The Road Less Traveled?

U.S. Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

NCES 2005–157

Students Who Enroll in Multiple 

Institutions

Postsecondary Education 

Descriptive Analysis Report
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 
U.S. Department of Education 

Institute of Education Sciences 

NCES 2005–157 

The Road 

Less Traveled? 

Students Who Enroll in 

Multiple Institutions 

Postsecondary Education 

Descriptive Analysis Report 

May 2005 

Katharin Peter 

Emily Forrest Cataldi 

MPR Associates, Inc. 

C. Dennis Carroll 

Project Officer 

National Center for 

Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education 

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary 

Institute of Education Sciences 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director 

National Center for Education Statistics 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Acting Commissioner 

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Suggested Citation 

Peter, K., and Forrest Cataldi, E. (2005). The Road Less Traveled? Students Who Enroll in Multiple Institutions

(NCES 2005–157). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Government Printing Office. 

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iii 

Executive Summary 

Introduction 

As of 2001, 40 percent of students who 

enrolled in postsecondary education for the first 

time in 1995–96 had attended more than one 

institution (table A). Over the course of the 

undergraduate education of 1999–2000 college 

graduates (first-time bachelor’s degree recipients), 

a majority (59 percent) had attended more than 

one institution (figure 3). Even among 1999–2000 

bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year 

institutions, about 47 percent had attended another 

institution at some point with or without 

transferring (table 8-A). Much of the research on 

students who attend multiple institutions has 

focused on those who make a permanent transition 

from one institution to another (Bradburn and 

Hurst 2001; McCormick 1997). For the most part, 

previous literature has not reported on the other 

ways in which students enroll in multiple 

institutions, including co-enrollment (i.e., 

attending more than one institution 

simultaneously, also called “overlapping 

enrollment” or “dual enrollment”) and attending 

another institution without transferring from the 

first institution. The purpose of this study is to 

provide an overview of the extent to which 

undergraduates attend multiple institutions as well 

as the relationship between multiple institution 

attendance and persistence, attainment, and time 

to degree. Students who attended multiple 

institutions are the population of interest here. 

Subsets of this population will also be 

examined—specifically, those who: 

• Attended two or more institutions at one 

time (co-enrolled), 

• Transferred between institutions, or 

Table A.—Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96

Table A.—beginning postsecondary students by the type of

Table A.—the first institution attended, according to

Table A.—multiple institution attendance patterns

Private

 not-forPublic Public profit

Attendance patterns Total1 2-year 4-year 4-year

 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of institutions attended

 One 59.7 52.8 61.2 62.8

 More than one 40.4 47.2 38.9 37.2

 Two 30.1 35.4 28.7 27.0

 Three 8.6 10.2 8.3 8.0

 Four or more 1.7 1.7 1.9 2.2

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 89.2 88.6 87.6 86.9

 Sometimes co-enrolled 10.9 11.4 12.4 13.1

Transfer status

 Never transferred 67.9 58.5 73.0 76.3

 Transferred 32.1 41.5 27.0 23.7

 Once 25.9 34.3 21.0 17.4

 Twice 5.7 7.0 5.3 5.3

 Three times 0.5 0.2 0.6 1.0

1 Total includes students who began at types of institutions not

shown here.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/

library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for 

Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01); and

Berkner, L., He, S., and Forrest Cataldi, E. (2002). Descriptive

Summary of 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six 

Years Later (NCES 2003–151).

Type of first institution
Executive Summary 

iv 

• Began at a 4-year institution and attended a 

2-year institution at some point. 

This report focuses on both 1995–96 beginning 

postsecondary students and 1999–2000 bachelor’s 

degree recipients and is organized by survey and 

beginning institution type. 

This analysis uses data from the 1996/01 

Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study (BPS:96/01) and the 2000/01 Baccalaureate 

and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:2000/01). 

BPS:96/01 is a longitudinal survey of students 

who first began their postsecondary education in 

1995–96. The last follow-up survey was 

conducted in 2001, 6 years after students began 

their postsecondary education, by which time 

some students were no longer enrolled in 

postsecondary education, some had completed 

degrees or certificates, and some remained 

enrolled. B&B:2000/01 provides data on students 

who received a bachelor’s degree in the 1999–

2000 academic year, regardless of when they 

began their postsecondary education. Both studies 

used in this report are based on a representative 

sample of postsecondary education institutions in 

the United States and Puerto Rico and the students 

within those institutions. This analysis examines 

differences in student enrollment patterns using 

standard t-tests to determine statistical 

significance, and a two-way Analysis of Variance 

(ANOVA) to detect differential changes by testing 

for interaction effects. Statistical significances for 

both tests are reported at p<0.05. Standard error 

tables are available online at 

http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp. 

Beginning Postsecondary Students 

As of 2001, 40 percent of 1995–96 beginning 

postsecondary students had attended more than 

one institution, including 32 percent who had 

transferred from one institution to another and 11 

percent who had co-enrolled (table A).1 Among 

beginning postsecondary students who had 

attended more than one institution, about onequarter had attended more than two institutions 

(table 1). 

Not surprisingly, students’ attendance patterns 

differed according to the level and control of 

institution they first attended. Students who began 

in 2-year institutions were more likely than 

students who began in 4-year institutions to attend 

more than one institution or to transfer (table A 

and table 2). For example, 47 percent of students 

who began in public 2-year institutions had 

attended more than one institution as of 2001, 

compared with 39 and 37 percent of students who 

began in public 4-year and private not-for-profit 4-

year institutions, respectively. No difference, 

however, could be detected between students who 

began in 2-year and in 4-year institutions in their 

likelihood of ever co-enrolling. Among students 

who began in 4-year institutions, those in public 

institutions were more likely than their private 

not-for-profit counterparts to transfer or ever 

attend public 2-year institutions. Twenty-seven 

percent of those who started in public 4-year 

institutions had transferred and one-fifth had 

enrolled in public 2-year institutions, compared 

with 24 and 14 percent, respectively, of students 

who began in private not-for-profit 4-year 

institutions. No difference was detected between 

students in public and in private not-for-profit 4-

year institutions in the number of institutions they 

attended or their likelihood of co-enrolling. 

In general, among 1995–96 beginning 

postsecondary students, more traditional students, 

 

1 In this section, a student was considered to have transferred 

if that student left one institution and enrolled in another 

institution for at least 4 months and a student was considered 

to have co-enrolled if that student overlapped enrollment at 

more than one institution for at least 1 month. 
Executive Summary 

v 

such as younger students and those who attended 

full time, were more likely to attend multiple 

institutions than their older or part-time 

counterparts (tables 3-A and 3-B; tables 4-A and 

4-B). Likewise, dependent students and those who 

did not delay their postsecondary enrollment were 

more likely to attend multiple institutions than 

their counterparts who were independent or who 

delayed their enrollment. For example, among 

students who began at 4-year institutions, 39 

percent of dependent students had attended more 

than one institution as of 2001, compared with 27 

percent of independent students. Conversely, 

students with more than one characteristic that 

placed them at risk of not completing 

postsecondary education were less likely than 

their counterparts with one or no such 

characteristics to attend multiple institutions.2

However, these characteristics are also associated 

with students’ likelihood of persisting in their 

postsecondary programs. The longer students 

persist, the more opportunity they have to attend 

more than one institution. Thus, to some extent, 

the association between these risk factors and 

multiple institution attendance may be due to the 

length of time students are enrolled. 

The association between dependency status and 

multiple institution attendance was particularly 

apparent among students in public 2-year 

institutions, also known as community colleges. 

That is, in public 2-year institutions, dependent 

students were more likely than independent 

students to attend more than one institution (58 vs. 

27 percent; table 3-A). This may be due, in part, to 

the fact that dependent students were more likely 

to transfer to 4-year institutions to earn a 

 

2 Persistence risk factors include delaying enrollment, having 

no high school diploma, enrolling part time, being financially 

independent, having dependents other than a spouse, being a 

single parent, and working full time while enrolled. For more 

information, see Horn and Premo (1995). 

bachelor’s degree than their independent peers.3

Similarly, independent students participate in 

programs leading to vocational certificates more 

often than dependent students (Horn, Peter, and 

Rooney 2002). Because these programs tend to be 

of short duration (i.e., 1 year or less), students 

may have less opportunity or reason to transfer. In 

addition, independent students are more likely to 

attend part time, which is also associated with 

lower rates of multiple institution attendance. 

Independent students are also more likely to have 

families, careers, and other responsibilities that 

may influence their ability to move from school to 

school. In contrast, dependent students are more 

likely to enroll in community colleges with the 

intention of transferring to a 4-year institution and 

attaining a bachelor’s degree. 

For 1995–96 postsecondary students beginning 

at 4-year institutions, multiple institution 

attendance was negatively related to degree 

attainment within 6 years. It appears, however, 

that for some students, multiple institution 

attendance may have only delayed attainment. For 

example, among students who began in 4-year 

institutions, those who attended more than one 

institution were less likely than students who 

attended only one institution to have attained any 

degree (55 vs. 71 percent); however, students 

attending more than one institution were more 

likely than those who attended one institution to 

still be enrolled in 2001 (25 vs. 8 percent) (figure 

A; table 4-C). About one-fifth of both groups were 

not enrolled and had not earned a degree. These 

results suggest that students who attended more 

than one institution may have needed more time to 

finish and that, given enough time, they may 

ultimately attain a degree. On the other hand, 

multiple institution attendance involving co-

 

3 BPS:96/01 Data Analysis System. Not shown in tables. 
Executive Summary 

vi 

enrollment appeared to be positively related to 

persistence and attainment. 

Relationship of Specific Variables to 

Persistence, Attainment, and Time to 

Degree 

In order to take into account the 

interrelationship of factors associated with 

multiple institution attendance, a multivariate 

analysis was conducted. The analysis examined 

the relationship between multiple institution 

attendance patterns and 6-year persistence and 

attainment among beginning postsecondary 

students (table 5). The analysis included students 

who began their postsecondary studies in 1995–96 

at 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s degree goal 

and measured their likelihood of attaining a 

bachelor’s degree or being enrolled in 4-year 

institutions 6 years later. It took into account 

beginning institution sector (i.e., public or private 

not-for-profit), types of multiple institution 

attendance, and several other variables associated 

with both multiple institution attendance and 

persistence, including income, GPA, and number 

of risk factors. After taking the covariation of 

these variables into account, the results still 

indicated that 6-year persistence was positively 

associated with co-enrolling and negatively 

associated with transferring and enrolling in 

public 2-year institutions. 

Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

While the previous section focused on firsttime beginners in postsecondary education, this 

section looks at students who attained bachelor’s 

degrees in 1999–2000 regardless of when they 

Figure A.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions according to

Figure A.—6-year persistence and attainment status, by multiple institution attendance patterns

1

Includes students who attained a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or certificate.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

65

71

55

64

71

72

45

14

8

25

14

17

9

30

21

21

20

22

12

19

25

0 20 40 60 80 100

 Total

 One institution

 More than one institution

 Never co-enrolled

 Sometimes co-enrolled

 Never transferred

 Transferred

Attendance patterns

Percent

Total attained Still enrolled at any institution Not enrolled; no degree 1
Executive Summary 

vii 

began postsecondary education. The BPS survey 

included students who began postsecondary 

education in 1995–96 and, therefore, includes 

students who did not attain a degree as well as 

those who attained certificates, associate’s 

degrees, and bachelor’s degrees. B&B, however, 

looks retrospectively at those students who 

attained bachelor’s degrees in 1999–2000, 

regardless of their path to that degree or the time 

required to attain it. Therefore, these two cohorts 

are not directly comparable. This section will 

focus on bachelor’s degree recipients. 

An examination of the multiple institution 

attendance patterns of 1999–2000 bachelor’s 

degree recipients revealed that a majority (59 

percent) attended more than one institution during 

their undergraduate education, including 35 

percent who transferred and 9 percent who coenrolled at some point (figure 4).4 Among those 

who started at 4-year institutions, 37 percent had 

also attended 2-year institutions (table 8-A). 

Among bachelor’s degree recipients, 

independent students, older students, and students 

with more persistence risk factors were more 

mobile during their postsecondary studies than 

dependent students, younger students, and 

students with fewer persistence risk factors (tables 

7-A and 8-A). Although these findings appear to 

contradict the BPS findings, the populations are 

not comparable: unlike beginning postsecondary 

students—whose risk factors are identified when 

they first enroll—in the B&B study, most of 

college graduates’ risk factors are determined 

when they acquire their bachelor’s degree. Thus, 

 

4 In this section, a student was considered to have transferred 

if that student indicated that he or she had attended more than 

one postsecondary institution before completing a bachelor’s 

degree and did so in order to transfer between schools, and a 

student was considered to have co-enrolled if that student 

enrolled at two or more institutions for more than 1 month 

within the academic year. 

over the course of their enrollment, college 

graduates may become independent and develop 

additional persistence risk factors such as 

becoming a parent. Furthermore, students who 

take longer to attain a degree have more 

opportunities to attend multiple institutions and 

may not be captured in the BPS study which only 

encompasses 6 years. Also, participants in the 

B&B study have all obtained a bachelor’s 

degree—thus having overcome whatever 

persistence risk factors they may have at the time 

of the survey. When looking at specific 

persistence risk factors which measure 

characteristics of graduates when they began their 

postsecondary education, among college graduates 

who began at 4-year institutions, those who 

delayed entry into postsecondary education and 

those who worked full time during their first year 

enrolled were more likely than their counterparts 

who did not delay entry or work full time to attend 

multiple institutions (table 8-A). 

