Fewer students are graduating from college, but certificate programs are way up

For
the
second
year
in
a
row,
the
number
of
students
earning
an
undergraduate
degree
declined,
according
to
a
recent
report
by
the

National
Student
Clearinghouse
Research
Center.

Overall,
undergraduate
degree
earners
fell
by
nearly
3%
in
the
2022-23
academic
year
—
the
steepest
decline
ever
recorded,
the
report
found,
while
bachelor’s
degree
earners
sank
to
the
lowest
level
in
nearly
a
decade
after
notching
a
one-year
loss
of
almost
100,000
graduates.

Meanwhile,
the
number
of
students
earning
a
certificate
hit
a
10-year
high,
largely
due
to
the
growth
in
vocational
programs.

More
from
Personal
Finance:
How
to
make
key
college
decisions
amid
FAFSA
delays

FAFSA
fiasco
may
cause
drop
in
college
enrollment,
experts
say

This
could
be
the
best
year
to
lobby
for
more
college
financial
aid

“That
number
of
newly
minted
college
graduates
has
been
shrinking,”
said
Doug
Shapiro,
executive
director
of
the
National
Student
Clearinghouse
Research
Center.

Nationwide, enrollment has
lagged
since
the
start
of
the

Covid-19
pandemic,
when
a
significant
number
of
students
decided
against
a
four-year
degree
in
favor
of
joining
the
workforce
or
completing
a
certificate
program
instead.

High
schoolers
are
putting
more
emphasis
on
career
training
and
post-college
employment, other
reports
also
show.

Now,
fewer
students
are
pursuing
a
four-year
degree
and
more
students
are

dropping
out
due
to
financial
constraints,
among
other
factors,
Shapiro
said.

“Shorter-term
certificates
have
picked
up
some
of
the
slack,
accelerating
declines
in
associate
and
bachelor’s
degree
earners
mean
fewer
new
college
graduates
this
year,”
Shapiro
said.

Historically,
a
two-year
degree
was
considered
an
economical
alternative
to
a
bachelor’s,
or
even
a
more
affordable
pathway
to
a
four-year
college.
These
days,

the
latter
is
less
likely
to
be
the
case.

In
fact,

just
16%
of
all
community
college
students ultimately
attain
a
bachelor’s
degree,
according
to
recent
reports
by
the
Community
College
Research
Center at
Columbia
University,
the
Aspen
Institute
College
Excellence
Program
and
the
National
Student
Clearinghouse
Research
Center.

Community
college
as
a
stepping
stone
is “at
risk,”
Shapiro
said,
and “that’s
very
bad
news.”

“That
escalator…
has
been
one
of
the
most
promising,
if
not
always
the
most
successful,
paths
to
access
to
the
bachelor’s
degree
for
lower-income
and
disadvantaged
students,”
Shapiro
said. “Those
students,
in
particular,
will
face
more
challenges.”

Ongoing

problems with
the
new Free
Application
for
Federal
Student
Aid have
also discouraged many
high
school
seniors
from
applying
for
the
financial
aid
necessary
to
afford
college.
Those
who
opt
out
are
often
low-income
students
who
stand
to
benefit
most
from
financial
aid
and
increasingly
feel
priced
out
of
a
postsecondary
education.

The
FAFSA
serves
as the
gateway to
all
federal
aid
money,
including
loans,
work-study
and
grants,
the
latter
of
which
are
the
most
desirable
kinds
of
assistance
because
they
typically
do
not
need
to
be
repaid.

Submitting
a
FAFSA
is
also
one
of
the
best
predictors
of
whether
a
high
school
senior
will
go
on
to
college,
according
to
the
National
College
Attainment
Network.
Seniors
who
complete
the
FAFSA
are 84%
more
likely to
immediately
enroll
in
college. 

As
of
the
latest
update,
only
roughly
7
million
2024-25
FAFSA
applications
have
been
submitted
and
sent
to
schools,
according
to
the
U.S.
Department
of
Education,
less
than
half
of
the
more
than
17
million
students
who
use
the
FAFSA
in
ordinary
years.

Still,
it’s
too
soon
to
say
whether
those
remaining
students
will
ultimately
apply
for
aid
and
how
that
could
impact
their
decisions
about
college
in
the
fall,
according
to
Sandy
Baum,
senior
fellow
at
Urban
Institute’s
Center
on
Education
Data
and
Policy.

“If
students
don’t
fill
it
out,
some
will
not
go
to
college,”
Baum
said.

Steadily,
college
is
becoming
a
path
for
only
those
with
the means
to
pay
for
it,
other
reports
also
show.

At
the
same
time,
deep
cuts
in
state
funding
for
higher
education
have
pushed
more
of
the
costs
onto
students
and
paved
the
way
for significant
tuition
increases.

Higher
education already
costs
more
than
most
families
can
afford,
and

costs
are
still
rising,
with
the
sticker
price
at
some
colleges
now

nearing
$100,000
a
year. 

“Tuition
has
definitely
been
going
up
faster
than
inflation
for
decades
and
incomes
have
not
kept
up,”
Baum
said.

“It’s
a
serious
problem,”
she
added,
but “it’s
not
a
new
problem.”