A new report released from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center this week finds the nation’s “some college, no credential” (SCNC) population reached 40 million as of July 2021, a 3.6% increase from the previous year. In New Jersey, the increase was 3.4%.
The Clearinghouse’s research, released Tuesday, found that the national increase of 1.4 million dropouts, which the report calls “stop-outs,” was due to a lack of re-enrollment among the 39 million previously identified SCNC students and the 2.3 million new students who did not return to college during the 2020-2021 academic year. All 50 states and Washington, D.C. experienced SCNC increases.
The report said about 2.9 million (or 7.3% of the national SCNC population) are “potential completers,” who have already made at least two years’ worth of academic progress up until their last enrollment.
Other highlights of the “Some College, No Credential Student Outcomes Annual Progress Report” for the 2020-2021 academic year include:
- Most SCNC students were younger than 35 at last enrollment. Potential completers and recent stop-outs were relatively younger, with nearly a quarter of recent stop-outs under 20 (24.6%) and potential completers primarily in their early 20s (55.6%).
- Community colleges are the most common type of institution of last enrollment, re-enrollment, and first credential attainment for SCNC students.
- Compared to the previous year, fewer SCNC students re-enrolled (-8.4%), earned a credential the same year they re-enrolled (-11.8%), or persevered into their second year of re-enrollment (-4.3%). The annual re-enrollment rate fell from 2.4% to 2.1%, and the completion rate within a year of re-enrolling fell from 6.4% to 6.2%.
- Potential completers and recent stop-outs were more likely to re-enroll (6.1% and 9.4%, respectively) and to complete a credential within a year after re-enrolling (11.6% and 7.1%, respectively).
- All regions experienced declines in completers within a year of re-enrolling, though 11 states saw slight growth. A larger share of completers earned a certificate this year (+7.1 percentage points, 42.1%). Certificates are most prevalent in the Midwest (50.6%), while bachelor’s degrees are prevalent in the Northeast (43.8%).
- Tracked over a two-year period after re-enrolling, 15.4% of the 944,200 of students who re-enrolled during the 2020-2021 academic year earned their first ever credential.
- Black SCNC students were less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree within one year of re-enrolling (22.8% of Black completers) compared to the national average of 25.7%. However, the gap disappeared for potential completers, with the share of bachelor’s degree earners among all Black completers on par with the national average (38.4% vs. 38.8%).
