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Completion is key.
The path from enrollment to graduation is neither linear nor certain for many students. If they take longer than planned to reach graduation, the opportunity costs increase as they delay starting their careers. If they don’t reach graduation at all, they still have to pay for school and are likely left without the skills required to be competitive in today’s economy.
To build a talent-strong Texas, we must focus not only on helping students start their postsecondary journeys but also on helping students complete them.
Most students don’t graduate “on time.”
The charts below show graduation rates for students who started their postsecondary education between 2015 and 2022. Students often take longer to complete than the expected two years at a public community, state, or technical college and four years at a public university.
In the chart for public community, state, or technical colleges, we see increases in the three- and four-year graduation rates for the previous three cohorts. Almost one-third of students who entered a two-year institution in 2022 graduated within three years, and an additional 7% of students graduate within four years of entering. Six years after enrollment, just under half (43 – 44%) of students had graduated from a public community, state, or technical college. The remainder of students either continued at their institution beyond six years, transferred to a university, or dropped out.
For students attending public universities, 40 to 47% of students graduated within four years. The graduation rate is around 20 percentage points higher at the five-year mark and marginally higher (5-6 percentage points) at the six-year mark.
Graduation rates are picking up pace
For all public institutions of higher education, the percentage of students graduating on time has increased since the 2015 cohort. At community, state, and technical colleges, the three-year and four-year rates have accelerated in the past three cohorts. Public universities have seen gradual growth – the four-year graduation rate increased by 7 percentage points from the 2015 cohort to the 2021 cohort. These data suggest that Texas postsecondary students are increasingly likely to complete degrees on time.
Yet, six-year graduation rates remain consistent. At community, state, and technical colleges, 43 – 44% of students graduate within six years, whereas 66 – 67% of students graduate within six years at universities. In other words, three-in-five community, state, and technical college students and one-in-three university students do not complete a degree within six years. Although the pace of finishing a degree has accelerated, the total percentage of students earning degrees at the six-year mark has remained at 2015 levels. Supporting student persistence and engagement after their first four or five years may improve Texas’ higher education graduation rates.
