Study: Just Over Half of College Students Complete Degrees

By Noah Rayman

Female students were more likely to earn a degree than their male counterparts




About 56 percent of students who started college in 2007 completed their degree, according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released Monday.
The study looked at nearly 2.4 million student records from 3,500 schools and found low graduation rates, particularly at the country’s public and for-profit institutions.
Some the of the most notable stats, via the Associated Press: 

• In total, 56 percent of students who started course work in 2007 completed their degree.
• 43 percent of students who started school in 2007 completed their degree where they started. 13 percent of students completed their degree somewhere different from where they started.
• 67 percent of students who enrolled full-time in 2007 completed their degree.
• 19 percent of students who enrolled part-time in 2007 completed their degree.
• 29 percent of students who started coursework in 2007 are still working toward their degree.
• The percentage of female students who earned a degree was 7 percentage points higher than the percentage of male students who earned a degree. 
• Students older than 24–comprising 15 percent of students who began coursework in 2007–were far less likely to complete their degree: 44 percent of older students did not earn a degree and are no longer enrolled.