Latest news with #NationalStudentClearinghouse
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Fewer Students Stopped Out Of College Last Year, And More Returned
More than one million Americans who had previously dropped out of college returned to school in ... More academic year 2023-2024. Nonetheless, the number of adults who have left college without earning any credential increased nationally. For the second year in a row, the number of students leaving college without earning a credential has declined, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Released today, the Some College, No Credential (SCNC) report also found that more students who had previously left college without earning a degree were re-enrolling. More than 1 million SCNC students re-enrolled in the 2023-24 academic year, an increase of 66,000 (+7.0%) over the previous year. The number of students who 'stopped out' of college without a credential also declined from the previous year by about 156,000. The progress was widespread, with 42 states and the District of Columbia realizing increases in the number of students re-enrolling in college compared to the previous year. The gains ranged from a .7% increase in Washington, DC, to a 35.2% surge in Massachusetts. Among states showing a decrease in re-enrollments, Oklahoma experienced the largest decline year-over-year, at 13.8%. 'It is inspiring to see that over one million adults returned to campuses last year—the most we've ever recorded,' said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a news release. 'They're reviving college aspirations that had been put on hold years before. And states and institutions are working to make it even easier for more students to do so in the future.' The report defines SCNC individuals as people between the ages of 18 and 64 years of age who stopped out of college for at least three terms prior to the start of the academic year and had not earned any credential. At the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, there were nearly 43.1 million SCNC students; of those, 37.6 million were working-age adults. Even with the recent increases in re-enrollment, the report cautions that the improvement represents less than 3% of working-age SCNC adults. So while it's true that fewer students stopped out of college year over year, that has not been enough to stem the overall growth of the SCNC population, which has risen in all 50 states and the District of Columbia over the last three years. Among those SCNC students returning to school in 2023-2024, 4.7% earned a credential — including certificates, associate's and bachelor's degrees — within their first year of re-enrollment, a slight improvement over the prior year; 14.1% did so within two years of their return. More women than men re-enroll in college after stopping out, but men have a slight advantage in the two-year rate of earning their first credential (14.2%) vs. 13.9% among women. Black and Hispanic students return to college after stopping out at equal or greater rates than their Asian and white peers. However, white and Asian returnees earn a credential after returning at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups. The report recommends that states seeking to increase the percentage of adults with a post-secondary credential focus on two subgroups of students who've demonstrated better re-enrollment and completion outcomes than the SCNC group overall. Those are potential completers and recent stop-outs. Potential completers have already completed at least two years' worth of academic credits in the past decade; they constitute about 2.7 million (or 7.2%) of the SCNC population. Recent stop-outs are newly identified SCNC individuals — those students who have stopped out between January, 2022 and July, 2023; roughly 2.1 million students (about 5.6% of SCNC individuals) are in this group. Across the past three years, potential completers demonstrate a number of advantages in their college outcomes compared to the rest of the SCNC population. For example they are about three times more likely to re-enroll in college than other SCNC students. They are also more likely to earn a credential in their first year of return (8.4%) than the rest of the SCNC group (3.8%), an edge that grows when considering second-year credential rates (22% versus 12.2%). Recent stop-outs are much more likely to re-enroll than students who have been stopped out for a longer period, and they are also more likely to enroll at the same institution they previously attended rather than transfer to another school. This pattern suggests that outreach strategies might be targeted at these relatively recent students, particularly by community colleges, which is the sector to which SCNC students most often return. According to the report, about one out of four SCNC students earned a credential without ever re-enrolling in college. Although it does not quantify the reasons for this outcome, it's likely due primarily to the reverse transfer policies adopted by several states allowing students who've dropped out of two-year colleges to add the credits they later earn at a four-year school and then be retroactively awarded an associate's degree. A similar program is the Colorado Re-Engaged (CORE) initiative, where former students who've completed at least 70 credits towards their bachelor's degree but then dropped out of college are awarded an associate's degree. The report found that, despite having the twentieth-largest SCNC population, Colorado had the seventh-highest number of first credential earners, aided by the large number of associate degrees earned by SCNC individuals who had not re-enrolled. In other cases, colleges have removed barriers that may have prevented awarding degrees to students who've already earned the required credits. For example. some schools have ended their policy of withholding degrees from students who have unpaid fines or tuition bills. The report's bottom line is a mixture of good and bad news. It's encouraging to see an increase in students' re-engagement with college, but in the big scheme of things, that improvement represents only a relatively tiny share of the SCNC working adult population. Fewer students might be stopping out year over year, but their retention and the return of former drop-outs has not been enough to stop the growth of the SCNC population, which continues to rise nationwide. The NSCRC is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. It collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations to gather accurate longitudinal data that can be used to guide educational policy decisions. NSCRC analyzes data from 3,600 postsecondary institutions, which represented 97% of the nation's postsecondary enrollment in Title IV degree-granting institutions in the U.S., as of 2020. The 2025 Some College, No Credential report, the sixth in a series, was created with the support of Lumina Foundation.
