STEM Attrition

The National Center for Education Statistics of the Institute of Education Sciences (NCES), U.S. Department of Education, just released a new statistical analysis report (SAR) entitled “STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields.” Quoting from the report:

Producing sufficient numbers of graduates who are prepared for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations has become a national priority in the United States. To attain this goal, some policymakers have targeted reducing STEM attrition in college, arguing that retaining more students in STEM fields in college is a low-cost, fast way to produce the STEM professionals that the nation needs.

The SAR focused on enrollment choices that result in undergraduates who declare a STEM major moving away from STEM fields by switching majors to non-STEM fields or leaving postsecondary education before earning a degree or certificate. The findings included the following (quoted from the SAR with emphasis added):

Colleges that graduate students on time

For a list of the colleges with the best four-year graduation rates, click here. Haverford (Pa.), Pomona (Cal.) and Swarthmore (Pa.) lead the pack at 91%. To give you some further perspective, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the four-year graduation rate for students pursuing a bachelor’s degree at four-year public institutions is 31%, much lower than the 52% rate at private, nonprofit institutions. The rate at private, for-profit institutions is only 20%.