More girls apply for scholarships than boys. That, among other data, was shared at the Feb. 19 Board Conversation by high school guidance counselor Brennan Schrader, who shared post-graduation student outcomes as gathered from the National Student Clearinghouse.
“National Student Clearinghouse is a non-profit that collects data from the universities to send it to the federal government,” Schrader said of seeing where students are after graduation at Stanley-Boyd. “It’s not me going in and asking every kid…it’s straight from the colleges about where they’ve gone, how long they been there, anywhere that they’ve been.”
With over 3,600 participating colleges and universities, Schrader said that the likelihood of students going to schools outside of those with National Student Clearinghouse “are very slim.” Tracking the past eight years of graduates from Stanley-Boyd, Schrader had several takeaways in his presentation to the board.
Before attending college was getting there.
“How many of our kids are going to college after high school?” Schrader asked, showing a graph that with a pandemic caveat. “You will notice right around that COVID time there’s a large drop and that’s nationwide,” he said of students in college.
With an average of 56 percent of students attending college immediately after graduating high school, the graph data showed a peak of 64 percent in 2019 followed by a drop to 53 percent the following year, the figures closing out at 51 percent in 2023, the most recent year available.
As to college choices, public schools topped the list, with Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC), UW-Eau Claire and UW—River Falls the top three, several other UW schools following. Other colleges attended by Stanley-Boyd alumni include the University of Minnesota, Viterbo University, Augsburg University, Carthage College, Winona State, Iowa State, Marian University, St. Norbert’s University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Northern Michigan University, and Northcentral Technical College. A small percentage of students chose private over public for postsecondary education, the figure dropping to zero in 2020 before topping out at seven percent in 2023.
As to length of stay, four-year institutions have enjoyed a preference, topping out at 49 percent in 2018 to just 12 percent for two years, before narrowing the gap in 2020 to 27 percent four year to 26 percent for two-year institutions. The gap reopened with 336 percent at four-year institutions in 2022 to just 12 percent at two year, before narrowing once more to 33 percent at four year institutions and 18 percent at two year ones in 2023. The overall enrollment rate for postsecondary education was 51 percent in 2023 for Stanley-Boyd graduates, up from 48 percent in 2022. As to enrollment numbers, these are followed class fluctuations, with 38 of 64 students enrolled immediately out of high school in 2016, 53 of 85 in 2017, 44 of 72 in 2018, 47 of 74 in 2019, 27 of 51 in 202, 37 of 76, in 2021, 32 of 66 in 2022, and 43 of 85 in 2023.
Also included in the report from the National Student Clearinghouse was a finding that in-state institutions enjoyed an advantage over out-of-state ones, a double-digit gap topping at 61 percent in-state to one percent out-of-state (a 60-percentage point gap) in 2017, then narrowing to 40 percent in-state and 11 percent out-of-state (a 29-percentage point gap) in 2023.
Of those students who enrolled in college after high school and then returned for a second year, figures start at 72 percent in 2016, rise to 74 percent in 2017, and top out at 91 percent in 2018, before decreasing to 78 percent in 2019, 74 percent in 202, and 71 percent in 2021.
Second year attendance at private institutions started at 100 percent in 2017, fell to 50 percent in 2017, rose to 100 percent in 2018 and 2019, before falling to zero for 2020 and 2021. All institution attendance roughly mirrored public institution numbers.
As to institution type for those returning students, students attending two-year institutions returned at a lower rate than those attending four-year ones. Beginning in 2016, those returning to a two-year institution for a second year were 53 percent compared with 86 percent for four year, rising to 57 percent for two year in 2017 to 85 percent for four year, and hitting 75 percent return to two year compared with 97 percent for four-year institutions in 2018. Two-year institutions then decreased to a 73 percent return rate in 2019 compared with 81 percent for four-year, 46 percent in 2020 to 100 percent for four year, and 50 percent in 2021 to 86 percent for four year institutions. Out of state institutions were favored for second year return, the only exception being 2018, when out-of-state returns fell to 88 percent compared with 91 percent for in-state returns. As with previous categories, the overall rate of second year return aligned with in-state institutions, the overall return rate for second year being 77 percent as spread across both in-state and out-of-state figures.
As to degree completion, a difference emerged when measuring the class as a whole versus those who had enrolled.
“So, when we send them off to college, do they get the diploma they start off with?” he said.
With the percent of those who completed a degree within six years being 37 percent for the Class of 2016, and 45 percent for the Class of 2017, for an overall average of 42 percent. The vast majority of these degrees, meanwhile, were from four year institutions, with out-of-state locations having a lower return rate than in-state ones on degree completion.
The above percentage figures reflect each class as a whole, rather than just those seeking a postsecondary degree. Approximately one-third or just under this for each of the above class have not been to college or in the National Student Clearinghouse database.
Of those in the database and seeking an associates, bachelors, or higher degree from within the Class of 2016, a plurality of 12 percent graduated within four years, another 12 percent doing so within five years. Of the remainder from 2016, two percent took six years, while six percent graduated in two years or less and five percent took three years. 1.6 percent of 2016 graduates, meanwhile, were new to college in the 2022-23 academic year.
As for the Class of 2017, the number graduating within four years rose to 20 percent, with another
11 percent taking five years. Of the remainder five percent took six years, seven percent two or less, and two percent took three years. A full 1.2 percent of students from the Class of 2017 were new to college in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
With more recent cases still well within the data collection window of eight years, initial figures show a large drop in college enrollment in 2020 following the onset of the pandemic, with 41.2 percent of this class not included within National Student Clearinghouse data. Conversely, some 5.9 percent of the Class of 2020 have already graduated postsecondary education, while 21.6 percent of the class persisting, out of an initial 51 percent college enrollment for the class. Two percent are new to college.
