The NCES Fast Facts Tool provides quick answers to many education questions (National Center for Education Statistics) (2024)

Undergraduate graduation rates

Question:
What are the graduation rates for students obtaining an undergraduate degree?

Response:

In 2020, the overall 6-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began seeking a bachelor’s degree at 4-year degree-granting institutions in fall 2014 was 64 percent. That is, by 2020, some 64 percent of students had completed a bachelor’s degree at the same institution where they started in 2014. The 6-year graduation rate was 63 percent at public institutions, 68 percent at private nonprofit institutions, and 29 percent at private for-profit institutions. The overall 6-year graduation rate was 60 percent for males and 67 percent for females. The 6-year graduation rate was higher for females than for males at both public (66 vs. 60 percent) and private nonprofit (71 vs. 64 percent) institutions. However, at private for-profit institutions, males had a higher 6-year graduation rate than females (31 vs. 28 percent).

Two-year institutions generally focus on providing student instruction and related activities through a range of career-oriented programs at the certificate and associate’s degree levels and preparing students to transfer to 4-year institutions. Among first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began seeking a certificate or associate’s degree at 2-year degree-granting institutions in fall 2017, about 34 percent attained their credential within 150 percent of the normal time required for completion of these programs. An example of completing a credential within 150 percent of the normal time is completing a 2-year degree within 3 years. Among the same cohort, another 14 percent had transferred to another institution within 150 percent of normal completion time.¹ Meanwhile, 10 percent remained enrolled in their first institution after 150 percent time. The remaining students who entered 2-year institutions in 2017 were no longer enrolled in their first institution and had not been reported as a transfer at a different institution (42 percent).

¹ Transfer out data are required to be reported only by those institutions for which preparation for transfers is a substantial part of the institution’s mission.

Related Tables and Figures:(Listed by Release Date)

• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 326.10. Grad. rate from first institution attended for first-time, full-time bachelor's degree-seeking students at 4-year postsec. institutions, by race/ethnicity, time to completion, sex, ctrl. of institution, and % of applications...1996 through 2014
  
• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 326.20. Graduation rate from first institution attended within 150 percent of normal time for first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking students at 2-year institutions...Selected cohort entry years, 2000 through 2017
  
• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 326.30. Retention of first-time degree-seeking undergraduates at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by attendance status, level and control of institution, and percentage of applications accepted: Selected years, 2006 to 2020
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2020, Table 326.15.Percentage distribution of first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students at 4-year postsecondary institutions 6 years after entry, by completion and enrollment status, sex, race/ethnicity, control...2007 and 2013
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2020, Table 326.27. Number of degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students entering a postsecondary institution and % of students 4, 6, and 8 years after entry, by completion and enrollment status and selected characteristics: Cohort entry year 2011
  
• 2020, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 326.40. Percentage distribution of first-time postsecondary students starting at 2- and 4-year institutions during the 2003-04 academic year, by highest degree attained, enrollment status, and selected characteristics: Spring 2009
  
• 2020, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 326.50. Number and percentage distribution of first-time postsecondary students starting at 2- and 4-year institutions during the 2011-12 academic year, by attainment and enrollment status and selected characteristics: Spring 2014
  

Other Resources:(Listed by Release Date)

• 2021, Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS): BPS studies follow students when they first begin their postsecondary education.
  
• 2021, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): IPEDS is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all primary providers of postsecondary education.
  
• 2019, Persistence, Retention, and Attainment of 2011–12 First-Time Beginning Postsecondary Students as of Spring 2017
  
• 2018, Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2009–14; Outcome Measures for Cohort Year 2009–10; Student Financial Aid, Academic Year 2016–17; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017: First Look (Provisional Data)
  
• 2018, Three-Year Persistence and Attainment Among Subbaccalaureate Occupational Students: 2006 and 2014
  
• 2017, Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2008–13; Outcome Measures for Cohort Year 2008; Student Financial Aid, Academic Year 2015–16; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2016: First Look (Provisional Data)
  
• 2017, NCES Blog: Expanding Student Success Rates to Reflect Today’s College Students