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
College Enrollment Increases Again, Now Approaches Pre-Pandemic Level
Total college enrollment increased again this spring to an estimated 18.4 million students. The nation's colleges and universities received good news on the enrollment front today. Total college enrollment grew by 3.2% this spring compared to spring 2024 and now stands at about 18.4 million students nationally, just .9% less than the pre-pandemic level of spring, 2020. This year's gain is equivalent to about 562,000 students. The latest numbers are contained in the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's Current Term Enrollment Estimates Spring 2025 report. Undergraduate enrollment grew 3.5%, reaching 15.3 million, which is about 2.4% (378,000 students) fewer than the pre-pandemic level. Enrollment in graduate programs increased 1.5% (46,000 more students) compared to last year. Graduate enrollment now totals slightly more than 3.1 million, 7.2% higher than in 2020. That cumulative gain represents 209,000 more graduate students than the pre-pandemic number. While undergraduate enrollment increased across all higher education sectors, community colleges experienced the largest growth at 5.4%, or 288,000 more students, compared to last spring. Undergraduate enrollment increased 3.3% at private for-profit schools, 2.7% at public, four-year institutions, and 1.9% at nonprofit, private colleges. Historically Black Colleges and Universities enjoyed very positive numbers, with undergraduate enrollment increasing by 4.6%. Undergraduate certificate program enrollment increased by 4.8%, propelling it to a 20% higher level than in 2020. But other types of degrees increased as well, with enrollments in associate degree programs growing by 6.3% and bachelor's programs up 2.1%. Institutions focused on vocational/trade programs saw particularly strong gains. High vocational public two-year schools grew enrollment by 11.7%, or 91,000 students. Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions has increased almost 20% since the spring of 2020 and now comprises 19.4% of public two-year enrollment. 'This is great news for community colleges, and especially for those with strong vocational programs,' said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a news release. 'Four-year colleges can also feel good about higher numbers of undergraduates this spring, but their growth rates are slower.' The number of students enrolled in Master's programs grew by 1.1% over last spring, while doctoral enrollment was up 1.2%, and enrollments in first-professional programs increased 3.2%. Male and female students showed similar increases in undergraduate enrollment of 3.2% and 3.3% respectively. All four of the largest racial/ethnic groups saw enrollments grow at the undergraduate level, led by a 10.3 % increase among Black students, followed by gains of 6.7% for Asians, 5.3% for Hispanics, and 1.8% for white students. The increase for white undergraduates was noteworthy because it marked the first time since the pandemic that their spring enrollment has grown. Enrollment of international undergraduates, on the other hand, was down by almost 12% over last year. At the graduate level, Black students again had the largest percentage gain at 8.7%, followed by Hispanics (7.1%), Asians (6.2%) and white students (1.1%). International graduate students declined in number, but only by .4%. Another encouraging sign was that the number of undergraduates in their twenties increased this spring (+3.2% for students 21-24 and +5.9% for students 25-29), beginning a recovery in enrollments after consistent decreases among this age group since the pandemic. More than half of the total undergraduate gains occurred in two traditionally large fields of study — business majors and health professions, which saw enrollment increases of 4.8% and 6.3%, respectively. Biological sciences (4.1%), engineering (6.4%), and public administration (7.2%) all posted healthy increases, while the category of liberal arts, general studies, and humanities suffered a 3% decline. Shaprio said that one of the bigger surprises in the latest data is that the number of computer science majors appears to have peaked after several semesters of significant growth. The enrollment gains come at a crucial time for the nation's colleges and universities as they try to manage the difficult combination of funding cuts, a tumultuous federal policy environment and the upcoming demographic cliff, which will see the number of high school graduates decline steadily over the next decade. Institutions will try to lock in these solid enrollment gains through renewed efforts to improve student retention, at the same time they pull out all the stops to recruit new students for the upcoming fall semester. The NSCRC is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. It collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations to gather accurate longitudinal data that can be used to guide educational policy decisions. NSCRC analyzes data from 3,600 postsecondary institutions, which represented 97% of the nation's postsecondary enrollment in Title IV degree-granting institutions in the U.S., as of 2020.