Consistent with the results found for beginning 

postsecondary students in BPS:96/01 in which 

multiple institution attendance was associated 

with slowed progress toward degree or certificate 

attainment, data from B&B:2000/01 indicated that 

attending more than one institution was associated 

with slowed progress toward the bachelor’s degree 

(figure B). This may be related to the difficulty of 

transferring credits, different requirements at 

various institutions, or gaps in enrollment, or 

mitigating factors such as a move, job change, or 

change in family status. Other reasons or a 

combination of reasons may also influence 

progress toward the bachelor’s degree for students 

who attend multiple institutions. Among 1999–

2000 bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-

year institutions, as the number of institutions 

attended increased, so did the average time to 

completion (tables 8-B and 8-C). Co-enrolling and 

transferring among bachelor’s degree recipients 
Executive Summary 

viii 

who began in 4-year institutions also resulted in 

their taking more time to complete a degree. 

However, differences by sector for these types of 

attendance patterns were observed. 

In the B&B:2000/01 survey, college graduates 

were asked to report their main purpose for 

attending multiple institutions (table 6). As 

expected, those who began in public 2-year 

colleges were more likely than those who began in 

4-year institutions to report transfer as their main 

purpose. That is, 63 percent of those who began in 

public 2-year colleges listed transfer as their main 

purpose for attending multiple institutions. 

However, about one-half of students who began in 

4-year institutions (both public and private notfor-profit) also reported transfer as their main 

purpose. In addition, about one-third of bachelor’s 

degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions 

said they enrolled in more than one institution to 

take additional classes. 

Conclusions 

Attending more than one postsecondary 

institution during the course of undergraduate 

enrollment is a common practice. Among students 

who enrolled in postsecondary education for the 

first time in 1995–96, 40 percent had attended 

more than one institution as of 2001, while among 

2001 college graduates, nearly 60 percent had 

done so. As would be expected, students who 

began their postsecondary education in a 

community college were more likely to transfer 

than those who began in 4-year institutions, 

because community college students typically 

must transfer to earn a bachelor’s degree. 

Nevertheless, about one-quarter of those students 

who started in 4-year institutions had transferred 

as of 2001, and for them, transfer was associated 

with lower persistence rates. Among 1999–2000 

bachelor’s degree recipients, attending more than 

one institution (or more than two institutions for 

those who began in community colleges), 

Figure B.—Average time to degree for 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients according to 

Figure B.—multiple institution attendance patterns, by beginning institution type

NOTE: Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

9

6

5 5

4

8

6

5

11

10

9

0

0

5

10

15

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private not-for-profit 4 year

Beginning institution type

Years

Total One institution Two institutions More than two institutions 
Executive Summary 

ix 

transferring, and co-enrolling were each 

associated with longer average time to completion 

of their bachelor’s degrees. 

When taking risk status and other related 

variables into account, multivariate analyses of 

beginning postsecondary students who began their 

postsecondary education in a 4-year institution 

with a bachelor’s degree goal indicated a negative 

association between transfer and persistence. That 

is, among these students, those who had 

transferred were less likely than those who had not 

transferred to attain a degree or be enrolled in 4-

year institutions 6 years after first enrolling in 

postsecondary education. As with transfer, 

beginning postsecondary students who began their 

postsecondary studies in a 4-year institution and 

who attended a community college at some time 

during their enrollment were less likely to persist 

for 6 years or to graduate than their counterparts 

who had not attended a community college. In 

contrast, beginning students who had ever coenrolled were more likely to persist or attain a 

bachelor’s degree than those who had not. 
x 

Foreword 

This report profiles students who attended multiple institutions—specifically, those who 

co-enrolled (attended more than one institution simultaneously), transferred, or attended 2-year 

institutions. This report looks at the extent to which undergraduates attend multiple institutions 

as well as the relationship between students’ rates of multiple institution attendance and their 

persistence, attainment, and time to degree. 

This analysis uses data from the 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study (BPS:96/01) and the 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:2000/01). The BPS:96/01 is a longitudinal survey of undergraduates who first began their 

postsecondary education in 1995–96. The last follow-up survey was conducted in 2001, 6 years 

after the students began their postsecondary education, by which time some students had left 

postsecondary education, some had completed degrees or certificates, and some remained 

enrolled. B&B:2000/01 provides data on students who received a bachelor’s degree in the 1999–

2000 academic year, regardless of when they began their postsecondary education. The estimates 

presented in the report were produced using the NCES Data Analysis System (DAS), a software 

application that allows users to specify and generate tables for the BPS and B&B surveys. The 

DAS produces the design-adjusted standard errors necessary for testing the statistical significance 

of differences in the estimates. For more information on the DAS, consult appendix B of this 

report. 
xi 

Acknowledgments 

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of many individuals to the production of 

this report. At MPR Associates, Andrea Livingston, Wes Nations, Barbara Kridl, and Annabelle 

Yang edited, proofed, and formatted the report. Ellen Bradburn and Laura Horn contributed to 

the development of the report and provided considerable feedback on earlier drafts. 

At NCES, Dennis Carroll guided the planning and development of the report at all stages of 

review, Paula Knepper provided a technical and methodological review, and Bruce Taylor 

provided a comprehensive review. In addition, Jacqueline King (American Council on 

Education), Michael Cohen (Bureau of Transportation Statistics), Dongbin Kim (National 

Association of Independent Colleges and Universities), Alex McCormick (The Carnegie 

Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching), and Leslie Scott (Education Statistics Services 

Institute) reviewed early drafts and provided thoughtful comments. 

Lisa Bridges (Institute of Education Sciences) guided the final report through IES review 

by two outside peer reviewers. We are grateful to all these reviewers whose comments 

strengthened the report. 
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xiii 

Table of Contents 

Page 

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. iii

Foreword.................................................................................................................................... x

Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... xi 

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xiv

List of Figures............................................................................................................................ xvii

Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1 

Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 3 

Data and Variable Definitions.................................................................................................. 5 

Key Variables ........................................................................................................................ 6 

1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later ................................................. 9

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 9 

Students Who Began in Public 2-Year Institutions............................................................... 13 

Students Who Began in 4-Year Institutions.......................................................................... 21 

Multivariate Analysis ............................................................................................................ 26 

Summary: Beginning Postsecondary Students...................................................................... 31 

1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients................................................................................ 33

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 33 

Students Who Began in Public 2-Year Institutions............................................................... 36 

Students Who Began in 4-Year Institutions.......................................................................... 41 

Reasons for Attending Multiple Institutions ......................................................................... 47 

Summary: Bachelor’s Degree Recipients.............................................................................. 50 

Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 53

References.................................................................................................................................. 55 

Appendix A—Glossary ............................................................................................................. 57

Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology .................................................................. 71
xiv 

List of Tables 

Table Page 

Executive Summary 

A Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students 

by the type of the first institution attended, according to multiple institution 

attendance patterns .......................................................................................................... iii 

Text 

1 Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students 

with various multiple institution attendance patterns...................................................... 10 

2 Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students 

by the level and type of the first institution attended, according to multiple institution 

attendance patterns .......................................................................................................... 11 

3-A Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions 

according to multiple institution attendance patterns, by student characteristics ........... 14 

3-B Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions 

according to multiple institution attendance patterns, by enrollment characteristics...... 16 

3-C Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 

2-year institutions according to the highest degree attained and 6-year persistence and 

attainment status, by multiple institution attendance patterns and 

degree expectations ......................................................................................................... 18

3-D Percentage of beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions in 

1995–96 with a bachelor’s degree goal who completed a bachelor’s degree according 

to the number of years to complete the degree, by multiple institution 

attendance patterns .......................................................................................................... 20 

4-A Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions 

according to multiple institution attendance patterns, by student characteristics ........... 22 

4-B Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions 

according to multiple institution attendance patterns, by enrollment characteristics...... 24 
List of Tables 

xv 

Table Page 

4-C Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year 

institutions according to the highest degree attained and 6-year persistence and 

attainment status, by multiple institution attendance patterns and 

degree expectations ........................................................................................................ 25

4-D Percentage of beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions in 1995–96 with 

a bachelor’s degree goal who completed a bachelor’s degree according to the number 

of years to completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns................................ 27 

5 Percentage of 1995–96 beginning students in 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s 

degree goal who had attained a bachelor’s degree or were enrolled in 4-year 

institutions 6 years after first enrolling in postsecondary education, and the least 

squares coefficients and standard errors expressed as percentages................................. 29 

6 Percentage distribution of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who 

enrolled in more than one institution during their undergraduate education according 

to purpose, by beginning institution type and number of institutions attended............... 36 

7-A Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 

2-year institutions who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment 

characteristics .................................................................................................................. 38 

7-B Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year 

institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and average time to 

completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns.................................................. 40 

8-A Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year 

institutions who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment 

characteristics .................................................................................................................. 42 

8-B Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 4-year 

institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and average time to 

completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns.................................................. 45 

8-C Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in private notfor-profit 4-year institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and 

average time to completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns ........................ 46 

9 Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who ever attended 

2-year institutions and percentage distribution according to reason for doing so, by 

beginning institution type and number of institutions attended ...................................... 48 
List of Tables 

xvi 

Table Page 

10 Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who reported 

transferring during their undergraduate education and percentage distribution 

according to reason for doing so, by beginning institution type and number of 

institutions attended ........................................................................................................ 49 

11 Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who co-enrolled 

during their undergraduate education and percentage distribution according to reason 

for doing so, by beginning institution type and number of institutions attended ............ 51 

Appendix B 

B-1 Standard errors for table 2: Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 

beginning postsecondary students by the level and type of the first institution 

attended, according to multiple institution attendance patterns ...................................... 74 
xvii 

List of Figures 

Figure Page 

Executive Summary 

A Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year 

institutions according to 6-year persistence and attainment status, by multiple 

institution attendance patterns......................................................................................... vi 

B Average time to degree for 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients 

according to multiple institution attendance patterns, by beginning institution type...... viii 

Text 

1 Analysis population and key variable definitions according to dataset........................... 7 

2 Among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students who attended more than one 

institution, percentage distribution according to attendance patterns ............................. 12 

3 Percentage distribution of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients 

according to number of institutions attended .................................................................. 34 

4 Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients according to multiple 

institution attendance patterns, by beginning institution type ......................................... 34 
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1 

Introduction 

Among all undergraduates enrolled in postsecondary education in 1999–2000, 6 percent 

attended more than one institution during the academic year.1 Over the course of their 

undergraduate education, however, a majority (59 percent) of 1999–2000 college graduates (firsttime bachelor’s degree recipients) had attended more than one institution.2 

The frequency of multiple institution attendance may be on the rise. Adelman (1999) and 

McCormick (2003) both documented an increase in students’ rates of attendance in multiple 

institutions over the last two decades, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities 

(2002) cited changing enrollment patterns, including multiple institution attendance, as a 

particular challenge facing institutions in the 21st century. 

The types of multiple institution attendance may be changing as well. Although past studies 

on patterns of attendance in multiple institutions have often focused on transfer and, in particular, 

on students who enroll in public 2-year institutions with the intent to transfer to 4-year 

institutions and earn a bachelor’s degree (Bradburn and Hurst 2001; Lee and Frank 1990; Palmer, 

Ludwig, and Stapleton 1994), anecdotal evidence suggests that students in 4-year institutions 

often take courses at nearby community colleges and other institutions as well (Gose 1995). 

Among 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions, about 47 

percent had attended another institution with or without transferring.3 This report examines the 

phenomenon of multiple institution attendance including three specific types of multiple 

attendance: transfer, co-enrollment, and attending a 2-year institution. 

There are a number of reasons why students might attend multiple institutions. In an article 

on “double dippers” (i.e., students who enroll in multiple institutions simultaneously), Gose 

(1995) presents several possible explanations: to take advantage of a more convenient schedule, 

smaller class sizes, and programs not offered at the student’s home institution (e.g., remedial 

education, technical training, and job skills); to cut college costs by taking general education 

courses at a less expensive institution; or to take courses that students think will be easier at a 

different institution. Another study by de los Santos and Wright (1990) suggested that students 

 

1 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000), Data Analysis System. 

2 B&B:2000/01, Data Analysis System (shown in figure 3). 

3 B&B:2000/01, Data Analysis System (shown in table 8-A). 
Introduction

2 

who begin in 4-year institutions might attend other institutions so that they can fulfill their 

academic requirements and reduce the price of attending college. In a study of transfer behavior 

among postsecondary students, McCormick (1997) found that among students who began in 4-

year institutions, dissatisfaction with intellectual growth, teacher ability, institutional prestige, 

and social life, as well as the availability of and satisfaction with various student services were 

related to students’ likelihood of transferring. Further, McCormick (2003) found that among 

students who entered 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s degree goal, the probability of 

attending multiple institutions was higher for students with low first-year grades than other 

students, which indicates that academic difficulties may also motivate students to attend multiple 

institutions. 

One type of multiple institution attendance is associated with delayed degree completion: in 

McCormick’s earlier study, students who began in 4-year institutions and transferred to another 

4-year institution were less likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree within 5 years than 

students who did not transfer. According to another study (Berkner, He, and Forrest Cataldi 

2002), even when surveyed 6 years after entering college, roughly half (45–51 percent) of 

students who began in 4-year institutions in 1995–96 with a bachelor’s degree goal and 

transferred to another 4-year institution had attained a bachelor’s degree, compared with 72 

percent of their counterparts who did not transfer. McCormick (2003) also noted differences in 

persistence and attainment outcomes by the type of multiple institution attendance. According to 

the findings of his study, 4-year beginning students who attended more than one institution but 

did not transfer were more likely to have attained a bachelor’s degree within 5 years than their 

peers who attended only one institution. 

