Undergraduate education offers prospective students an array of benefits including stronger employment prospects, higher earnings, and better health outcomes. But to enjoy the full benefits of a college education, students must persist to graduation. At present, too few undergraduates do. What’s more, racial and ethnic disparities in undergraduate persistence and completion have reduced the attainment gains made possible through recent advances in postsecondary access among students of color and reinforced extant racial inequities in educational attainment. The employment and earnings benefits foregone through non-completion take on even greater importance as students finance a greater share of their college costs out of private resources and debt.
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Undergraduate Completions by Award Level
In 2021, over 1 million students received associate degrees. Of those associate degree recipients, 47.3 percent were White students and 47.1 percent were students of color. The share of students of color[1] among all associate degree recipients increased by about 7 percent point from 40.1 percent in 2016.
Of the over 2 million students who earned bachelor’s degrees in 2021, 54.7 percent were White students and 37.0 percent were students of color. The share of students of color among all bachelor’s degree recipients increased by about 5.5 percent point from 31.5 percent in 2016.
[1] The group students of color includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and multiracial students.