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The College Collapse Crisis: How To Spot Universities On The Brink
Overgrown fall garden in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL, USA. America's prestigious higher education system—long considered an unassailable cornerstone of the American dream—now faces an existential threat. A perfect storm of plummeting enrollments, ballooning costs, and growing public skepticism about ROI has pushed many institutions to the breaking point. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, undergraduate enrollment plunged by more than one million students during the pandemic. Though overall enrollment has grown since 2023, the distribution is nowhere near even. The consequences are increasingly visible across the landscape: small private colleges shuttering operations, regional public universities desperately seeking merger partners, and even centuries-old institutions teetering on financial cliffs. "What we're witnessing isn't just a market correction—it's a fundamental restructuring of American higher education," noted one higher education economist. "The schools that fail to adapt simply won't exist in five years." When major agencies like S&P or Moody's downgrade an institution to BB+ or lower, they're essentially declaring it a high-risk investment. Drew University's 2023 downgrade triggered what insiders call the "death spiral" of higher education finance—higher borrowing costs leading to deeper financial wounds. The industry's open secret: private colleges now discount tuition by a record 56%, according to NACUBO's latest report. When schools slash prices this aggressively, they're effectively admitting their sticker price holds no real market value. Before its near-closure in 2015, Sweet Briar College reached an unsustainable ratio of one administrator for every four students. This top-heavy structure signals financial hemorrhaging that typically precedes closure. Deferred maintenance isn't just an aesthetic issue—it reveals critical cash flow problems. Peeling paint, leaking roofs, and outdated facilities signal an institution prioritizing survival over sustainability. The math is brutally simple: fewer high school graduates means fewer college students entering directly from high school. This demographic reality hits hardest in the Northeast and Midwest, where population decline compounds the enrollment challenge. The institutions most at risk face a triple threat: They're in regions with declining populations, they lack distinctive programs that attract students from outside their region, and they don't have the endowment reserves to weather extended downturns. Dr. Jim Black, author of Managing the Student Enrollment Obsession concludes that "the changing composition of students with diverse learning needs and expectations combined with exponential technological advances, increased competition for students, rising college costs and student loan debt have created the perfect storm. How institutions respond in this era of disruption will determine if this is a time of innovation or for some, an extinction event." Market Forces Accelerating Educational Darwinism Today's students demand clear value propositions. Programs leading directly to employment—primarily in STEM, healthcare, and business—thrive while traditional liberal arts colleges struggle to articulate their ROI in concrete terms. Geography increasingly determines destiny. Urban campuses with access to internships and professional networks outcompete rural schools regardless of educational quality. Meanwhile, international student enrollment—once a reliable revenue stream—has grown volatile due to visa complications and changing global dynamics. Institutional failure typically follows a predictable pattern. Birmingham-Southern College's journey from accreditation issues to 2024 closure offers a textbook case study of this progression. Initial cuts resulted in faculty layoffs, which, in turn, drew in fewer qualified applicants. Deeper cuts, such as cutting athletic teams, alienate alumni, reducing contributions. Further deeper enrollment drops, declining enrollment, lower bond ratings, unsustainable debt and deeper deficits create a cycle that is challenging to reverse. For students, parents and donors, due diligence has never been more crucial: The smartest consumers are looking beyond prestige to institutional stability. The college that's best for your career might not be the one with the most impressive history, but the one with the most sustainable future. The next decade will witness