Question:
How long does it take students at colleges and universities to complete their degrees?

Response:
On average, first-time recipients of bachelor's degrees in 1999�00 who had not stopped out of college for 6 months or more took about 55 months from first enrollment to degree completion. Graduates who had attended multiple institutions took longer to complete a degree. For example, those who attended only one institution averaged 51 months between postsecondary entry and completion of a bachelor's degree, compared with 59 months for those who attended two institutions and 67 months for those who attended three or more institutions. This pattern was found among graduates of both public and private not-for-profit institutions.

Students who begin at public 2-year institutions must transfer to another institution in order to complete a 4-year degree. Students who did so took about a year and one-half longer to complete a bachelor's degree than students who began at public 4-year institutions (71 vs. 55 months), and almost 2 years longer than those who began at private not-for-profit 4-year institutions (50 months). The type of institution from which graduates received a degree was also related to time to degree: graduates of public institutions averaged about 6 months longer to complete a degree than graduates of private not-for-profit institutions (57 vs. 51 months).

Other factors are also related to time to degree completion. As parents' education increases, the average time to degree completion decreases. In addition, as age and length of time between high school graduation and postsecondary entry increases, time to degree completion also increases. Higher grade-point averages were associated with a shorter time to degree completion among graduates of public institutions, but not among graduates of private not-for-profit institutions.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). The Condition of Education 2003 (NCES 2003-067), Indicator 21.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 318. Percentage distribution of enrollment and completion status of first-time postsecondary students starting during the 1995-96 academic year, by type of institution and other student characteristics: 2001
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 8. Percentage of persons age 25 and over and 25 to 29, by race/ethnicity, years of school completed, and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2007
  
• 2005, The Condition of Education 2005: Postsecondary participation and attainment among traditional-age students
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Remediation and degree completion
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Trends in undergraduate persistence and completion
  
• 2003, The Condition of Education 2003: Institutional retention and student persistence at 4-Year institutions
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2004, College Persistence on the Rise? Changes in 5-Year Degree Completion and Postsecondary Persistence Rates Between 1994 and 2000
  
• 2002, Descriptive Summary of 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later
  
• 2002, Short-Term Enrollment in Postsecondary Education: Student Background and Institutional Differences in Reasons for Early Departure, 1996�
  
• 2002, The Persistence of Employees Who Pursue College Study
  
• 2001, Bridging the Gap: Academic Preparation and Postsecondary Success of First-Generation Students
  
• 2001, High School Academic Curriculum and the Persistence Path Through College: Persistence and Transfer Behavior of Undergraduates 3 Years After Entering 4-Year Institutions