As mentioned previously, the study of students who attend multiple postsecondary 

institutions is not new. In his landmark study, Tinto (1987) examines the reasons students leave 

postsecondary education noting the income gap between those with and without a college degree. 

Multiple institution attendance may have economic consequences as well. Light and Strayer 

(2004) suggest that for two specific subgroups (4-year transfer students who ultimately attain 

bachelor’s degrees and 2-year students who do not attain a degree) transferring was associated 

with higher eventual wages. The authors theorize that by transferring, these students enrolled in 

an institution that was a better match and got higher-paying jobs as a result. 

As mentioned previously, much of the research on students who attend multiple institutions 

has focused on those who make a permanent transition from one institution to another (Bradburn 

and Hurst 2001; Light and Strayer 2004; McCormick 1997). For the most part, previous literature 

has not reported on the other ways in which students enroll in multiple institutions, including 

overlapping enrollment (also called “co-enrollment” or “dual enrollment”) and attending another 
 Introduction 

3 

institution without transferring from the first one. Because recent longitudinal studies conducted 

by NCES included questions about ways that students attend multiple institutions without 

transferring, this report examines this trend from a national perspective. 

Using the most recent data available, this report focuses on both 1995–96 beginning 

postsecondary students and 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients whose enrollment paths 

involved attending at least two institutions and aims to provide more detailed information on 

college attendance patterns than has been available from previous studies. By examining the 

enrollment histories of these students, their demographic characteristics, and their reasons for 

enrolling in other institutions, this report will provide an overview of the students who took this 

route as undergraduates, and will detail their educational outcomes by focusing on the persistence 

among beginning postsecondary students, attainment of both groups, and time to degree among 

college graduates. 

Research Questions 

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of students with various 

multiple institution attendance patterns including student characteristics, persistence and 

attainment, and time to degree. The major questions addressed in the report include the 

following: 

• How common were various types of multiple institution attendance among different 

types of undergraduates? 

• What were the various types of multiple institution attendance among these 

undergraduates? 

• How was attendance at multiple institutions related to the persistence and attainment of 

beginning postsecondary students? 

• How was attendance at multiple institutions related to the time to degree of bachelor’s 

degree recipients? 

• Among bachelor’s degree recipients, what were students’ reported purposes and 

reasons for attending more than one institution? 
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5 

Data and Variable Definitions 

This analysis uses data from two surveys: the 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) and the 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:2000/01). The BPS:96/01 is a survey of a cohort of students who first began their 

postsecondary education in 1995–96 and were followed up in 1998 and 2001. Survey participants 

were sampled from the 1995–96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96), a 

nationally representative sample of all students enrolled in postsecondary institutions in 1995–

1996. B&B:2000/01 is a longitudinal survey of the NPSAS:2000 students who received a 

bachelor’s degree in the 1999–2000 academic year and were followed up 1 year later in 2001. In 

this analysis, the sample was limited to students for whom the 1999–2000 degree was the first 

bachelor’s degree.4 For survey response rates, see appendix B. 

The report is organized into two sections according to survey. The BPS:96/01 and 

B&B:2000/01 data are used to examine the enrollment patterns of students over the course of 

their undergraduate study. These two surveys are well suited to this task because together they 

capture the enrollment history of those who first began their postsecondary education in 1995–96 

(BPS:96/01) and of those who successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in 2000 

(B&B:2000/01). The BPS enrollment period covers 6 years of undergraduate enrollment for all 

1995–96 beginners, while that for B&B retrospectively covers graduates’ entire undergraduate 

enrollment, regardless of how long it took them to attain a bachelor’s degree. Both datasets 

include information about students’ attendance patterns, attempts to transfer credits, and reasons 

for attending multiple institutions. This analysis examines differences in student enrollment 

patterns using standard t-tests to determine statistical significance, and a two-way Analysis of 

Variance (ANOVA) to detect differential changes by testing for interaction effects. Statistical 

significances for both tests are reported at p<0.05. Standard error tables are available online at 

http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp. 

 

4 Approximately 2.4 percent of B&B survey respondents were excluded from this report because the bachelor’s degree they 

attained in 1999–2000 was not their first bachelor’s degree. 
Data and Variable Definitions

6 

Key Variables 

Multiple Institution Attendance 

Students who attended multiple institutions are the focus of this report. In both the 

BPS:96/01 and B&B:2000/01 surveys, students who reported attending more than one institution 

were identified, and the number of institutions they attended was counted. Although the data in 

both BPS:96/01 and B&B:2000/01 provide the total number of institutions that students 

attended, measures of multiple institution attendance—including co-enrollment, transfer, and 

attendance in 2-year institutions—that are analyzed in this report are based on dichotomous 

variables which reflect whether the student ever participated in that type of enrollment. While 

some students co-enroll, transfer, and attend 2-year institutions repeatedly, information about 

such repeated attendance is largely unavailable. Focusing on the first transfer and whether the 

student ever co-enrolled or attended 2-year institutions maximizes the sample size for the 

variables in this study and permits a more detailed analysis. Students who attended multiple 

institutions under any circumstances, whether or not they were considered to have transferred, 

co-enrolled, or ever attended a 2-year institution, were included in the count of students who 

attended multiple institutions. The definitions of various types of multiple institution attendance 

in each survey are shown in figure 1. 

Co-Enrollment

In BPS:96/01, a student was considered to have overlapped enrollment if that student was 

co-enrolled in two or more institutions for at least 1 month. In B&B:2000/01, co-enrollment was 

identified only if it occurred within the academic year (September–April) and lasted for more 

than 1 month. Due to the more restrictive definition of co-enrollment in B&B:2000/01 and, 

specifically, the exclusion of the summer months, this report may underreport the incidence of 

co-enrollment among college graduates. 

Transfer 

Data for BPS:96/01 were derived using a number of sources including self-reports 

(interview questions), the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), ACT database, and 

SAT records from ETS, Central Processing System data, and data from institutions. In 

BPS:96/01 the definition of transfer was based on the time elapsed at the second institution. In 

other words, a student was considered to have transferred if that student left one institution and 

enrolled in another institution for at least 4 months. The 4-month cut-off point was chosen to 

exclude students who attended another institution for the summer, but then returned to their 
Data and Variable Definitions 

7 

original institution. However, if a student returned to the original institution—even 1 or 2 years 

later—that student was not considered to have transferred. Defining transfer in this way likely 

masked some transfers by respondents who attended another institution and then re-enrolled in an 

institution they attended previously. These students were considered to have attended multiple 

institutions but were not considered to have transferred. As a result, the incidence of transfer 

among beginning postsecondary students may be underestimated in this report. 

In B&B:2000/01, the information was self-reported. Students who indicated that they had 

attended more than one postsecondary institution before completing a bachelor’s degree were 

asked why they chose to attend multiple institutions. Specifically, students were given the option 

Figure 1.—Analysis population and key variable definitions according to dataset

BPS:96/01 B&B:2000/01

Sample population Students who began their 

postsecondary education in 1995–96. 

Survey participants were sampled from 

the 1995–96 National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and were 

followed up in 1998 and 2001. 

Students who received their bachelor’s 

degree in the 1999–2000 academic 

year. Survey participants were sampled 

from NPSAS:2000. For this analysis, 

the sample was limited to students for 

whom the 1999–2000 bachelor’s 

degree was their first. 

Multiple institution 

 attendance

Number of institutions attended 

between initial enrollment in 1995–96 

and June 2001.

Number of institutions the student 

attended during undergraduate career.

 Co-enrollment Ever attended two or more institutions 

simultaneously for at least 1 month.

Ever attended two or more institutions 

simultaneously for more than 1 month 

during the academic year (September 

through April).

 Transfer Left one institution to enroll in another 

and remained at the destination 

institution for at least 4 months. If a 

student returned to the original 

institution that student was not 

considered to have transferred.

Attended more than one institution and 

reported that they did so in order to 

transfer.

 Ever attended a 2-

 year institution

Ever attended public 2-year 

institutions.

Ever attended 2-year institutions, 

whether public or private.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1999–2000 National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000); 1996/01Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up 

(BPS:96/01); and 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2001/01). 
Data and Variable Definitions

8 

of choosing one of the following reasons: transfer between schools, enroll for additional classes, 

enroll for an additional degree, transfer and take additional classes, or none of the above. Those 

who said they had attended multiple institutions in order to transfer between schools were 

considered to have met the definition of student-identified transfer used in the B&B section of 

this study.5

 This question addressed all multiple institution attendance, so where students 

attended more than two institutions it is not possible to determine between which institutions the 

transfer occurred. Some students who began in 2-year institutions and later attained a bachelor’s 

degree did not identify transfer as their purpose for attending multiple institutions and, therefore, 

were not considered as having met this definition of transfer. Further, unlike the BPS:96/01 data, 

B&B:2000/01 does not identify how many times students transferred. Despite these limitations, 

the data can provide useful information about patterns of multiple institution attendance among 

bachelor’s degree recipients. 

Ever Attended a 2-Year Institution 

Because of interest in students who began in 4-year institutions and attended a community 

college, this report looks at whether beginning 4-year students ever attended a 2-year institution. 

Among other reasons, a beginning 4-year student might attend a community college to save 

money, take advantage of a more convenient schedule, or try out a different course of study. In 

BPS:96/01, respondents who had ever attended public 2-year institutions were included in this 

group. In B&B:2000/01, respondents were asked if they had ever attended a community college 

or other 2-year institution. 

 

5 Because of the similarity in the response options, the definition of transfer in this report includes students who said they had 

attended more than one institution in order to transfer between schools and those who said they had attended more than one 

institution in order to transfer between schools and take additional courses. 
9 

1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

Introduction 

This section of the report examines multiple institution attendance among a cohort of 

students who began postsecondary education in 1995–96 using data gathered in the BPS:96/01 

survey. The BPS survey includes students who left postsecondary education temporarily or 

permanently, students who attained various degrees (bachelor’s, associate’s, and vocational 

certificates), and students with no degree goal, such as those taking classes for professional 

development or personal enrichment. Students who attended multiple institutions are the 

population of interest here. Subsets of this population will also be examined—specifically, those 

who attended two or more institutions at one time (co-enrolled), transferred between institutions, 

or began at a 4-year institution and attended a public 2-year institution at some point. 

As of 2001, 40 percent of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students had attended more 

than one institution over the 6-year period (table 1). Of those students who attended more than 

one institution, about one-fifth (21 percent) had attended three institutions and 4 percent had 

attended four or more institutions. About one-third of the beginning postsecondary students had 

ever transferred (32 percent). In this section, a student was considered to have transferred if that 

student left one institution and enrolled in another institution for at least 4 months. Among those 

students who transferred, the majority (80 percent) had transferred just once, 18 percent had 

transferred twice, and 1 percent had transferred three times. About 1-in-10 beginning 

postsecondary students had ever co-enrolled. That is, 11 percent of beginning postsecondary 

students had overlapped enrollment at more than one institution for at least 1 month. Among 

students who had attended more than one institution, 27 percent had ever co-enrolled, and among 

students who had transferred, 20 percent had ever co-enrolled. 

As would be expected, patterns of multiple institution attendance varied according to where 

students first enrolled (table 2). For this reason, this report examines these patterns according to 

first institution level. Students who began in public 2-year institutions were more likely than 

students who began in 4-year institutions to attend more than one institution and to transfer. 

Forty-six percent of 1995–96 beginning public 2-year students had attended more than one 

institution as of 2001 and 40 percent had transferred, while 38 percent of beginning 4-year 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

10 

students had attended more than one institution and 26 percent had transferred. No difference, 

however, could be detected between these two groups of students in their likelihood of ever coenrolling. 

Among students who began in 4-year institutions, those in public institutions were more 

likely than their private not-for-profit counterparts to transfer or ever attend public 2-year 

institutions. Twenty-seven percent of those who started in public 4-year institutions had 

transferred and one-fifth had enrolled in public 2-year institutions, compared with 24 and 14 

percent, respectively, of students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions.6 No 

 

6 The institutions students transfer to are often of interest as well. Berkner, He, and Forrest Cataldi (2002) show that 42 percent 

each of 4-year beginners in public and private not-for-profit institutions transferred to a public 4-year institution. However, 

Table 1.—Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students with various

Table 1.—multiple institution attendance patterns

Attended more than one institution

Attendance patterns Total Total Co-enrolled Transferred

 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of institutions attended

 One 59.7 † † †

 More than one1 40.4 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Two 30.1 74.7 61.0 70.5

 Three 8.6 21.2 29.4 24.6

 Four or more 1.7 4.2 9.6 4.9

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 89.2 73.1 † 79.9

 Sometimes co-enrolled 10.9 26.9 100.0 20.1

Transfer status

 Never transferred 67.9 20.5 40.5 †

 Transferred2 32.1 79.5 59.5 100.0

 Once 25.9 64.3 43.2 80.8

 Twice 5.7 14.1 15.9 17.7

 Three times 0.5 1.2 0.4 1.5

† Not applicable.

1 The percentage of students who attended more than one institution is the sum of the percentages of students who attended

two, three, or four or more institutions. 2 The percentage of students who transferred is the sum of the percentages of students who transferred once, twice, or three

times.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

11 

difference could be detected between students who began in public and in private not-for-profit 

4-year institutions, however, in the number of institutions they attended and in their likelihood of 

co-enrolling.

 private not-for-profit 4-year beginners were more likely than public 4-year beginners to transfer to a private not-for-profit 

institution (18 vs. 12 percent, respectively). 

