• Enrollments and Persistence at Different Types of Institutions
• Students Who Start at Less-Than-4-Year Institutions
• Conclusions

The report begins with an essay, which is followed by a compendium of tables. Because most students who began in 1995-96 would not have been enrolled long enough to complete a bachelor's degree at the time of the follow-up survey in 1998, the essay focuses on the persistence and attainment of students enrolled in programs leading to associate's degrees and vocational certificates at less-than-4-year institutions. In particular, it compares the outcomes of students in public institutions with those in private for-profit institutions 3 years after they first enrolled.

The compendium contains supplemental tables detailing persistence and attainment by various types of institutions. It also includes summary findings and tables about the characteristics of beginning students, with a particular emphasis on employment.

Of the roughly 3 million students who first enrolled in postsecondary education in 1995-96, about 40 percent began in 4-year institutions (usually in bachelor's degree programs), but the majority began at less-than-4-year institutions, including 50 percent at 2-year institutions and about 10 percent at less-than-2-year institutions (figure A). Less-than-2-year institutions offer only vocational certificate programs that can be completed in anywhere from a few months to just under 2 years. Two-year institutions offer both certificates and associate's degrees that require 2 to 3 years of full-time enrollment. The students who started at these less-than-4-year institutions in 1995-96 could have completed a certificate or associate's degree program by 1998, while those in 4-year bachelor's degree programs would normally just be completing their junior year of college.

Attainment means that the student completed a program and earned a degree, defined broadly as including certificates. Persistence refers to all those who continued to be enrolled until they completed a program, and therefore includes those who attained a degree. Students who transferred from their original institution and continued to be enrolled or completed a program elsewhere have also persisted.

Figure B displays information about persistence and attainment 3 years after students first enrolled in 1995-96. Each institution sector is shown separately. Among those who started in 4-year institutions, 18 percent had left postsecondary education without a degree, about three-fourths were still enrolled without a degree, and a small percentage had attained a degree (mostly certificates and associate's degrees). That is, about 80 percent had persisted, but not necessarily at the institution where they first started.¹ Among those who started at 2-year and at less-than-2-year institutions, about 40 percent had left postsecondary education within 3 years without attaining a certificate or degree. The majority of those who started at less-than-2-year institutions had attained a certificate or degree (58 percent), compared with 18 percent of those who started at 2-year institutions.

As shown in figure A, most of the beginning students who enrolled in the 2-year sector (91 percent) attended public institutions, usually community colleges. Most of those in the less-than-2-year sector (80 percent) attended private for-profit institutions (also known as proprietary or private career schools). The community colleges have a broad range of missions, from job training to offering lower division courses for students who want to transfer to 4-year institutions. The private for-profit institutions generally only offer programs that prepare students for specific occupations.

Figure A.—Percentage distribution of 1995-96 beginning postsecondary students according to level of institution first attended and, among those in less-than-4-year institutions, the percentage distribution according to institution control

Figure B.—Percentage distribution of 1995-96 beginning postsecondary students after 3 years according to enrollment status and attainment

The essay focuses on the less-than-4-year institutions, comparing the students who started at public with those who started at private for-profit institutions in terms of their degree programs, goals, and enrollment patterns. The analysis differentiates between students in certificate and associate's degree programs and further separates students in associate's degree programs into applied and liberal arts fields. One of the main questions addressed is why students who begin at less-than-4-year public institutions have lower rates of attainment than those who begin at less-than-4-year private for-profit institutions.²

In order to make a meaningful comparison between students who begin their postsecondary education at less-than-4-year public and private for-profit institutions, it is important to examine the types of programs in which students enroll and, further, why they have enrolled. Figure C illustrates how students in less-than-4-year public and private for-profit institutions were distributed with respect to both their program and field of study and their reported degree goals.

Private for-profit institutions primarily offer short-term programs leading to vocational certificates. Accordingly, four-fifths of these students were enrolled in certificate programs, primarily in cosmetology, health assistance, secretarial, and mechanical trades. The remaining one-fifth were enrolled in applied associate's degree programs such as business, nursing/allied health, and engineering technology. Students beginning in public less-than-4-year institutions, on the other hand, were more likely to be enrolled in associate's degree programs than in vocational certificate programs. About 40 percent each were in applied associate's degree programs and in either liberal arts or undeclared associate's fields.³

An examination of beginning students' degree goals at the institution where they start clarifies their actual intentions with respect to their current enrollment. Unlike most private for-profit institutions, one of the missions of public 2-year institutions is to provide a means for students working toward a bachelor's degree to complete their lower division requirements and transfer to a 4-year institution. Students who transfer are not required to have earned an associate's degree, but if they successfully transfer, they have achieved their goal for that institution.

