Those are the findings of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s Undergraduate Earner’s Report for Spring 2024. The center collects and analyzes data from almost all U.S. postsecondary institutions.
“The rates of decline have nearly doubled from about 1.5% last year,” said Dr. Doug Shapiro, executive director of the Clearinghouse Research Center.
The cause could be attributed to a number of things, Shapiro said. It could be the result of the gradual decline in postsecondary enrollment seen in the nation since around 2010, or a result from the severe enrollment drops during the COVID-19 pandemic, seen particularly at community colleges.
These drops “erase the gains made between 2015 and 2020,” said Dr. Pietro A. Sasso, an associate professor of higher education and program coordinator at Delaware State University. The decreases, he added, make him nervous.
“In particular, I’m concerned about degree completion rates for women and for students of color, specifically Black males and Black women,” said Sasso. “Black women and Latina women made significant gains in degree completion, and we’re seeing that decline again.”
Every disaggregated racial group saw declines. Native Americans and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders saw the most severe drops in credential attainment, while Latinx students saw the least decline. Until this year’s data, Latinx students had continued to see increases in the number of degrees awarded.