Table 2.—Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students by the level and 

Table 3.—type of the first institution attended, according to multiple institution attendance patterns

Private Private

Less- not-for- for-profit

than- Public Public profit less-thanAttendance patterns Total1 2-year 2-year 4-year 2-year 4-year 4-year 4-year

 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of institutions attended

 One 59.7 79.5 54.3 61.8 52.8 61.2 62.8 78.3

 More than one 40.4 20.6 45.7 38.2 47.2 38.9 37.2 21.7

 Two 30.1 16.5 34.4 27.9 35.4 28.7 27.0 18.2

 Three or more 10.2 4.1 11.3 10.2 11.8 10.2 10.3 3.5

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 89.2 97.5 89.1 87.4 88.6 87.6 86.9 97.1

 Sometimes co-enrolled 10.9 2.5 10.9 12.6 11.4 12.4 13.1 2.9

Transfer status

 Never transferred 67.9 84.4 59.8 74.2 58.5 73.0 76.3 82.7

 Transferred 32.1 15.6 40.2 25.8 41.5 27.0 23.7 17.3

 Number of times transferred

 Once 25.9 13.5 33.3 19.7 34.3 21.0 17.4 15.3

 Twice 5.7 1.8 6.7 5.3 7.0 5.3 5.3 1.8

 Three times 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.8 0.2 0.6 1.0 0.2

 First transfer direction

 Upward 13.0 11.6 23.9 † 25.2 † † 9.1

 Lateral 13.0 4.0 13.3 14.7 13.4 14.8 14.7 6.8

 Downward 6.1 † 3.1 11.1 3.0 12.1 9.0 1.4

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions

 No 45.6 89.5 7.5 82.4 † 80.6 85.7 88.6

 Yes 54.4 10.5 92.5 17.6 100.0 19.5 14.3 11.4

† Not applicable.

1 Total includes students who began at types of institutions not shown here.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01); and Berkner, L., He, S., and Forrest Cataldi, E. (2002). 

Descriptive Summary of 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later (NCES 2003–151).

Level of first institution

Level and control of first institution
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

12 

Due partly to the short duration of the programs that lead to vocational certificates, among 

all beginning postsecondary students, those who began in private for-profit less-than-4-year 

institutions were the least likely to attend more than one institution, co-enroll, or transfer. For 

example, about one-fifth of these students attended more than one institution (22 percent), 

compared to between 37 and 47 percent of students in other institution types. 

Figure 2 shows a percentage distribution of all beginning postsecondary students who 

attended more than one institution according to these attendance patterns. Overall, 16 percent 

both co-enrolled and transferred, while 10 percent did neither. The majority (64 percent) 

transferred (without ever co-enrolling), and the remaining 11 percent co-enrolled only. Among 

beginning postsecondary students who started in public 2-year institutions and who attended 

more than one institution, 68 percent transferred, 4 percent co-enrolled, and an additional 20 

percent both transferred and co-enrolled. Students who began in 4-year institutions were less 

likely than their public 2-year counterparts to combine transferring and co-enrolling (11–12 

percent vs. 20 percent). Among students who attended multiple institutions and began at 4-year 

institutions, 52–59 percent transferred only and 21–23 percent co-enrolled only. 

Figure 2.—Among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students who attended more than one institution, 

Figure 2.—percentage distribution according to attendance patterns

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

13

9

8

10

52

59

68

64

23

21

4

11

12

11

20

16

0 20 40 60 80 100

Private not-for-profit 4-year

Public 4-year

Public 2-year

Total

Percent

Did not transfer or co-enroll Transferred only Co-enrolled only Transferred and co-enrolled

Beginning institution type
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

13 

Students Who Began in Public 2-Year Institutions 

Student Characteristics 

Among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions, 47 percent 

had attended more than one institution as of 2001, and 42 percent had transferred, regardless of 

their persistence outcome or length of enrollment (table 3-A). While most of these students had 

transferred to 4-year institutions (roughly 61 percent), some had transferred laterally to other 2-

year institutions (32 percent), and some had transferred downward to less-than-2-year institutions 

(7 percent).7 Eleven percent of beginning students in public 2-year institutions had co-enrolled 

during the course of their enrollment. Male students were more likely than their female peers to 

attend more than one institution, in particular, to attend three or more institutions. Fifty-one 

percent of male students who began in public 2-year institutions in 1995–96 had attended more 

than one institution and 16 percent had attended three or more institutions, compared with 43 and 

8 percent, respectively, of female students. Males were also more likely to transfer (47 vs. 36 

percent); however, no gender difference could be detected in their likelihood of co-enrolling.

Certain characteristics that placed students at risk of not completing their postsecondary 

education, including delayed enrollment status, dependency, and age at postsecondary entry, were 

also related to beginning students’ likelihood of attending multiple institutions. As the number of 

such persistence risk factors increased, the likelihood of attending more than one institution, coenrolling, or transferring decreased. For example, 68 percent of students with no risk factors and 

58 percent of students with one risk factor attended more than one institution, compared with 

one-third of their peers who had two or more risk factors. However, students with one or no 

persistence risk factors have a greater likelihood of persisting in their postsecondary programs, 

and the longer students persist, the more opportunity they have to attend more than one 

institution. Thus, to some extent, the association between risk factors and multiple institution 

attendance may be due to the length of time students are enrolled. 

Students’ age was also inversely related to their likelihood of attending multiple 

institutions. At least one-half of students 23 years or younger attended more than one institution, 

while roughly one-quarter of students 24 years or older did so. Similarly, both students who 

delayed enrollment and independent students were less likely to attend more than one institution, 

including transferring and co-enrolling, than students who enrolled immediately after high school 

and dependent students. More than half (58 percent) of dependent students beginning in public 

 

7 Percentages calculated from table 2. Of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students who began in public 2-year institutions, 25 

percent first transferred upward, 13 percent transferred laterally, and 3 percent transferred downward, for a total of 42 percent 

transferring. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

14 

Table 3-A.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions according 

Table 4-B.—to multiple institution attendance patterns, by student characteristics

More than one

Three

Student characteristics One Total Two or more Co-enrolled Transferred

 Total 52.8 47.2 35.4 11.8 11.4 41.5

Sex

 Male 48.7 51.3 35.4 15.9 13.4 47.0

 Female 56.6 43.4 35.3 8.1 9.5 36.4

Race/ethnicity1 

 American Indian ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Asian/Pacific Islander 37.5 62.5 35.9 26.7 11.5 60.3

 Black 58.0 42.0 32.6 9.5 4.1 37.8

 White 52.2 47.8 35.6 12.1 12.9 42.2

 Other ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Hispanic 57.4 42.6 34.3 8.3 8.9 33.4

Age as of 12/31/95

 18 years or younger 40.5 59.5 46.3 13.2 14.0 52.5

 19–23 years 47.2 52.8 37.2 15.6 13.7 47.2

 24–29 years 76.4 23.6 17.6 6.0 8.0 19.6

 30 years or older 79.9 20.2 18.0 2.2 2.5 16.2

Delayed enrollment 

 No 39.6 60.5 46.1 14.4 14.4 54.3

 Yes 66.5 33.5 24.1 9.4 8.8 28.2

Income and dependency quartiles 1994 

 Dependent 41.6 58.4 44.2 14.2 13.6 51.9

 Low quartile 46.5 53.5 39.7 13.8 13.4 46.8

 Middle quartiles 44.4 55.6 40.1 15.5 13.8 48.3

 High quartile 27.2 72.8 61.8 11.0 13.4 68.9

 Independent 73.1 26.9 19.5 7.4 7.5 23.0

 Low quartile 60.5 39.5 30.7 8.8 9.9 30.8

 Middle quartiles 75.9 24.1 15.5 8.6 6.3 22.3

 High quartile 76.8 23.2 17.2 6.1 7.2 19.4

Number of risk factors 1995–962

 None 31.5 68.5 51.3 17.2 16.3 63.4

 One 41.8 58.2 46.1 12.1 14.9 50.2

 Two or more 67.1 32.9 23.8 9.2 7.8 28.1

‡Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Black includes African American, and 

Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

2 Risk factors include delaying enrollment, not having a high school diploma, enrolling part time, being financially independent

(typically students over 24), having dependents other than a spouse, being a single parent, and working full time while enrolled.

For more information, see Horn, L.J., and Premo, M.D. (1995). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education 

Institutions: 1992–93, With an Essay on Undergraduates at Risk (NCES 96–237).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Number of institutions attended

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

multiple enrollment

Type of 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

15 

2-year institutions attended more than one institution, compared with 27 percent of their 

independent peers. This pattern may be due in large part to the greater likelihood of dependent 

students transferring to a 4-year institution and independent students participating in programs 

leading to vocational certificates (Horn, Peter, and Rooney 2002). Because vocational programs 

tend to be of short duration (i.e., 1 year or less), these students may have less opportunity or 

reason to transfer than dependent students. In addition, independent students are more likely to 

attend part time (Horn and Berktold 1998), which is also associated with lower rates of multiple 

institution attendance, and often have families, careers, and other responsibilities that can 

influence their ability to move from school to school. 

Among dependent students beginning in public 2-year institutions, family income8 was 

associated with attending more than one institution: as income increased, so did the likelihood of 

attending more than one institution. Seventy-three percent of dependent students in the highest 

income quartile had attended more than one institution, compared with 53 percent of dependent 

students in the lowest quartile. In addition, dependent students in the highest income quartile 

were more likely than those in the middle- and low-income quartiles to transfer (69 percent vs. 

47–48 percent). However, for these students, the likelihood of co-enrolling was not associated 

with income. Higher income levels, however, are also associated with increased persistence 

(Berkner, He, and Forrest Cataldi 2002), giving students more opportunity to attend more than 

one institution. 

An opposite pattern was observed for independent students: those with higher incomes 

were less likely to attend more than one institution and transfer. For example, 39 percent of 

independent students in the lowest income quartile attended more than one institution, while 23 

percent of those in the highest quartile did so. Independent students with higher incomes were 

also more likely than their lower income independent counterparts to attend community colleges 

part time (63 vs. 18 percent),9 and part-time attendance is associated with lower rates of multiple 

institution attendance (table 3-B). 

Enrollment Characteristics 

Among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students who first enrolled in public 2-year 

institutions, those who did not work or who worked part time (less than 35 hours per week) 

during their first year enrolled were more likely than those who worked full time (35 hours or 

more) to attend more than one institution or transfer (table 3-B). For example, 49 percent of 

 

8 Family income was measured separately for independent and dependent students and then grouped into quartiles. Refer to 

appendix A for the income values these quartiles represent. 

9 BPS:96/01 Data Analysis System. Not shown in tables. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

16 

Table 3-B.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions according 

Table 5-B.—to multiple institution attendance patterns, by enrollment characteristics

More than one

Three

Enrollment characteristics One Total Two or more Co-enrolled Transferred

 Total 52.8 47.2 35.4 11.8 11.4 41.5

Grade point average 1995–96 

 Less than 2.25 54.4 45.6 33.0 12.7 8.7 40.6

 2.25–3.25 47.2 52.8 40.7 12.1 14.1 46.7

 Greater than 3.25 58.1 41.9 31.4 10.5 13.1 38.7

Attendance intensity through 2001

 Always full-time 49.6 50.4 43.2 7.3 4.3 47.9

 Always part-time 85.9 14.1 9.8 4.3 3.6 9.7

 Mixed 40.2 59.8 42.4 17.4 18.3 51.9

Hours worked per week while enrolled 1995–96

 None 50.7 49.3 39.7 9.5 14.6 42.8

 Less than 35 hours 45.1 54.9 42.8 12.1 12.4 49.2

 35 hours or more 63.8 36.2 24.3 11.9 7.7 30.9

Received any aid 1995–96

 No 51.3 48.7 36.1 12.5 11.8 42.3

 Yes 54.9 45.1 34.2 10.9 10.8 40.4

Degree expected at first institution1 

 None 55.8 44.2 31.3 12.9 7.2 41.8

 Certificate 81.0 19.0 16.2 2.8 4.3 14.7

 Associate’s degree 56.7 43.4 33.0 10.4 12.0 37.9

 Bachelor’s degree 30.2 69.8 52.8 17.0 15.8 60.9

Highest degree ever expected in 1995–96

 No degree or certificate ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Certificate 82.7 17.3 15.5 1.9 7.5 14.8

 Associate’s degree 73.3 26.8 22.1 4.7 3.7 26.0

 Bachelor’s degree 49.2 50.8 39.3 11.5 14.4 43.1

 Higher than a bachelor’s degree 35.9 64.1 45.8 18.3 15.1 58.7

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 Bachelor’s degree includes students who said they expected to transfer to 4-year institutions.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Number of institutions attended

Type of 

multiple enrollment
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

17 

beginning students in public 2-year institutions who did not work and 55 percent of those who 

worked part time attended more than one institution, compared with 36 percent of their 

counterparts who worked full time. Similarly, students who worked full time were less likely 

than students who worked part time to co-enroll (8 vs. 12 percent).10

For students who began in public 2-year institutions, receiving financial aid during their 

first year enrolled was not related to attending multiple institutions. No differences could be 

detected in the likelihood that these students would attend more than one institution, co-enroll, or 

transfer according to receipt of financial aid. Likewise, no difference could be detected between 

students whose first-year grade point average (GPA) was lower than 2.25 and those who earned 

higher grades in their rates of attending more than one institution.11

Not surprisingly, among students who began in public 2-year institutions who reported a 

degree expectation at their first institution, as degree expectation increased, so did the likelihood 

of attending more than one institution. Nineteen percent of students who expected to earn a 

certificate at their first institution, 43 percent who expected to earn an associate’s degree, and 70 

percent who expected to earn a bachelor’s or transfer to 4-year institutions attended more than 

one institution. 

