The National Center for Education Studies (NCES), the primary federal organization in charge of collecting, analyzing and reporting academic information, released a report on Tuesday detailing the latest statistics on college students. Included were college enrollment trends, graduation rates and information about the
financial aid received by students who began college after 1999.
According to the report, a total of 18 million undergraduate and graduate school students were enrolled in a
college or university during the fall of 2006. Based on analysis of these students, as well as of those who enrolled in a four-year institution in 2000 or a 2-year institution in 2003, it was found that:\r\n
\r\n - 62 percent of college students attended 4-year institutions, 37 percent attended 2-year institutions and 2 percent attended institutions with programs of shorter lengths.
\r\n - About 58 percent of first-time, full-time bachelor degree seekers completed their degree after six years; only 36 percent graduated after four.
\r\n - Approximately 50 percent of full-time students seeking a bachelor’s degree at a private, not-for-profit institution graduated within four years; 29 percent of students at public universities completed school by this time.
\r\n - During the 2005-2006 school year, 75 percent of first-time, full-time degree-seeking students received financial aid in some form (including federal loans)
\r\n - Of those students receiving financial aid, 28 percent received assistance in the form of a federal grant. The average grant totaled $2,923.
\r\n - During the 2005-2006 school year, 46 percent of first-time, full-time students who sought a degree took out student loans; of these, 60 percent attended a 4-year, private, non-for profit university and 44 percent attended a 4-year, public institution.
\r\n - The average public, 4-year institution used about 25 percent of its income for instruction, 12 percent for research and 10 percent for hospitals. Private, 4-year institutions and public, 2-year institutions used about 32 and 39 percent of income respectively for instruction.
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