Number Of Undergraduates Earning College Degree Drops For First Time In A Decade

The number of college undergraduates earning an AA, BA, or other credential fell for the first time in a decade last year. According to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC), undergraduate credential earners dropped by 1.6% in academic year 2021-22, the equivalent of 58,800 fewer people, compared to the year before.

Most of the decline was caused by an unprecedented one-year loss of 50,700 first-time graduates (-1.9%) compared to the previous year. This drop was the largest decline in first-time graduates since 2012-13, which is as far back as the NSCRC had comparable data. According to the report, a total of 3.6 million people earned an undergraduate-level credential during the 2021-22 academic year, the lowest number in four years.

Credential earners who had received a prior award also declined, but at a slower rate than first-time graduates (-0.8% or 8,100 fewer students).

Among first-time graduates, the losses occurred for both those earning an associate degree (-7.6% or -56,800), or a baccalaureate degree (-2.4% or -36,000). The losses among first-time degree earners was offset somewhat by growth in the number of students who earned a certificate (+9.0% or +42,200).

The decline in credential earners was particularly steep among first-time graduates 25 years and older (-4.1% or -30,600), compared to a drop of 19,100 degrees and certificates earned by graduates 24 years and younger, a loss of 1.0%.

Baccalaureate degree earners who had been awarded a prior associate degree decreased during 2021-22 by 2.5% (-11,600). That decrease caused the overall number of non-first-time degree/certificate earners to fall for the first time in a decade.

Until now, the impact of the pandemic had been measured in terms of a steady decline in enrollments, including both first-time and transfer students at both two-year and four-year institutions. This report is one of the first indicators that the consequences of the pandemic has now extended, as had been feared, to reduced degree completion.

“The pandemic’s impact on higher education has gone beyond the declining numbers of current students and is now showing up as a drop in the annual number of new graduates as well, taking it all the way back to the level of 2016-17.” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a news release. “This is a setback to those seeking higher postsecondary attainment rates, leaving the nation and many states falling further behind on goals for a highly educated workforce.”

About the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

The NSCRC is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. It collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations to gather accurate longitudinal data that can be used to guide educational policy decisions. NSCRC analyzes data from 3,600 postsecondary institutions, which represented 97% of the nation’s postsecondary enrollment in Title IV degree-granting institutions in the U.S., as of 2020.