State Data on Certificates & Associate Degrees Leading to a Higher Degree Released
Nearly 220,000 out of 536,351 Associate Degrees Lead to a Bachelors within 6 Years; More Than 60,000 Certificates out of 231,029 Lead to an Associate or Bachelor’s Degree
HERNDON, VA, June 28, 2016 – The National Student Clearinghouse® Research Center™ today released the Certificate/Associate Pathways Snapshot Report for all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on degrees awarded in 2009-10 that led to an associate or bachelor’s degree.
The report shows that of all associate degrees reported to the National Student Clearinghouse for the 2009-10 academic year, 536,351 were earned by students with no previous degrees or certificates. Within the next six academic years, over 64 percent of these students enrolled at a four-year institution and 41 percent earned a bachelor’s degree.
“Among those earning a bachelor’s degree after the associate’s, 70 percent took more than two years to complete it,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Research Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “Meanwhile, 62 percent of the students who earned an associate degree after a certificate did so within two years.”
Of all certificates reported to the Clearinghouse for the 2009-10 academic year, 231,029 were earned by students with no previous degrees or certificates. Within the next six academic years, over 64 percent of these students enrolled in additional college courses and 26 percent earned an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or both.
Top 5 States Where Associate Degrees Awarded 2009-10 Led to Bachelor’s, based on Total Numbers:
Florida: 27,917 out of 50,537
California: 22,347 out of 50,081
New York: 17,760 out of 41,658
Texas: 14,123 out of 30,686
Illinois: 8,929 out of 19,779
Top 5 States Where Associate Degrees Led to Bachelor’s Degrees, based on Percentages:
Utah: 55.4% (4,458 out of 8,045)
Florida: 55.2% (27,917 out of 50,537)
New Jersey: 51.9% (7,223 out of 13,928)
Idaho: 49.3% (1,147 out of 2,326)
Washington: 47.5% (6,739 out of 14,183)
Colleges and Universities are able to compare their students against these state and national benchmarks via the Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker for Colleges and Universities service by running a cohort query report. For details, go to our StudentTracker site.
About the National Student Clearinghouse® Research Center™
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit http://nscresearchcenter.org.
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