Graphs - Graduation/Degrees

While new students at Ohio public and independent colleges return for their second year at about the same rate, the on-time graduation rates for these students vary considerably by sector.

As always, Ohio's independent colleges contribute more than their share to degrees in fields vital to the state's future.

More than half of those who enter public or nonprofit 4-year colleges and universities complete their bachelor's degrees, either where they started or at another campus, within six years. At the same time, more than half of those who enter 4-year for-profit institutions receive no award - not even an associate degree or certificate - and have left higher education altogether.

Bachelor's degrees in STEM fields awarded in Ohio have grown 20 percent in the last decade.

To obtain well-paying jobs in demand by employers, a college education is increasingly necessary, and particularly a bachelor¹s degree, as nearly all the expansion in jobs needing just an associate degree is in one field, nursing.

At Ohio's independent colleges, a bachelor's degree is still a four-year degree.

A sampling error resulting from the much smaller tracking cohort in public community colleges makes graduation rate comparisons with for-profit colleges meaningless.

Over the 25 academic years ending in 2019-20, the gap between women and men in bachelor's degrees awarded in the US will have nearly tripled.

The return on Ohio's investment in higher education is much higher at independent nonprofit colleges and universities.

If increasing the number of the state's degrees is the goal, there is no question about the more effective path for prudent, efficient investment of the state's resources.

in six years, the number of degrees awarded in teacher education in Ohio has dropped by nearly one in four.

Ohio's most productive education sector is the independent sector.

Once again, federal data on graduations demonstrate how Ohio's independent colleges outperform public universities in producing degrees in areas critical to the state's future: even in engineering, where just a handful of AICUO's members awarded degrees in 2009-10.

Recent data is consistent with Ohio's longstanding conundrum: Its population is better educated that the nation's at the the high school level, but less well educated at the bachelor's degree level.

Ohio's slow improvement in its baccalaureate attainment rate places it in the middle of neighboring states, but still considerably below the nation's rate.

Although bachelor's and advanced degrees are not required for nursing practice, the number of these degrees has skyrocketed over the last decade.

Young women not only are more likely to have finished their bachelor's degrees, but to have continued to master's and higher degrees.

More than half of the growth in jobs in the coming decade will require at least a bachelor's degree.

See the whole study, “Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018."

Ohio State’s major effort to “enhance the quality of its undergraduate student population”* — using millions of dollars in merit aid and recruitment expenditures to raise the ACT scores of entering freshmen — props up the sector-wide rate of on-time bachelor’s degree completions at Ohio’s public universities. Even so, Ohio State and the public sector lag behind the independent sector in this important success measure.

* “Ohio State 2008: Bridging the Excellence Divide,” by the OSU Enrollment Management Committee

Regardless of academic qualifications, students are much more likely to graduate on time at an Ohio independent college.

New federal data demonstrates a continuing, key advantage of attending an Ohio independent college: You don't need an extra year to graduate.

Graduation rates continue to hold steady at Ohio independent colleges, despite the economic and other pressures facing students.

Over the long term, women have earned a growing share of bachelor's degrees in the "STEM" - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - fields. However, the growth has been unevenly distributed among the STEM disciples.

In the last decade, independent colleges awarded 28,281 bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 35 percent of Ohio's total.

In the last decade, external causes appear to have overwhelmed the effect on income usually expected from the increase in the number of Ohioans who have earned at least a bachelor's degree.

Employers increasingly see the bachelor's degree as a key criterion when seeking new employees.

In the decade of the '00s, bachelor's degree production at Ohio's independent colleges has grown by 20 percent, and overall degrees by 25 percent.

The independent sector provides more than its share of recent graduates to a distinguished group of seminal public servants.

New federal data on graduations continue to show the disproportionate production of independent colleges in producing degrees in areas critical to the future of Ohio: even in engineering, where just nine of AICUO’s 52 members offer degrees.

