According to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center in Herndon, Virginia, over the past 20 years, more than 31 million students have enrolled in college and left without receiving a degree or certificate. A third of these students spent one semester or less enrolled in college.
The study offers a look at the demographics of these non-completers. Women are about 57 percent of all students enrolled in college and earn nearly 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees. As a result, it is not surprising that women are a smaller percentage of the non-completers. Yet women still make up more than half of all students who have some college experience but no degree. More than half of the women non-completers with two years of college experience (those with the best prospects of returning to school) are under the age of 30 and therefore have strong incentive to complete college in order to enhance their career prospects.
The full report, Some College, No Degree: A National View of Students With Some College Enrollment, But No Completion, may be downloaded by clicking here.