Persistence and Attainment 

Because students who begin in public 2-year institutions often have varied degree 

expectations and those who want to earn a bachelor’s degree typically cannot do so without 

attending another institution, persistence and attainment rates among these students vary 

according to number of institutions they attend and their degree expectations. Ten percent of 

1995–96 students who began in public 2-year institutions had attained a bachelor’s degree by 

2001, one-quarter had attained an associate’s degree or certificate, 17 percent were still enrolled 

(either at a 4-year or less-than-4-year institution), and 47 percent had neither attained a degree 

nor were enrolled (table 3-C).

Among students who began in public 2-year institutions, those who attended two 

institutions were more likely than those who attended three or more institutions to have attained a 

bachelor’s degree (25 vs. 13 percent), and they were also more likely than those who attended 

three or more institutions to have left without a degree (27 vs. 13 percent). Seventy-three 

 

10 Among students beginning at public 2-year institutions, due to large standard errors, no difference could be detected between 

students who did not work and students who worked full time in their likelihood of co-enrolling. 

11 First-year GPA was used as an indicator of academic performance. Entrance examination scores such as SAT or ACT scores 

are also a good indication of students’ likelihood of succeeding in college, however, a majority of those who started in a 2-year 

institution did not take the exam. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

18 

Table 3-C.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year 

Table 6-B.—institutions according to the highest degree attained and 6-year persistence and attainment

Table 6-B.—status, by multiple institution attendance patterns and degree expectations

No degree anywhere

At lessAttendance patterns Total Bachelor’s Associate’s At 4-year than-4-year Not

and degree expectations attained degree degree Certificate institutions institutions enrolled

 Total 35.7 10.3 15.7 9.7 8.4 9.1 46.9

Degree expected at first institution1

 None 21.2 5.8 10.7 4.6 8.2 10.6 60.0

 Certificate 42.3 0.6 7.0 34.7 # 7.3 50.4

 Associate’s degree 37.8 7.9 22.1 7.9 7.2 9.9 45.1

 Bachelor’s degree 39.2 22.9 10.5 5.8 14.7 7.5 38.6

Number of institutions attended

 One 22.5 † 12.3 10.2 † 9.5 68.0

 More than one 50.4 21.7 19.5 9.1 17.7 8.7 23.3

 Two 52.5 24.6 20.0 7.9 11.9 9.1 26.6

 Three or more 44.1 13.1 18.2 12.8 35.0 7.5 13.4

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 33.3 8.4 15.0 9.9 6.6 9.5 50.5

 Sometimes co-enrolled 53.8 24.4 21.1 8.3 21.9 5.6 18.7

Transfer status2

 Never transferred 23.3 0.4 12.2 10.8 0.7 11.5 64.6

 Transferred 53.1 24.2 20.8 8.1 19.2 5.7 22.0

 Number of times transferred

 Once 55.4 26.6 20.4 8.4 15.9 5.7 23.1

 Twice 43.5 13.2 23.5 6.8 33.4 5.7 17.4

 Three times ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 First transfer direction

 Upward 59.9 38.1 19.5 2.3 24.0 0.7 15.5

 Lateral 43.9 3.4 27.1 13.4 13.6 11.7 30.8

 Downward 37.3 # 3.3 34.0 4.1 21.5 37.1

Enrollment continuity through 2001

 Continuously enrolled 39.3 14.9 16.6 7.8 4.7 2.9 53.2

 Two enrollment spells 30.8 3.8 16.0 11.0 13.5 17.9 37.8

 Three or more spells 27.1 # 8.1 19.1 16.6 21.7 34.6

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 Bachelor’s degree includes students who said they expected to transfer to 4-year institutions.

2 Students had to have moved from the original institution to the destination institution and have remained at the destination for at least 

4 months to be identified as a transfer student. In some cases, students who began at public 2-year institutions attended 4-year

institutions without having met this definition of transfer.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.

asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Still enrolled

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Highest degree attained anywhere
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

19 

percent of students who attended two institutions had attained any degree or were enrolled, 

compared with 87 percent of those who attended three or more institutions.12 A similar pattern 

was found for students who transferred: those who transferred only once had higher rates of 

bachelor’s degree attainment than those who transferred twice (27 vs. 13 percent). 

Students who began in public 2-year institutions who had co-enrolled had higher rates of 

bachelor’s degree attainments and persistence at 4-year institutions than their counterparts who 

did not co-enroll. That is, 24 percent of students who began in public 2-year institutions and had 

co-enrolled attained a bachelor’s degree and 22 percent were still enrolled at a 4-year institution 

as of 2001, compared with 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of students who did not coenroll. While 19 percent of students who had co-enrolled had left with no credential as of 2001, 

half of students who did not co-enroll had done the same. 

Time to Degree 

Among students who began their postsecondary education in a community college in 1995–

96 with intentions of earning a bachelor’s degree, 77 percent had not attained a bachelor’s degree 

within 6 years (62 percent were either not enrolled or were enrolled at a less-than-4-year 

institution, while 15 percent were enrolled in 4-year institutions) (table 3-D). Twenty-three 

percent had attained a bachelor’s degree within 6 years: 6 percent in 4 years or less and 17 

percent in more than 4 years. 

For students who began in community colleges with intentions of earning a bachelor’s 

degree, repeated multiple institution attendance (attending three or more institutions) and 

repeated transferring were negatively related to degree attainment. For example, 38 percent of 

these students who attend 2 institutions had attained a bachelor’s degree within 6 years, while 17 

percent of students who attended three or more institutions had done so. This delay in attainment 

may be related to several possible reasons—such as difficulty in transferring credits, different 

requirements at various institutions, or mitigating factors such as a move, job change, or family 

status change. Co-enrollment for these students, on the other hand, was positively related to 

bachelor’s degree attainment and persistence. No difference could be detected between coenrollment and attaining a bachelor’s degree in 4 years. However, students who co-enrolled were 

more likely to attain within 6 years than their counterparts who never co-enrolled (37 vs. 20 

 

12 Among students who began at public 2-year institutions who attended two institutions, 52 percent had attained a degree, 12 

percent were still enrolled in 4-year institutions, and 9 percent were enrolled in less-than-4-year institutions, for a total of 73 

percent who had attained or were still enrolled. Among those who attended three or more institutions, 44 percent had attained, 35 

percent were enrolled in 4-year institutions, and 8 percent were enrolled in less-than-4-year institutions, for a total of 87 percent 

who had attained a degree or were enrolled. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

20 

percent). This finding suggests that students who co-enroll may do so in order to finish their 

degree sooner. 

Table 3-D.—Percentage of beginning postsecondary students in public 2-year institutions in 1995–96 with a 

Table 7-B.—bachelor’s degree goal who completed a bachelor’s degree according to the number of years to 

Table 7-B.—complete the degree, by multiple institution attendance patterns

Not enrolled Enrolled Attained a bachelor’s degree

in 4-year in 4-year 4 years More than

Attendance patterns institutions institutions or less 4 years 6-year total

 Total 62.4 14.7 5.8 17.2 22.9

Number of institutions attended

 One 100.0 † † † †

 More than one 46.1 21.1 8.3 24.6 32.9

 Two 47.9 14.3 9.9 28.0 37.9

 Three or more 40.5 42.3 3.2 14.0 17.2

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 66.0 13.7 5.5 14.8 20.3

 Sometimes co-enrolled 43.0 20.1 7.1 29.8 36.8

Transfer status1

 Never transferred 96.4 2.1 # 1.5 1.5

 Transferred 40.6 22.8 9.4 27.2 36.7

 Number of times transferred

 Once 39.8 20.9 10.8 28.6 39.3

 Twice 44.0 31.2 3.7 21.1 24.8

 Three times ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 First transfer direction

 Upward 28.9 24.7 12.3 34.1 46.4

 Lateral 72.0 18.5 1.4 8.1 9.5

 Downward ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

Enrollment continuity through 2001

 Continuously enrolled 57.9 10.4 8.5 23.2 31.8

 Two enrollment spells 72.3 18.5 1.1 8.1 9.2

 Three or more spells ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 Students had to have moved from the original institution to the destination institution and have remained at the destination for

at least 4 months to be identified as a transfer student. In some cases, students who began at public 2-year institutions attended

4-year institutions without having met this definition of transfer.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

No bachelor’s degree

Students who began in public 2-year institutions
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

21 

Students Who Began in 4-Year Institutions

Student Characteristics 

Among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions, 38 percent 

attended more than one institution, including 10 percent who attended three or more institutions 

(table 4-A). Thirteen percent co-enrolled, one-quarter (26 percent) transferred, and 18 percent 

had enrolled in public 2-year institutions. Among those who began in 4-year institutions, few 

differences could be detected by sex, except that men were more likely than women to have ever 

enrolled in public 2-year institutions (19 vs. 16 percent). 

For students with factors that placed them at risk of not completing their postsecondary 

education, patterns of multiple institution attendance generally resembled those of their peers 

who began in public 2-year institutions. Students with two or more risk factors were less likely 

than students with one risk factor to attend more than one institution (34 vs. 42 percent). They 

were also less likely to co-enroll (8 vs. 15 percent); however, no differences could be detected by 

number of risk factors in likelihood of transferring or attending a public 2-year institution. 

Dependent students who began at 4-year institutions were more likely than their 

independent counterparts to attend multiple institutions: 39 percent of dependent students 

attended more than one institution, compared with 27 percent of independent students. 

Dependent students were also more likely than independent students to co-enroll or transfer. For 

example, 26 percent of dependent students transferred, compared with 21 percent of independent 

students. No difference was detected between dependent and independent students in their 

likelihood of ever enrolling in public 2-year institutions though. 

A relationship between income and multiple institution attendance could not be detected 

either for dependent or independent students who began at 4-year institutions. However, among 

dependent students, those with high incomes were less likely than their low- and middle-income 

peers to transfer to other institutions (22 percent vs. 29 and 27 percent, respectively), and they 

were more likely to co-enroll (15 percent vs. 11 and 13 percent, respectively). For independent 

students, differences could not be detected by income level in the extent to which they transferred 

or co-enrolled. 

Enrollment Characteristics 

Overall, beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions who had low GPAs (less 

than 2.25) were more likely than those with higher GPAs to attend more than one institution (51 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

22 

Table 4-A.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions according to 

Table 4-C.—multiple institution attendance patterns, by student characteristics

Type of multiple enrollment

Enrolled

More than one in public

Three 2-year

Student characteristics One Total Two or more Co-enrolled Transferred institutions

 Total 61.8 38.2 27.9 10.2 12.6 25.8 17.6

Sex

 Male 62.4 37.6 28.3 9.4 11.8 26.3 19.1

 Female 61.4 38.6 27.7 11.0 13.3 25.5 16.4

Race/ethnicity1 

 American Indian 44.5 55.6 44.7 10.8 21.7 42.4 22.4

 Asian/Pacific Islander 65.3 34.8 27.0 7.8 16.0 20.2 16.3

 Black 60.5 39.5 26.7 12.8 11.1 30.0 19.6

 White 62.4 37.6 27.8 9.8 12.4 25.0 17.0

 Other ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Hispanic 57.6 42.4 30.4 12.0 13.7 30.2 20.4

Age as of 12/31/95

 18 years or younger 61.0 39.0 28.4 10.6 13.5 25.5 18.3

 19–23 years 61.4 38.6 28.7 9.9 11.8 27.5 17.3

 24–29 years 75.4 24.6 18.0 6.6 4.5 20.1 9.7

 30 years or older 76.0 24.0 15.8 8.2 8.3 17.3 12.0

Delayed enrollment 

 No 60.9 39.1 28.5 10.6 13.2 25.9 17.9

 Yes 66.3 33.7 25.0 8.7 9.7 25.3 16.1

Income and dependency quartiles 1994 

 Dependent 60.9 39.1 28.7 10.5 13.1 26.2 17.9

 Low quartile 59.7 40.3 31.3 9.0 11.2 29.2 19.0

 Middle quartiles 60.2 39.8 29.3 10.5 12.5 27.4 18.8

 High quartile 62.7 37.3 25.9 11.4 15.5 22.4 15.8

 Independent 72.8 27.2 19.9 7.2 7.4 20.6 13.9

 Low quartile 73.6 26.4 20.0 6.4 9.1 17.7 15.7

 Middle quartiles 70.8 29.3 22.3 7.0 7.1 24.1 15.9

 High quartile 78.0 22.0 13.8 8.2 5.5 15.8 6.7

Number of risk factors 1995–962

 None 61.9 38.1 28.2 9.9 12.9 24.8 17.0

 One 58.4 41.6 29.0 12.6 15.3 29.6 21.0

 Two or more 65.9 34.1 25.0 9.1 7.7 27.4 16.8

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Black includes African American, and 

Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

2 Risk factors include delaying enrollment, not having a high school diploma, enrolling part time, being financially independent

(typically students over 24), having dependents other than a spouse, being a single parent, and working full time while enrolled.

For more information, see Horn, L.J., and Premo, M.D. (1995). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education 

Institutions: 1992–93, With an Essay on Undergraduates at Risk (NCES 96–237).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Students who began in 4-year institutions

Number of institutions attended
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

23 

percent vs. 30–36 percent) (table 4-B). They were also more likely to transfer (40 percent vs. 18–

23 percent) or ever enroll in public 2-year institutions (30 percent vs. 10–15 percent), but no 

differences could be detected between GPA and co-enrollment. Part of this GPA association may 

be due to students in academic trouble at one institution deciding to attend another institution or 

change their program of study. For the most part, the number of hours students worked per week 

was not associated with their rates of multiple institution attendance except that students who did 

not work were more likely to co-enroll than students who worked 35 hours or more (14 vs. 11 

percent). 