Figure C.—Percentage distribution of 1995-96 beginning postsecondary students who first enrolled in public and private for-profit less-than-4-year institutions, by first program and field of study and by first degree goal

Students in public institutions primarily reported goals of earning an associate's degree (47 percent) or transferring to a 4-year college without a degree (24 percent). In contrast, students in private for-profit institutions indicated goals of obtaining a vocational certificate (65 percent) or an associate's degree (18 percent), while few indicated any transfer intentions (2 percent). In both the public and the private for-profit sectors, approximately the same percentage reported having no degree goal (15 and 16 percent, respectively). That is, they were probably enrolled to advance their occupational skills or for their own personal enrichment.

When students in less-than-4-year institutions were asked to report their primary reason for enrolling (separate from their degree goals), two-thirds of those in private for-profit institutions indicated that they wanted to gain job skills, compared with one-quarter of those in public institutions. Correspondingly, about one-third of students in public less-than-4-year institutions reported plans to transfer to a 4-year college, compared with only 2 percent of those in private for-profit institutions.

Taking into account both students' degree goals and their primary purpose for enrolling, it is apparent that those enrolled in the private for-profit sector would be able to fulfill their intentions of earning a certificate or an associate's degree and, in the process, enhance their job skills all in the same institution. Students in the public sector, on the other hand, had less of an immediate occupational focus and often planned to transfer to a 4-year college without earning an associate's degree.

A major difference between certificate and associate's degree programs is the time it takes to complete them. A vocational certificate program is often completed in about 1 year, while associate's degrees take at least 2 years to complete. Most of the beginning students at private for-profit less-than-4-year institutions were enrolled in short-term certificate programs (80 percent), while most of those in public institutions were enrolled in longer term associate's degree programs (80 percent) (figure C).

Not only were the beginning students in the private for-profit institutions primarily enrolled in shorter programs, but most of them (about three-fourths) were full-time students during their entire enrollment. At the public institutions, about one-half of the beginning students started their enrollment full time, but just one-third continued to attend full time as long as they were enrolled. Moreover, about one-fourth of those in the public institutions were always enrolled part time, compared with about one-tenth in the private for-profit institutions.

Full-time students are obviously able to progress through a program more quickly than part-time students. Since most of the students starting in the private for-profit sector were in shorter programs and attended full time as long as they were enrolled, it might be expected that they would have higher rates of degree attainment after 3 years than those who started at the public less-than-4-year institutions, where most of the students were in longer programs and less likely to attend full time.

Comparing the students in the two sectors who began in vocational certificate programs and those who began in associate's degree programs controls for the effect of the difference in the length of these programs on attainment rates. The percentages displayed in figure D differentiate students who were still enrolled at the same institution from those who transferred and are limited to those who attained a degree at the first institution attended.

The differences in attainment rates at public and private for-profit institutions are still evident within certificate and associate's degree programs. About one-half (54 percent) of those who began in certificate programs at private for-profit institutions attained a certificate at the first institution attended, compared with 30 percent of those who began at public institutions. The percentage of beginning students in associate's degree programs who attained associate's degrees at the first institution was also higher at the private for-profit institutions than at the public institutions (35 percent compared with 7 percent).

There was no difference between sectors in the percentage of those in associate's degree programs who left postsecondary education from the first institution without a degree (34 percent). However, as might be expected from the difference in degree goals examined earlier, the percentage of those in associate's degree programs who left the first institution attended to transfer elsewhere was higher at the public than at the private for-profit institutions (23 percent compared with 9 percent).

The difference in the attainment rates of beginning students in the two sectors appears to be related to the much higher percentage of full-time students in the private for-profit institutions. In addition, the higher degree attainment rates at the for-profit institutions may be related to their term structure. Many for-profit institutions offer programs that allow continuous enrollment without regular term structures or summer vacations. This is reflected in the time it took students to attain degrees or certificates. Those full-time students who completed certificates at private for-profit institutions finished in an average of 12 months, while those who completed certificates at public institutions required an average of 16 months. Similarly, those who completed an associate's degree at public institutions took an average of 25 months, 3 months longer than those who received an associate's degree at private for-profit institutions by 1998.

Figure D.—Percentage distribution of 1995-96 beginning postsecondary students who began in private for-profit and in public less-than-4-year institutions, by enrollment status and attainment at the first institution attended after 3 years

Many of the differences in the enrollment experiences of beginning students at private for-profit and at public less-than-4-year institutions reflect the differences in the type of program in which they were enrolled. Eighty percent of the students in the private for-profit institutions began in vocational certificate programs, while about 80 percent of the students in the public institutions began in associate's degree programs, which take longer to complete. Nevertheless, the attainment rates for both vocational certificates and associate's degrees were much higher for students who began in private for-profit institutions.

There were also distinct differences in degree goals, reasons for enrolling, and attendance patterns between students in the two sectors that contribute to explaining some of the attainment differences. Compared with students in public less-than-4-year institutions, those in private for-profit less-than-4-year institutions

• were more likely to focus on gaining job skills;
• had degree goals specific to the programs offered at the first institution attended and were less likely to have intentions of transferring to a 4-year college;
• were more likely to attend full time for the duration of their enrollment; and
• completed their certificate or associate's degree programs in a shorter time.