Research Review: More Undergraduates Seek Degrees
More Undergraduates Seek Degrees
The Department of Education conducts quadrennial studies of higher education via its National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (“NPSAS”). Data from the study of the 2007-08 academic year was recently released. This edition of Research Review begins a series looking at trends from the last three studies covering academic years 1999-00, 2003-04 and 2007-08.
An estimated 20.93 million students were enrolled as undergraduates in 2007-08 which was 1.8 million more students (10 percent) than enrolled four years earlier. (Figure 1) Though large, this four-year increase did not match the gain from 1999-00 to 2003-04 when an additional 2.52 million (15 percent) students enrolled in higher education.
Figure 1
As steady as growth appears to have been over the eight years, such was not the case when breaking down enrollment by degree program. Of the four degree categories covered by NPSAS, only Associate’s and Bachelor’s grew over both four-year periods. (Figure 2) One notable difference between the two is that a sizable gain of 1.7 million students was enjoyed by Bachelor’s programs in 2003-04 but it was the Associate’s programs that experienced the biggest gain of about 1.5 million students in 2007-08.
Figure 2
Growth in the two groups might be expected, but the difference in relative representation from each sector might not be. On a relative basis, Bachelor’s programs saw virtually no change between the last two studies after growing three percentage points over the prior four years. (Figure 3)
Meanwhile, changes in Certificate programs were roughly the opposite of Bachelor’s over the same periods.
Figure 3
With the enrollment growths in Associate’s and Bachelor’s programs, it is not surprising that these two have been educating larger percentages of postsecondary students. Combined, the two accounted for 81 percent of undergraduates in 1999-00, 83 percent in 2003-04 and 87 percent in 2007-08.
Upcoming editions of Research Review will delve into the two larger sectors to identify trends behind their growth plus the respective students’ reliance on student loans to help them pursue their degrees.