Among students who began at 4-year institutions, those with advanced degree expectations 

were less likely than those who expected to earn no more than a bachelor’s degree to attend more 

than one institution (38 vs. 44 percent). They were also less likely to transfer (24 vs. 34 percent) 

or attend public 2-year institutions (17 vs. 23 percent), but no such difference could be found in 

their likelihood of co-enrolling.

Persistence and Attainment 

Among students who began their postsecondary education in 4-year institutions, 58 percent 

had attained a bachelor’s degree by 2001, and 12 percent were still enrolled in 4-year institutions 

(table 4-C). Twenty-one percent had not attained any degree and were no longer enrolled. 

Students who attended more than one institution were less likely to have attained a bachelor’s 

degree by 2001 than students who only attended one institution (42 vs. 68 percent). However, 

students who attended more than one institution were more likely to still be enrolled anywhere as 

of 2001 than those who attended only one institution (24 vs. 8 percent). Roughly one-fifth of 

both students who attended one institution and students who attended more than one institution 

had left without a degree and were no longer enrolled. 

Compared with those who did not transfer or attend public 2-year institutions, students who 

transferred or ever attended public 2-year institutions were less likely to have attained a 

bachelor’s degree and more likely to have left without a degree. For example, 25 percent of 

students who transferred or attended public 2-year institutions had left without a degree, 

compared with 20 percent of students who had not transferred or attended a public 2-year 

institution. Even those students whose first transfer was in a lateral direction had lower rates of 

bachelor’s degree attainment than those who did not transfer (45 vs. 68 percent). 

Conversely, co-enrollment was positively related to bachelor’s degree attainment among 

students who began at 4-year institutions. As of 2001, 63 percent of students who co-enrolled had 

attained a bachelor’s degree, compared with 58 percent of students who never co-enrolled. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

24 

Furthermore, more than 1-in-5 students who never co-enrolled had left without earning any 

degree, while 1-in-10 students who co-enrolled had done so. 

Table 4-B.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions according to 

Table 4-B.—multiple institution attendance patterns, by enrollment characteristics

Type of multiple enrollment

Enrolled

More than one in public

Three 2-year

Enrollment characteristics One Total Two or more Co-enrolled Transferred institutions

 Total 61.8 38.2 27.9 10.2 12.6 25.8 17.6

Grade point average 1995–96 

 Less than 2.25 48.6 51.4 35.5 15.8 11.5 40.2 30.3

 2.25–3.25 64.4 35.6 26.0 9.6 13.2 22.9 15.5

 Greater than 3.25 69.7 30.3 23.9 6.5 13.1 18.0 9.7

Attendance intensity through 2001

 Always full-time 76.6 23.4 18.7 4.7 3.9 19.2 6.1

 Always part-time 83.1 16.9 14.6 2.3 4.7 11.6 8.2

 Mixed 32.1 67.9 46.5 21.4 29.8 39.5 40.1

Hours worked per week while enrolled 1995–96

 None 61.3 38.7 28.5 10.2 13.9 24.5 17.7

 Less than 35 hours 62.0 38.0 27.6 10.4 12.0 26.3 17.6

 35 hours or more 62.5 37.6 28.1 9.4 10.4 28.8 16.9

Received any aid 1995–96

 No 59.6 40.4 28.9 11.5 13.9 26.2 19.5

 Yes 62.6 37.4 27.6 9.8 12.2 25.7 16.9

Degree expected at first institution

 None 27.3 72.7 40.2 32.5 14.5 63.9 45.4

 Certificate 66.7 33.3 23.2 10.1 10.4 22.3 15.3

 Associate’s degree 64.9 35.1 28.6 6.5 9.0 28.7 15.7

 Bachelor’s degree 63.7 36.3 27.3 9.1 12.7 23.5 16.2

Highest degree ever expected in 1995–96

 No degree or certificate ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Certificate ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Associate’s degree 60.2 39.9 31.2 8.7 4.0 34.1 30.1

 Bachelor’s degree 56.2 43.8 31.4 12.5 11.4 33.8 22.8

 Higher than a bachelor’s degree 62.3 37.7 27.6 10.0 13.8 24.1 16.8

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Students who began in 4-year institutions

Number of institutions attended
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

25 

Table 4-C.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions

Table 6-C.—according to the highest degree attained and 6-year persistence and attainment status, by

Table 6-C.—multiple institution attendance patterns and degree expectations 

No degree anywhere

At lessAttendance patterns Total Bachelor’s Associate’s At 4-year than-4-year Not

and degree expectations attained degree degree Certificate institutions institutions enrolled

 Total 64.9 58.2 4.0 2.7 11.8 2.7 20.8

Degree expected at first institution

 None 37.2 19.9 11.1 6.2 13.7 7.5 41.8

 Certificate 37.4 7.5 14.2 15.7 17.4 2.4 42.8

 Associate’s degree 52.1 20.3 24.5 7.3 6.9 2.0 39.0

 Bachelor’s degree 67.5 62.7 2.7 2.1 11.9 2.4 18.3

Number of institutions attended

 One 70.7 68.0 1.9 0.9 8.0 † 21.2

 More than one 55.3 42.4 7.3 5.6 17.7 6.9 20.0

 Two 57.2 46.5 6.0 4.7 14.9 6.2 21.7

 Three or more 50.1 31.4 10.9 7.8 25.6 9.0 15.2

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 63.9 57.6 3.9 2.4 11.3 2.7 22.0

 Sometimes co-enrolled 71.3 62.5 4.6 4.2 14.5 2.3 11.9

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions

 No 68.5 63.7 2.6 2.1 11.3 0.4 19.8

 Yes 48.0 32.7 10.2 5.1 13.8 13.1 25.2

Transfer status1

 Never transferred 71.6 68.4 1.9 1.3 8.7 0.2 19.5

 Transferred 45.4 29.2 9.8 6.4 20.5 9.6 24.5

 Number of times transferred

 Once 44.8 30.0 8.8 6.0 18.1 9.6 27.5

 Twice 47.7 28.6 12.1 7.0 26.6 9.9 15.9

 Three times 45.3 13.6 18.5 13.2 40.6 6.2 7.8

 First transfer direction

 Upward † † † † † † †

 Lateral 50.3 44.7 4.0 1.6 28.4 2.7 18.7

 Downward 38.8 8.5 17.4 13.0 10.2 18.8 32.2

Enrollment continuity through 2001

 Continuously enrolled 74.1 69.7 2.8 1.6 6.7 0.4 18.8

 Two enrollment spells 35.2 21.6 7.7 5.8 28.1 8.5 28.2

 Three or more spells 23.3 6.6 8.4 8.4 33.8 18.5 24.3

† Not applicable.

1 Students had to have moved from the original institution to the destination institution and have remained at the destination for at least 

4 months to be identified as a transfer student. In some cases, students who began at 4-year institutions attended 2-year institutions

without having met this definition of transfer.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.

asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

Still enrolled

Students who began in 4-year institutions

Highest degree attained anywhere
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

26 

Time to Degree 

The majority of students (63 percent) who began in 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s 

degree goal had attained one within 6 years (table 4-D). Thirty-six percent had attained a 

bachelor’s degree in 4 years or less, and an additional 26 percent had attained one in more than 4 

years. While attending more than one institution was inversely related to attainment rates for 

students with a bachelor’s degree goal (72 percent who attended only one institution had attained 

a bachelor’s degree within 6 years vs. 46 percent of students who attended more than one 

institution), the same pattern was not detected for co-enrollment. Roughly two-thirds of students 

had attained a bachelor’s degree within 6 years, whether or not they co-enrolled. Transferring, 

however, was negatively related to such attainment rates for students with a bachelor’s degree 

goal: 72 percent of students with a bachelor’s degree goal who never transferred had attained a 

bachelor’s degree within 6 years, while 31 percent of those who transferred had. Among students 

who transferred, those who transferred once were more likely than those who transferred twice to 

complete a degree in 4 years or less (11 vs. 6 percent) but were no more likely to complete a 

degree within 6 years (roughly one-third of both groups). 

In summary, attending more than one institution, transferring, or enrolling in public 2-year 

institutions were negatively related to attainment for beginning postsecondary students in 4-year 

institutions. Although students who attended more than one institution had lower rates of 

attainment, once persistence was included no difference could be detected in rates for those who 

attended only one institution and those who attended more than one. So, for some of these 

students, multiple institution attendance is associated with delayed attainment and, given more 

time, they may eventually achieve their degree goal. Furthermore, among students who began at 

4-year institutions, co-enrollment appeared to be positively related to their rates of persisting and 

attaining. 

Multivariate Analysis 

To take into account the interrelationship of multiple institution attendance and other 

characteristics that may influence students’ likelihood of completing a postsecondary credential, 

a multivariate analysis was conducted on the BPS data. (See appendix B for a detailed 

description of the methodology used.) The multivariate method used in this analysis is an 

approach sometimes referred to as “commonality analysis.”13 Multiple linear regression was used 

to adjust for the covariation among a list of control variables, which were selected based solely 

on the descriptive analysis rather than on a theoretical model, and the regression model was not 

 

13 For more information about commonality analysis, see Kerlinger and Pedhazur, Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research 

(Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., 1973). 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

27 

reduced. In other words, subsequent models were not run that removed nonsignificant 

independent variables. The dependent variable was a dichotomous outcome (yes/no) indicating 

Table 4-D.—Percentage of beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions in 1995–96 with a 

Table 7-C.—bachelor’s degree goal who completed a bachelor’s degree according to the number of years to 

Table 7-C.—completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns

Not enrolled Enrolled Attained a bachelor’s degree

in 4-year in 4-year 4 years More than

Attendance patterns institutions institutions or less 4 years 6-year total

 Total 25.5 11.9 36.5 26.1 62.7

Number of institutions attended

 One 19.5 8.3 44.3 27.8 72.2

 More than one 36.0 18.0 22.9 23.2 46.0

 Two 34.6 15.4 26.1 23.9 49.9

 Three or more 40.1 25.7 13.2 21.1 34.2

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 26.3 11.7 36.3 25.8 62.1

 Sometimes co-enrolled 20.1 13.1 38.1 28.7 66.8

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions

 No 20.9 11.5 40.1 27.5 67.6

 Yes 49.2 13.7 17.8 19.3 37.1

Transfer status

 Never transferred 18.8 8.9 44.7 27.7 72.4

 Transferred 47.2 21.5 10.0 21.3 31.2

 Number of times transferred

 Once 48.4 19.2 11.3 21.1 32.4

 Twice 42.6 27.1 6.2 24.1 30.3

 Three times 47.1 45.4 # 7.6 7.6

 First transfer direction

 Upward † † † † †

 Lateral 25.4 28.8 15.6 30.2 45.8

 Downward 80.7 10.5 1.3 7.6 8.8

Enrollment continuity through 2001

 Continuously enrolled 19.7 6.8 44.2 29.4 73.6

 Two enrollment spells 45.8 30.9 8.0 15.3 23.3

 Three or more spells 58.1 34.3 1.1 6.5 7.6

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).

No bachelor’s degree

Students who began in 4-year institutions
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

28 

whether a student had either attained a formal credential or was enrolled in a 4-year institution.14

Specifically, the analysis examined the relationship between types of multiple institution 

attendance and student persistence, taking into account the covariation of variables such as 

demographics, socioeconomic status, persistence risk factors, and academic performance. 

The main independent variables were the three types of multiple institution attendance: coenrollment, enrollment in public 2-year institutions, and transfer status. Based on their 

association with multiple institution attendance patterns and persistence and attainment rates, 

demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, income, and 

number of risk factors were included in the model. Measures of academic success (grade point 

average in the first year enrolled) and enrollment continuity, which are associated with 

persistence and attainment, were also included. First institution sector was included in the model 

as well. The analysis included students who began in 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s degree 

goal and measured their likelihood of attaining a bachelor’s degree or being enrolled in 4-year 

institutions 6 years later. 

The results of the multivariate analysis are shown in table 5. The first column shows the 

unadjusted percentages, which are the percentages of students who had attained a bachelor’s 

degree or were enrolled in 4-year institutions 6 years after initial enrollment in postsecondary 

education before controlling for the independent variables in the model. The comparison groups 

are shown in italics, and all statistically significant differences are designated with an asterisk. 

The second column displays least squares coefficients expressed as percentages. Least squares 

coefficients that achieve statistical significance (as denoted by an asterisk) represent the observed 

differences between the analysis group and the comparison group after controlling for the other 

independent variables in the model. For example, in table 5, the least squares coefficient for 

those who had co-enrolled is 12.70. Therefore, compared to students who did not co-enroll, about 

13 percent more students who had co-enrolled might be expected to have attained a bachelor’s 

degree or be enrolled in a 4-year institution 6 years after initially enrolling in postsecondary 

education upon controlling for the relationships among the other independent variables. 

