research and stats

Last week, we posted College without Completion -- Post #1, which discussed National Center for Educational Statistics's published statistics on cohort graduation rates. We continue the College without Completion thread with this post.

(image by flickr user ben.chaney)

In the last College without Completion post, we shared that, according to NCES, 42.7% of students did not get a bachelor's degree from the college at which they began within 6 years (Source). In this post, we look at the effects of leaving college without a degree.

There are multiple ways in which a student and his or her immediate family might be affected by a student's decision to leave college.

A student's potential earnings, as well as a student's quality of life, can be greatly diminished by the lack of a degree.

• Students who have some college but no degree face a higher unemployment rate and sub-median weekly pay check (Source).
• Students with a bachelor's degree or a higher degree report a lower level of poverty, a slightly higher job satisfaction rate, a lower obesity rate and children that are better prepared for school (Source).

(pic by flickr user aresauburn™)

Worried about how you're going to pay for college?

If you're like most families you have at least some level of concern. But, as a recent U.S. News and World Report shows, choosing the right school can make a big difference.

U.S. News and World Report recently surveyed 1,700 schools about meeting student financial need. They identified 63 schools that claim to meet 100% of students' financial need. The schools include both traditional 4 year public and private universities, as well as liberal arts colleges.

You can view that list, in full, in this post.

Do you remember what your governor said about higher education in the gubernatorial state of the state address this year?

If not, you might want to look at this information from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities: 

2011 State of the State Addresses and Higher Education by AASCU.

(pic by flickr user Kevin Hutchison)

An article from Pew Research Center, "The Rise of College Student Borrowing," details the continued rise of student debt. The report was based off of Pew analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data. The analysis and report reveal that the level of borrowing has increased sharply over the past 15 years.

Among Pew Research Center's findings:

• 60% of students are borrowing.
• Average debt for those borrowers graduating with bachelor's degrees has increased to increased to about $23,000.
• A greater percentage of students at for-profit schools borrow money than students at not-for-profit schools, and such students tend to borrow more.