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Over 40 per cent of full time four-year college students fail to earn a bachelor's degree within six years, and many never complete their education. This paper describes this sizeable fraction of the US higher education market and estimates counterfactual predicted probabilities of degree completion, had students made different initial postsecondary enrollment choices. Using data from the [National Longitudinal Study of Youths 1997] NLSY97, a rich nationally representative data set, [the author] make[s] several observations. First, policies aimed at increasing postsecondary degree attainment by encouraging college enrollment are likely to be unproductive, given that students who are currently not enrolling in postsecondary education have very low predicted probabilities of completion, due to their low academic preparedness. This holds true for enrollment in both two-year and four-year colleges. Second, [the author] find[s] that students who drop-out of four-year colleges generally also have very low predicted probabilities of completion, although this varies across student groups. Finally, [the author] conclude[s] that had four-year college drop-outs begun their postsecondary careers at a two-year college, their predicted probabilities of postsecondary degree completion would be significantly higher. While most of this increase in degree completion comes through increased associate's degree attainment, about a third of four-year college drop-outs would have a higher chance of bachelor's degree completion, had they begun college at a two-year institution. While [the] results are only a descriptive analysis, and should not be interpreted as causal findings, until more is understood about the types of students who drop-out of college and potential reasons why, there will likely be little progress in reducing the college failure rate in the US.

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Students who do not have access to credit may not be able to complete their optimal level of post-secondary education. More than one out of every 10 community college students nationwide attends a community college that does not allow access to federal college loans. This paper takes advantage of plausibly exogenous variation in whether a student's community college offers student loans to evaluate the effect of access to Stafford loans on student outcomes, including educational attainment, employment, and finances. Using the Beginning Postsecondary Student Study of 2004, [the author] show[s] that access to federal Stafford loans does not affect the decision to attend community college. However, [the author] find[s] that Stafford loan access increases overall borrowing among community college students by $262 a year and increases the likelihood of transferring to a four-year school by 5.6 percentage points. Additionally, for high-need and female students, loan access increases their total months of enrollment and dependent students' bachelor's degree attainment as well. These sizable effects of loan access on student behavior indicate that federal loans relax credit constraints for some community college students.

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This paper utilizes a comprehensive longitudinal dataset containing a census of every public high school student in Florida to describe two- to four-year college transfer patterns. [The] main finding is the significant degree to which community college transfer students are sensitive to distance: relative to recent high school graduates, community college transfer students are considerably less likely to choose a four-year institution located far away. In addition, students who attend a two-year college located far from any four-year institutions are less likely to transfer at all. This sensitivity is important given that for many community college transfer students, the nearest four-year institution is characterized by low instructional expenditures and graduation rates.

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This report presents selected findings about the employment and educational outcomes of bachelor's degree recipients 10 years after they completed their degrees. These findings are based on data from the 2008/18 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/18). B&B:08/18 is the third follow-up in a nationally representative longitudinal study of students who completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree during the 2007-08 academic year. The first follow-up, which was conducted in 2009, one year after their graduation, explored both undergraduate education experiences and early postbaccalaureate employment and enrollment. The second follow-up, conducted in 2012, examined bachelor's degree recipients' labor market experiences and enrollment in additional degree programs through the 4th year after graduation. This third follow-up, conducted in 2018, explores labor market experiences, financial aid debt and repayment, and postbaccalaureate enrollment through the 10th year after graduation.

The Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) series of data collections allows researchers to address questions regarding bachelor's degree recipients' undergraduate experiences, including their participation in various financial aid programs, student loan debt and repayment of that debt; entrance into and progress through postbaccalaureate education; and employment, particularly for graduates who became elementary or secondary teachers. B&B also includes items to help policymakers and researchers better understand the teacher pipeline and experiences and outcomes of teachers. This First Look focuses on a subset of topics that can be examined with the B&B:08/18 data: financial well-being, student loan borrowing and repayment, postbaccalaureate enrollment, employment outcomes, and teaching status.

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This report presents initial findings about the employment and educational experiences of bachelor's degree recipients 1 year after they completed their degrees. These findings are based on data from the first follow-up of the 2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/17), a nationally representative longitudinal study of students who completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree during the 2015–16 academic year. The study addresses questions related to bachelor's degree recipients' education and employment experiences. The first follow-up, which was conducted in 2017, one year after their graduation, explored both undergraduate education experiences and early postbaccalaureate employment and enrollment.

The Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) series of data collections allows researchers to address questions regarding bachelor's degree recipients' undergraduate experiences, including their participation in various financial aid programs, undergraduate debt, and repayment of that debt; entrance into and progress through postbaccalaureate education; and employment, particularly for graduates who became elementary or secondary teachers. B&B includes items specifically for teachers to help researchers better understand the teacher pipeline and experiences and outcomes of teachers. B&B:16/17 is unique from previous B&B studies in that prekindergarten teachers were also asked about their teaching experiences, and all respondents were asked to provide a complete employment history beginning with the date they completed their bachelor's degree requirements. This First Look focuses on a subset of topics that can be examined with the B&B:16/17 data: undergraduate time to degree and student loan borrowing, postbaccalaureate enrollment, employment outcomes, and steps toward a teaching career.

The purpose of this report is to illustrate the range of information available in B&B:16/17. The selected findings present examples of the estimates that can be obtained from the data and are not intended to emphasize any particular issue. Readers are cautioned not to make causal inferences about the data presented here. Many of the variables presented are related to one another, and complex interactions and relationships have not been explored.

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This report summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 43 key indicators on the status and condition of education and are grouped under four main areas: (1) population characteristics, (2) participation in education, (3) elementary and secondary education, and (4) postsecondary education. Also included in the report are three Spotlight indicators that provide a more in-depth look at some of the data.

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This publication summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 42 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgement on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. In addition, three spotlight indicators are featured that describe selected issues of current policy interest: approaches to learning behaviors for first-time kindergartners; disparities in educational outcomes among male youth of color; and differences in postsecondary degree completion by socioeconomic status.

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