Delaying college enrollment was associated with low completion: only 8 percent of CPS students who delayed completed a degree or credential within six years¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Only 8 percent of students who delayed college enrollment completed a degree or credential within six years. → Nagaoka 2021

Evidence¶

Nagaoka 2021¶

Nagaoka, J., Lee, J.S., Usher, A., & Seeskin, A. (2021). Navigating the maze: Understanding CPS graduates' paths through college. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/navigating-the-maze

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Observational analysis comparing CPS graduates who delayed college enrollment with other graduates over six years. The study reports "Only 8 percent" of delayers completed a degree or credential within six years; the association is descriptive and no standardized effect size is printed.

"Delaying enrollment or taking a "gap year" resulted in lower college completion rates for many CPS students. Only 8 percent of students who delayed college enrollment completed a degree or credential within six years."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• CPS graduates took more than 6,000 distinct post-secondary paths, so continuous enrollment at one college was not the standard route to a credential — related
• Among 2014 CPS graduates who immediately enrolled in college, 46% completed a credential within six years, with large gaps by enrollment pathway — related
• Six-year college completion among the CPS class of 2015 varied sharply by enrollment pathway: 55.8% for immediate four-year enrollees, 32.5% for immediate two-year enrollees, and 7.8% for delayed/non-enrollees — related
• Four-year college graduation rates remained flat at about 49 percent for direct four-year enrollees, with much lower rates for two-year (8 percent) and delayed enrollees (4 percent) — related
• Stopping out was common and associated with non-completion: about 90 percent of CPS graduates who took a semester off did not finish a degree within six years — related
• Ten percent of CPS graduates who did not enroll in college within six years had an average high school GPA above 3.0, a missed opportunity for high-achieving students — related
• Four-year enrollees had stronger academic qualifications than two-year enrollees and non-enrollees, yet many non-enrollees and two-year entrants had credentials sufficient for four-year access — related
• Each additional semester of continuous college enrollment is associated with a higher completion rate, but no specific semesters carry distinctive predictive value — related
• Few CPS graduates who delay college entry or first enroll in a two-year college go on to earn a four-year degree — related
• Students who commit to a program of study within their first year are more likely to complete a credential or transfer within five years — related
• Community college credential completion rates are low and have slightly declined, with markedly lower rates for black and Hispanic students — related
• Among the CPS class of 2009, 76 percent enrolled in college within six years, and delayed entry was concentrated among two-year starters rather than four-year starters