The results of the multivariate analysis generally supported the results of the tabular 

analysis. The positive association between co-enrollment and persistence and attainment—which 

was apparent before controlling for covariation—remained, with students who had co-enrolled 

more likely to have persisted or attained than those who had not co-enrolled. Similarly, the 

negative relationship between persistence and attending public 2-year institutions or transferring 

 

14 Although the DAS simplifies the process of conducting a linear regression analysis, it also limits the range of procedures that 

can be used. The least squares regression procedure used in this analysis is sometimes sufficient for binary outcomes (such as the 

outcome studied here). However, when the proportion of the sample participating in the outcome is very low or very high, logit 

or probit procedures are preferred. See appendix B for more details. 
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

29 

Table 5.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning students in 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s degree goal who

Table 5.—had attained a bachelor’s degree or were enrolled in 4-year institutions 6 years after first enrolling

Table 5.—in postsecondary education, and the least squares coefficients and standard errors expressed as

Table 5.—percentages

 Unadjusted Least squares Standard 

Student and enrollment characteristics1 percentages2 coefficient3

error4

 Total 74.5 97.40 1.95 

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 73.7 † † 

 Sometimes co-enrolled 79.9* 12.70* 2.21 

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions

 No 79.1 † † 

 Yes 50.8* -18.00* 2.21 

Transfer status

 Never transferred 81.2 † † 

 Transferred 52.8* -14.20* 1.82 

First institution sector

 Public 71.9 † † 

 Private not-for-profit 80.2* 1.90 1.43 

Sex

 Male 72.3 † † 

 Female 76.4* 0.50 1.30 

Race/ethnicity5

 American Indian ‡ 10.70 9.22 

 Asian/Pacific Islander 81.4 3.10 2.73 

 Black 61.1* -4.40* 2.21 

 White 77.4 † † 

 Other ‡ 9.00 17.39 

 Hispanic 64.3* -5.30* 2.21 

Income quartiles

 Low quartile 66.3* -7.10* 1.95 

 Middle quartiles 73.3* -5.00* 1.56 

 High quartile 83.1 † † 

Number of risk factors 1995–96

 None 80.5 † † 

 One 65.1* -10.30* 1.95 

 Two or more 42.2* -31.20* 2.34 

Grade point average 1995–96

 Less than 2.25 47.6* -27.70* 1.95 

 2.25–3.25 81.0* -4.30* 1.56 

 Greater than 3.25 87.5 † † 

See notes at end of table.
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later

30 

also remained. Students who attended public 2-year institutions during the course of their 

enrollment and students who transferred between institutions were less likely than their peers 

who did not attend public 2-year institutions and did not transfer to have attained or to be 

enrolled in a 4-year institution 6 years after enrolling in postsecondary education. However, the 

unadjusted advantage in persistence and attainment of private not-for-profit beginners over 

public 4-year beginners disappeared once the covariation of student and enrollment 

characteristics were taken into account. 

The positive relationships between numerous other independent variables included in the 

analysis on persistence and attainment that were evident in the tabular analysis remained as well. 

Specifically, students with high incomes, no risk factors, high grade point averages, and those 

who were continuously enrolled as undergraduates remained more likely to have attained 

bachelor’s degrees or be enrolled 6 years after beginning than their peers with incomes in the 

middle or lower quartiles, one or more risk factor upon initial enrollment, those with grade point 

averages of 3.25 or less, and those who had more than one enrollment spell. 

Table 5.—Percentage of 1995–96 beginning students in 4-year institutions with a bachelor’s degree goal who

Table 5.—had attained a bachelor’s degree or were enrolled in 4-year institutions 6 years after first enrolling

Table 5.—in postsecondary education, and the least squares coefficients and standard errors expressed as

Table 5.—percentages—Continued

 Unadjusted Least squares Standard 

Student and enrollment characteristics1 percentages2 coefficient3

error4

Enrollment continuity through 2001

 Continuously enrolled 80.3 † † 

 Not continuously enrolled 51.9* -6.40* 1.82 

† Not applicable.

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

* p < 0.05.

1 The italicized group in each category is the reference group being compared. 2 The estimates are from the BPS:96/01 Data Analysis System.

3 Coefficients can be interpreted as the number of percentage points over or under the comparison group once the covariation of

all variables is taken into account (see appendix B). Those that are significant (i.e., that indicate a significant difference from the

reference group’s mean) are indicated by an asterisk. For example, the coefficient for those who co-enrolled during their 

undergraduate education is 12.80, which means that about 13 percent more students who co-enrolled would be expected to have 

earned a bachelor’s degree or be enrolled at 4-year institutions compared to students who did not co-enroll. 4 Standard error of least squares coefficient, adjusted for design effect, multiplied by 100 to reflect percentage (see appendix B). 5 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Black includes African American, and 

Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01).
1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: 6 Years Later 

31 

Summary: Beginning Postsecondary Students 

In general, among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students, more traditional students, 

such as younger students and those who attended full time were more likely to attend multiple 

institutions than their older or part-time counterparts. Similarly, those with few factors that 

placed them at risk of leaving postsecondary education, such as those who did not delay their 

postsecondary enrollment, were more likely to attend multiple institutions than students with a 

greater number of persistence risk factors. However, many of these characteristics are also 

associated with students’ likelihood of persisting in their postsecondary programs. The longer 

students persist, the more opportunity they have to attend more than one institution. Thus, to 

some extent, the association between these factors and multiple institution attendance may be due 

to the length of time students are enrolled. On the other hand, among students who began at 4-

year institutions with a bachelor’s degree goal, even when students’ risk status and continuity of 

enrollment were taken into account in a multivariate analysis, the negative association between 

either transferring or attending public 2-year institutions and persistence remained, as did the 

positive association between co-enrolling and persistence. 

 Beginning postsecondary students in 4-year institutions who attended multiple institutions 

were less likely than their counterparts to attain a degree within 6 years. Given the association 

between attending multiple institutions and time to degree, it may be that those who attend more 

than one institution are simply taking longer to complete their postsecondary education and earn 

a degree. For example, among students who began at 4-year institutions, those who attended 

more than one institution were less likely than students who only attended one institution to have 

attained any degree (55 vs. 71 percent), but were more likely to still be enrolled anywhere in 

2001 (25 vs. 8 percent). About one-fifth of both groups had left without a degree. 
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 
33 

1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

Introduction

This section of the report focuses on bachelor’s degree recipients, using data from the 

2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:2000/01). Students who attained 

their degrees in 1999–2000, regardless of when they first enrolled in postsecondary education, 

were included in the sample for this survey. Therefore, this student population differs 

substantially from that discussed in the previous section. That is, while the 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) followed a cohort of students who 

began postsecondary education from the 1995–96 through the 2000–2001 academic year, the 

B&B survey focuses on a cohort of bachelor’s degree recipients who graduated in 1999–2000. 

The BPS survey includes students who left postsecondary education temporarily or permanently, 

as well as students who attained various degrees or were still enrolled. B&B respondents, on the 

other hand, have all attained bachelor’s degrees. Therefore, the two cohorts are not directly 

comparable in terms of their patterns of multiple institution attendance. 

B&B looks retrospectively at the enrollment histories of students who ultimately attained 

bachelor’s degrees. Their paths to degree attainment vary widely, with some students taking 

many years and enrolling in several institutions along the way, and some earning their degrees at 

the institution at which they began their studies just a few years earlier. Students who attended 

multiple institutions are the population of interest here. Subsets of this population will also be 

examined—specifically, those who attended two or more institutions at one time (co-enrolled), 

transferred between institutions, or began at a 4-year institution and attended a 2-year institution 

at some point. 

The majority (59 percent) of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients attended 

more than one institution during the course of their undergraduate enrollment. Thirty-five percent 

attended two institutions, 16 percent attended three institutions, and 8 percent attended four or 

more institutions (figure 3). Figure 4 shows the types of multiple institution attendance: 9 percent 

had co-enrolled and 35 percent had transferred. In this section, co-enrollment was identified only 

if it occurred within the academic year and lasted for more than 1 month and students are 

considered to have transferred if they indicated that they had attended more than one 
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

34 

Figure 3.—Percentage distribution of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients according to number

Figure 3.—of institutions attended

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

41 59

35

16

8

One

Two

Three

Four or more

Figure 4.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients according to multiple institution

Figure 4.—attendance patterns, by beginning institution type

1

In B&B:2000/01, only students who reported that they attended multiple institutions in order to transfer were identified as

transfer students. In some cases, students who began at 2-year institutions attended 4-year institutions without having met this

definition of transfer.

NOTE: Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

59

9

35

100

12

70

48

8

26

46

8

24

0

20

40

60

80

100

More than one institution Co-enrolled Student-identified transfer

Percent

Total Public 2-year Public 4-year Private not-for-profit 4-year

1
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

35 

postsecondary institution before completing a bachelor’s degree and did so in order to transfer 

between schools.

Among those who graduated from college, the likelihood of attending multiple institutions, 

co-enrolling, and transferring varied by the type of institution in which they first enrolled. 

Because public 2-year institutions typically do not offer bachelor’s degree programs, 100 percent 

of students who began in public 2-year institutions and later attained a bachelor’s degree attended 

more than one institution. Of those, 70 percent identified transfer as their main purpose for 

attending more than one institution, and 12 percent co-enrolled.15 Forty-eight percent of 

bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 4-year institutions attended more than one 

institution and 46 percent who began in private not-for-profit institutions did so. Among those 

who began at 4-year institutions, 8 percent co-enrolled, and about one-quarter transferred before 

attaining a bachelor’s degree. 

Purpose for Attending Multiple Institutions 

Bachelor’s degree recipients who attended more than one postsecondary institution were 

asked why they had done so. Specifically, students were given the option of choosing one of the 

following reasons: transfer between schools, enroll for additional classes, enroll for an additional 

degree, transfer and take additional classes, or none of the above. The largest proportion reported 

transferring between schools as their main reason for attending more than one institution (table 

6). As would be expected, those who began in public 2-year colleges were most likely to report 

wanting to transfer as their main purpose for enrolling in multiple institutions (63 percent), with 

an additional 7 percent reporting that they intended to both transfer and take additional classes. 

Fourteen percent of graduates who began in public 2-year institutions and attended more than one 

institution reported that they enrolled to take additional classes, and 7 percent enrolled for an 

additional degree. 

Surprisingly, about one-half of bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year 

institutions and who attended more than one institution also reported that their purpose for 

attending multiple institutions was to transfer. About one-third of these graduates reported 

attending multiple institutions in order to take additional classes, and an additional 5–7 percent 

 

15 In some cases, students who began in public 2-year institutions attended 4-year institutions without transferring. In 

B&B:2000/01 students who indicated that they had attended more than one postsecondary institution before completing a 

bachelor’s degree were asked why they chose to attend multiple institutions. Those who said they had attended multiple 

institutions in order to transfer between schools were considered to have met the student-identified definition of transfer used in 

the B&B section of this study. This question addressed all multiple institution attendance, so where students attended more than 

two institutions it is not possible to determine between which institutions the transfer occurred. Some students who began in 2-

year institutions and later attained a bachelor’s degree did not identify transfer as their purpose for attending multiple institutions 

and, therefore, were not considered as having met this definition of transfer. 
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

36 

reported that they enrolled to both transfer and take additional classes. This pattern was observed 

for students who began in both public and private not-for-profit institutions.

Students Who Began in Public 2-Year Institutions

Due to the differences in patterns of multiple institution attendance between 1999–2000 

bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year institutions and those who began in 4-

year institutions (both public and private not-for-profit), the rest of this section will focus on 

multiple institution attendance taking into account the type of institution in which students began 

Table 6.—Percentage distribution of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who enrolled in more 

Table 9.—than one institution during their undergraduate education according to purpose, by beginning 

Table 9.—institution type and number of institutions attended

 Percent who

attended Transfer

more Transfer Enroll for Enroll for and take

than one between additional additional additional None of

Number of institutions institution schools classes degree classes the above

 Total 100.0 63.5 13.8 6.9 6.7 9.2

Number of institutions attended

 Two 100.0 66.9 10.5 8.7 2.1 11.9

 Three 100.0 61.6 17.5 5.2 9.9 5.8

 Four or more 100.0 50.1 21.7 1.9 22.5 3.7

 Total 48.3 47.8 34.7 2.2 6.6 8.7

Number of institutions attended

 Two 100.0 42.8 41.4 2.6 2.2 11.1

 Three 100.0 55.0 28.1 1.8 8.7 6.4

 Four or more 100.0 55.5 17.2 1.6 22.9 2.8

 Total 45.6 48.4 34.8 3.1 5.2 8.5

Number of institutions attended

 Two 100.0 44.1 40.5 3.9 1.3 10.2

 Three 100.0 57.7 29.5 0.8 6.9 5.0

 Four or more 100.0 48.5 19.3 4.3 19.7 8.1

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Students who began in public 4-year institutions

Students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions

Purpose of undergraduate multiple institution attendance
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

37 

their studies. In the next section, the focus will turn to college graduates who began in public 

2-year institutions, looking at how their student and enrollment characteristics were related to 

their various forms of multiple institution attendance. 

Student and Enrollment Characteristics 

Among college graduates who began in public 2-year institutions, 60 percent attended two 

institutions, 28 percent attended three institutions, and 11 percent attended four or more 

institutions (table 7-A). Twelve percent of students had co-enrolled at some point, and more than 

two-thirds (70 percent) reported transferring as their main reason for attending more than one 

institution. That is, 30 percent of students who began in public 2-year institutions and later 

attained a bachelor’s degree did not report that their purpose for attending two or more 

institutions was to transfer between schools and, therefore, were not considered to have 

transferred in this section of the report. 

Among graduates who began in public 2-year institutions, students who were financially 

dependent in 1999–2000 were less mobile than their independent peers. While 81 percent of 

dependent students who began in public 2-year institutions attended just two institutions, about 

one-half of independent students did so. The remaining independent students attended three 

institutions (33 percent) or four or more institutions (15 percent). Similarly, 82 percent of 

students with no persistence risk factors attended just two institutions, compared with 68 percent 

with one persistence risk factor and 54 percent with two or more risk factors. Students with two 

or more risk factors were more likely to have co-enrolled than students with no risk factors 

(14 vs. 7 percent). 