A major new study of graduations at public colleges and universities — including Ohio’s — offers further evidence of targeting student aid rather than tuition level in helping needy students complete their degrees. While net cost of attendance has no measurable effect in the graduation rates of well-off students seeking bachelor’s degrees in the public sector, it has a major, statistically significant effect on those with the least ability to pay and the greatest need for financial aid.

Ohio independent colleges and universities award proportionately more of the state's bachelor's degrees, and especially last year to African American students.

In all "STEM" fields, Ohio's independent colleges are the more efficient sector in graduating their majors.

At an Ohio public university, you're more likely to not complete your degree at all than to complete it on time - not so at an Ohio independent college!

All students, even those academically less prepared for college, are more likely to graduate on time at an Ohio independent college.

This lower student-to-degree ratio once again demonstrates the greater effectiveness of Ohio's independent colleges in educating all the state's citizens.

New federal statistics show that an entering freshman is more likely to complete a bachelor's degree in four years at an Ohio independent college than in five years at an Ohio public university.

The educational attainment of our citizens, once one of our nation's assets, has now become a liability.

As women are increasingly dominating higher education enrollments -- in 2007, they constituted 55 percent of undergraduates at public and independent campuses nationwide -- they also graduate faster.

Ohio’s four-year colleges and universities — both independent and public — meet or exceed national norms on their graduation rates: the share of their freshmen who complete their degrees four, five, or six years after first enrolling.

Look beyond federal graduation statistics to see the entire role of Ohio’s independent colleges in teacher education. To be licensed for high school, students must major in the fields in which they intend to teach, and independents’ disproportionate share of graduates in science, mathematics, and foreign languages lead to a similar share of graduates seeking to become Ohio teachers.

A new national study offers further evidence supporting the greater efficiency of independent higher education.

Like its neighboring states, Ohio continues to lag the nation in the share of its adult population with a bachelor's degree.

State Expenditures Per Degree Awarded At Ohio Public and Independent Colleges (2- and 4-year) Fiscal Year 2007 (Academic Year 2006-07)

Source: Expenditures, Ohio Board of Regents; Degrees, National Center for Education Statistics

When measured by results - associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees - the state's higher education dollars go much further at independent colleges.

Independent colleges enroll about a third of the state's undergraduates at four-year colleges and universities - but almost half of those who finish on time.

Regardless of how well you did on your ACT - even if your school doesn't require the ACT - you're much more likely to graduate on time at an AICUO member institution.

New data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows the continued high perfromance of Ohio's independent colleges and universities in graduating their freshman on time.

Ohio independent colleges shine in graduating scientists, engineers, artists, linguists...

Even engineers, as only a handful of independent colleges can afford to offer engineering programs, and one of every five of Ohio's bachelor's degrees in that area come from our members.

Persistence and four-year graduation rates Ohio independent and public four-year institutions

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Four out of every five new freshmen return the next year to the campus where they started at both Ohio public and Ohio independent four-year colleges and universities. But after four years, the share who have completed their bachelor's degrees is nearly 20 percent higher.

Foreign students at AICUO member colleges and universities succeed at an even higher rate than American students.

Ohio's independent colleges have long been receptive to students who begin their studies at a community college. Fully half of those earn bachelor's degrees at an Ohio college who transferred credit from a two-year campus earned their four-year degree at an AICUO member campus: compared to 1/3 of bachelor's degrees overall.

Graduation Rates of Ohio College Students
Ohio Independent and Public 4-Year Institutions

WHY TAKE AN EXTRA YEAR TO GRADUATE?
More than half of the entering students at Ohio's independent colleges earn their bachelor's degrees in four years or less — while at the public campuses it takes an extra year until half their entering freshmen have finished.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

Independent College Share of Ohio 4-year Undergraduates v. Ohio Bachelor's Degrees, 2005-06

Ohio's independent colleges and universities are more productive in assisting minority populations to reach their educational goals.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

4- and 5-Year Baccalaureate Graduation Rates At Ohio Higher Education Institutions