In the 2023-24 academic year, the number of U.S. students earning bachelor’s and associate degrees declined, but record growth continued in learners earning postsecondary undergraduate certificates, according to a recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The number of learners earning certificates reached a new 10-year high for the third consecutive year, the report said. Both first-time certificate earners (+12.6%) and those with a prior award returning to earn a certificate (+8.0%) saw significant increases.
By contrast, the number of U.S. students earning bachelor’s and associate degrees declined nationwide, by 1.3% and 0.9%, respectively. Fewer U.S. students earned an associate degree in 2023-24 than in any of the last 10 years, and bachelor’s degree earners declined to their lowest level since 2015-16, the report said.
New Jersey, however, bucked the national trend on associate degrees. There was a 5.9% increase in students earning associate degrees in New Jersey during the 2023-24 academic year, the report said. The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded, however, fell by 3.4%.
Although the number of bachelor’s and associate degrees awarded nationwide is falling, these degrees still comprised the largest percentage of the 3.2 million total postsecondary credentials awarded nationwide in 2023-24. Overall, 58.8% (1.9 million) of learners earned a bachelor’s degree as their highest undergraduate award, 25.1% (821,400) earned an associate degree, and 16.1% (525,200) earned an undergraduate certificate.
The 2023-24 academic year also marks the first time that certificate completers aged 24 and younger outnumbered those 25 and older. Certificate completers who were 18-20 years old grew by 17.8% nationwide and those under 18 (likely dual enrolled high school students) grew by 27.2% in 2023-24.
While most undergraduate credential earners earn just one award, 10.4% of completers in 2023-24 earned multiple awards within the academic year. This was most common among certificate earners: more than one third (34.5%) of all completers earning a certificate in 2023-24 received that certificate within the same year they also earned a bachelor’s, associate, and/or another certificate.
Go here to view the Undergraduate Degree Earners Report, which includes an interactive data dashboard for states and regions.
