Change Indicator

College persistence to second year in Maine

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Why This Indicator Matters

Students who gain a credential of an associates degree or a bachelor's degree have a higher likelihood of maintaining employment at a wage that will allow them to meet their economic needs.  Students who begin college immediately after high school graduation or within one year are more likely to graduate.


What the data shows

For college students who first enrolled in a four-year college, the rate of continuing to a second year was 89%-90% for the classes of 2013- 2017, and 86% for the class of 2018. The pandemic affected the second-year enrollment for the class of 2019. Only 78.7% of the four-year students who graduated high school in the spring of 2019, started college in the fall of 2019 then returned in the fall of 2020. Among students who first enrolled at a two-year college in the fall of 2019, 57.2% returned for a second year, compared to 63.2% the previous year. The total  number of Maine students from the high school class of 2019 who were in either type of college for a second year was 6,443 or  1,000 fewer students than in 2009. 
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Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

College persistence to a second year measures the number of students who remained enrolled (persisted) in post-secondary education from the first year to the second year, this includes students who remained enrolled at any post-secondary institution, not retention at the same institution. The year refers to the year of graduation from high school, so 2019 is high school students who graduated in 2019, did they enroll in a second year of college by September 2021.

Data Source

National Student Clearinghouse Report run for Maine Department of Education 1/19/2022
NSC Student Tracker Report 2021 Table on page 21, "Count of Students Enrolled in College the First Year After High School Who Returned for a Second Year (Freshman to Sophomore Persistence)"

Notes

Updated June 2022.

Last Updated

June 2022