massive restructuring: Some trends are emerging. College transfers increased by 4.4%, according the the National Student Clearinghouse, and overall enrollment rose by almost 4.7%, almost reaching pre-2019 levels. Two-year colleges continue to struggle. In the fall of 2019, 5.2 million students were enrolled in public two-year schools; by the fall of 2021, enrollment had fallen by 800,000. For those navigating higher education—whether as students, parents, faculty, or investors—understanding these warning signs provides crucial perspective. The transformation isn't just coming—it's already here, and only those who recognize the signals will be positioned to make informed decisions in this rapidly evolving landscape.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
New DiplomaVerify Enhancement Lets Small Businesses Verify New Hires' High School Credentials Immediately
National Student Clearinghouse Announces Enhancement to Benefit Small and Medium-Sized Businesses as It Marks National Small Business Month HERNDON, VA / ACCESS Newswire / May 13, 2025 / Small and medium-sized businesses now have easier access to immediate verifications of high school diplomas for job candidates under a new DiplomaVerify enhancement that enables online verifications to be performed without requiring a contracting process to first be completed, the National Student Clearinghouse announced today. The National Student Clearinghouse is the nation's leading provider of educational verification services. DiplomaVerify is the only service offering immediate online verification of high school credentials directly from participating high schools. The latest enhancement enables users to complete a rapid credentialing process via the web, rather than the previously required contracting process. This makes obtaining reliable academic verification accessible and affordable for businesses of all sizes, particularly those without dedicated HR departments or large budgets. 'National Small Business Month is the perfect time to launch this enhancement because it directly addresses a critical pain point for small and medium-sized businesses - efficiently verifying candidate qualifications,' said Kathryn Pearlman, Product Manager for DiplomaVerify at the National Student Clearinghouse. 'Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but they often operate with limited resources. They need fast, reliable, and accessible tools. DiplomaVerify now provides an option to obtain immediate, on-demand high school diploma verification, helping small business owners hire with greater confidence and speed.' Hiring the right talent remains a top concern for small business leaders, according to a 2023 SCORE survey. Verifying educational credentials is a fundamental step in ensuring candidates possess the qualifications they claim, protecting small businesses from costly hiring mistakes. With resume fraud also a significant concern - a 2023 ResumeLab survey found 70% of job seekers admitted to lying on their resumes, with 11% falsifying education information - DiplomaVerify offers a crucial, cost-effective safeguard. For a nominal fee per verification, DiplomaVerify allows small businesses to validate high school credentials quickly, reliably, and affordably. This enhancement empowers small businesses to mitigate hiring risks, make more informed decisions, ensure compliance, and ultimately, focus on building strong teams to drive growth - key themes celebrated during National Small Business Month. About the National Student Clearinghouse® The National Student Clearinghouse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. For more details, visit CONTACT: [email protected] SOURCE: National Student Clearinghouse press release
Axios
14-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Minnesota's community college surge
Minnesota's college and university enrollment has almost completely rebounded from its COVID-era lows — and a new Minneapolis Federal Reserve report suggests community colleges are a big reason why. The big picture: Demand for two-year degree or certificate programs is skyrocketing as students balk at high tuition costs, regional higher ed leaders told the Fed. By the numbers: Between fall 2023 and 2024, enrollment in Minnesota's two-year colleges rose 11.5%, according to estimates from the National Student Clearinghouse. Across institutions, enrollment is now nearly 294,000 students — just 3,000 shy of its 2019 level. The intrigue: The increase came in the first year Minnesota guaranteed tuition-free public college for low-income families.
