% gain. Additionally, Black students held higher completion rates than White students at four-year institutions, according to the report.