Few other differences could be detected among graduates by their student and enrollment 

characteristics, however. Where there appeared to be differences, often there were large standard 

errors. Furthermore, where differences were detected, they could be related to the length of 

enrollment. Students have cited various reasons for enrolling in multiple institutions, some of 

which are academic, such as changing majors or programs or poor academic performance, and 

some of which are nonacademic, such as a job change, moving out of the area, or a change in 

family responsibilities (Gose 1995). As the length of time a student remains enrolled increases, 

so do the chances of a change in circumstances that may influence their likelihood of attending 

multiple institutions. Similarly, as students remain enrolled for longer periods of time, their 

chances of having persistence risk factors, such as financial independence and full-time 

employment, increase. Because most persistence risk factors were measured at the time of 

bachelor’s degree completion in B&B:2000/01 (as opposed to when they began, as in 
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

38 

Table 7-A.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year 

Table 7-A.—institutions who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment characteristics

StudentFour identified

Student and enrollment characteristics Total Two Three or more Co-enrolled transfer1

 Total 100.0 60.3 28.3 11.5 11.9 70.1

Sex

 Male 100.0 63.0 28.6 8.5 11.6 70.7

 Female 100.0 58.2 28.1 13.7 12.2 69.7

Race/ethnicity2 

 American Indian 100.0 ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Asian/Pacific Islander 100.0 64.8 23.9 11.3 16.5 69.6

 Black 100.0 59.6 25.4 15.0 8.3 66.6

 White 100.0 60.0 29.3 10.7 12.5 69.7

 Other 100.0 ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 Hispanic 100.0 58.7 29.6 11.8 6.6 74.3

Age when began postsecondary education

 18 years or younger 100.0 58.1 30.0 12.0 11.2 73.1

 19–23 years 100.0 66.4 24.2 9.4 11.7 69.2

 24–29 years 100.0 54.9 32.1 13.0 13.6 64.8

 30 years or older 100.0 44.5 37.3 18.2 15.3 67.0

Delayed enrollment 

 No 100.0 60.6 27.9 11.5 12.5 71.5

 Yes 100.0 59.9 29.0 11.1 11.4 68.9

Income and dependency quartiles 1999–2000

 Dependent 100.0 81.1 17.0 1.9 7.3 72.0

 Low quartile 100.0 79.7 18.7 1.6 10.3 73.0

 Middle quartiles 100.0 83.5 14.5 2.0 8.3 75.4

 High quartile 100.0 78.1 19.9 2.0 3.7 65.4

 Independent 100.0 51.9 32.8 15.3 13.8 69.4

 Low quartile 100.0 54.5 34.4 11.2 11.4 75.4

 Middle quartiles 100.0 53.8 28.7 17.5 13.3 68.8

 High quartile 100.0 43.9 38.9 17.2 18.5 61.1

Number of risk factors 1999–20003

 None 100.0 81.7 16.4 1.9 6.6 72.3

 One 100.0 67.7 24.7 7.6 9.9 74.3

 Two or more 100.0 53.6 31.8 14.6 13.7 68.4

Cumulative grade point average

 Less than 2.25 100.0 51.4 34.5 14.1 17.7 66.2

 2.25–3.25 100.0 62.5 27.3 10.2 10.8 72.1

 Greater than 3.25 100.0 58.0 29.6 12.4 12.1 67.8

See notes at end of table.

Type of 

multiple enrollment

Attended more than one institution

Students who began in public 2-year institutions
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

39 

BPS:96/01), the time that elapsed between their initial enrollment and degree attainment is 

related to the likelihood of having persistence risk factors. 

Time to Degree 

Students who begin in less-than-4-year institutions and later attain a bachelor’s degree must 

attend a second institution in order to enroll in a bachelor’s degree program. However, for these 

students, repeated multiple institution attendance (e.g., attending more than two institutions) can 

delay degree completion. Among 1999–2000 college graduates who began in public 2-year 

institutions, more than half took longer than 6 years to complete a bachelor’s degree (table 7-B). 

The average time between initial enrollment in postsecondary education and bachelor’s degree 

completion was about 9 years. Although all bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 

2-year institutions attended at least two institutions, those who attended more than two 

institutions took more time to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who attended just two 

institutions. For these students, as the number of institutions attended increased, so did the 

average time to completion. Students who began in public 2-year institutions and attended two 

Table 7-A.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year 

Table 7-A.—institutions who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment characteristics—

Table 7-A.—Continued

StudentFour identified

Student and enrollment characteristics Total Two Three or more Co-enrolled transfer1

Hours worked per week while enrolled during first year

 None 100.0 82.7 16.6 0.7 13.6 70.8

 Less than 35 hours 100.0 81.7 17.2 1.1 4.4 60.4

 35 hours or more 100.0 80.0 14.4 5.7 4.6 63.3

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases.)

1 In B&B:2000/01, only students who reported that they attended multiple institutions in order to transfer were identified as transfer 

students. In some cases, students who began at 2-year institutions attended 4-year institutions without having met this definition of

transfer.

2 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Black includes African American, and Hispanic

includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

3 Risk factors include delaying enrollment, not having a high school diploma, enrolling part time, being financially independent

(typically students over 24), having dependents other than a spouse, being a single parent, and working full time while enrolled. For

more information, see Horn, L.J., and Premo, M.D. (1995). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education Institutions:

1992–93, With an Essay on Undergraduates at Risk (NCES 96–237).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal 

Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Attended more than one institution

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Type of 

multiple enrollment
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

40 

institutions averaged about 8 years between initial enrollment and bachelor’s degree attainment, 

while students who enrolled in three institutions took about 11 years, and those who attended 

four or more institutions took an average of 14 years to do so. 

Table 7-B.—Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year 

Table 1-B.—institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and average time to completion, 

Table 1-B.—by multiple institution attendance patterns

Average

More time to

than completion

Attendance patterns 4 years 5 years 6 years 6 years (in years)

 Total 10.5 19.2 15.2 55.1 9.3

Number of institutions attended

 One † † † † †

 More than one 10.5 19.2 15.2 55.1 9.3

 Two 14.4 24.4 17.7 43.6 7.8

 Three 6.1 13.0 14.5 66.4 10.5

 Four or more 0.8 7.1 4.4 87.7 13.8

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 11.3 19.1 16.0 53.6 9.1

 Sometimes co-enrolled 5.4 18.3 9.5 66.8 10.0

Student-identified transfer1

 No 12.9 15.0 12.8 59.3 10.3

 Yes 9.5 21.0 16.4 53.1 8.8

 First transfer direction

 Upward 11.6 24.1 17.8 46.5 8.0

 Lateral 2.2 10.4 12.4 75.1 11.2

 Downward 2.8 6.8 3.6 86.8 11.7

Attempted to transfer credits2

 No 17.1 27.7 13.4 41.8 8.4

 Yes 10.7 20.2 15.4 53.7 9.0

† Not applicable.

1 In B&B:2000/01, only students who reported that they attended multiple institutions in order to transfer were identified as 

transfer students. In some cases, students who began at 2-year institutions attended 4-year institutions without having met this

definition of transfer.

2 Only students who attended multiple institutions in order to transfer, take additional classes, or both were asked whether they

attempted to transfer credits.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Time between postsecondary entry and bachelor’s degree completion
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

41 

Among bachelor’s degree recipients who began in community colleges, those who had 

never co-enrolled during their undergraduate education were more likely than those who had to 

attain a degree within 4 years. Whereas 11 percent of students who never co-enrolled graduated 

within 4 years of initial enrollment, 5 percent of students who had co-enrolled did so. However, 

no difference could be detected between students who had co-enrolled and those who had not in 

the overall average time to completion. 

Students whose primary reason for attending multiple institutions was to transfer took less 

time to complete their degree than students who had other reasons for attending multiple 

institutions (9 vs. 10 years). Among students who attended multiple institutions in order to 

transfer or take additional classes, no differences could be detected in average time to completion 

between those who attempted to transfer credits and those who did not. Since all bachelor’s 

degree recipients who began in public 2-year institutions attended more than one institution, it is 

not clear why transfer intent and attempt to transfer credits were related to time to degree in these 

ways. 

Students Who Began in 4-Year Institutions 

Student and Enrollment Characteristics 

Among 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public or private not-forprofit 4-year institutions, 47 percent attended more than one institution: 28 percent attended two 

institutions, 13 percent attended three institutions, and 6 percent attended four or more 

institutions (table 8-A). One-quarter of these students transferred, more than one-third attended a 

2-year institution, and 8 percent co-enrolled at some point before earning a bachelor’s degree. No 

differences were detected between college graduates who began in public 4-year institutions and 

college graduates who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions in the rates of attending 

multiple institutions, co-enrolling, and transferring. However, those graduates who began in 

public institutions were more likely than their peers in private not-for-profit institutions to have 

ever attended 2-year institutions (40 vs. 32 percent). 

Bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions and had more persistence risk 

factors were more mobile over the course of their studies than those with fewer risk factors. 

While 31 percent of students with no risk factors attended multiple institutions, about half of 

students with one risk factor and 69 percent of students with two or more risk factors had done 

so. It should be noted that most of the risk factors were assessed at the time of degree completion 

and over the course of their enrollment college graduates may become independent and 
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

42 

Table 8-A.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions

Table 8-A.—who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment characteristics

Type of multiple enrollment

Student- Enrolled in

 Four identified 2-year

Student and enrollment characteristics One Total Two Three or more Co-enrolled transfer institutions

 Total 52.7 47.3 28.3 13.0 6.1 7.8 25.6 37.3

First institution sector

 Public 51.7 48.3 28.8 13.4 6.2 7.6 26.2 40.0

 Private not-for-profit 54.4 45.6 27.4 12.3 5.8 8.0 24.4 32.3

Sex

 Male 55.4 44.6 26.5 12.2 6.0 7.3 24.8 34.4

 Female 50.7 49.4 29.6 13.6 6.1 8.1 26.2 39.4

Race/ethnicity1 

 American Indian 50.2 49.8 19.8 23.6 6.4 8.6 24.9 47.2

 Asian/Pacific Islander 51.9 48.1 30.1 14.3 3.8 7.2 19.6 43.1

 Black 47.2 52.8 30.4 13.3 9.1 8.2 27.9 41.1

 White 53.3 46.7 27.8 12.9 6.1 7.7 26.0 36.7

 Other 44.6 55.4 36.4 16.1 2.9 7.1 29.2 40.2

 Hispanic 55.0 45.0 28.9 11.2 4.9 8.1 23.2 32.8

Age when began postsecondary education

 18 years or younger 58.9 41.1 25.9 11.0 4.2 6.5 19.6 33.7

 19–23 years 46.3 53.7 31.9 14.8 7.0 9.3 32.1 40.6

 24–29 years 20.9 79.1 37.8 26.5 14.8 8.7 53.5 52.8

 30 years or older 30.4 69.6 26.0 18.8 24.8 15.8 49.9 57.3

Delayed enrollment 

 No 58.8 41.2 26.3 10.6 4.3 6.4 19.7 34.4

 Yes 29.7 70.3 35.4 21.9 13.0 12.8 48.0 47.9

Income and dependency quartiles 1999–2000

 Dependent 63.1 36.9 26.8 8.1 1.9 5.5 15.8 30.2

 Low quartile 62.8 37.2 29.4 7.1 0.7 4.0 18.2 32.4

 Middle quartiles 64.5 35.5 24.7 8.6 2.3 5.5 15.9 29.1

 High quartile 61.5 38.5 28.4 8.1 2.0 6.2 14.5 30.3

 Independent 31.9 68.1 31.2 22.6 14.3 12.2 45.2 51.4

 Low quartile 40.1 59.9 31.4 20.0 8.5 7.3 39.3 43.7

 Middle quartiles 31.9 68.2 32.2 21.4 14.5 12.7 46.9 51.1

 High quartile 18.9 81.1 29.0 29.0 23.1 19.1 51.3 64.2

Number of risk factors 1999–20002

 None 68.9 31.1 23.5 6.4 1.2 5.0 11.3 28.1

 One 50.6 49.4 32.6 12.4 4.4 7.2 27.1 34.9

 Two or more 30.8 69.2 32.2 22.9 14.1 12.2 45.1 52.0

Cumulative grade point average

 Less than 2.25 32.0 68.0 35.2 23.8 9.1 11.4 38.0 50.5

 2.25–3.25 55.6 44.4 27.2 12.1 5.1 7.3 24.1 38.3

 Greater than 3.25 50.7 49.3 29.2 13.1 7.0 7.9 26.8 35.7

See notes at end of table.

Number of institutions attended

More than one

Students who began in 4-year institutions
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

43 

develop additional risk factors such as becoming a parent. Furthermore, students who take longer 

to attain a degree have more opportunities to attend multiple institutions and develop risk factors. 

Examining specific risk factors revealed that college graduates who delayed enrollment 

between high school and college were more likely than those who did not delay to participate in 

each type of multiple institution attendance. For example, 13 percent of students who delayed 

postsecondary entry had co-enrolled, and 48 percent had attended 2-year institutions at some 

point, compared with 6 and 34 percent, respectively, of their counterparts who did not delay 

enrollment. 

Likewise, students who were financially independent from their parents or guardians were 

also more likely to have engaged in all forms of multiple institution attendance than their 

financially dependent peers. While 37 percent of dependent students had attended more than one 

institution before earning a bachelor’s degree, the majority (68 percent) of independent students 

had done so. 

Students who worked full time during their first year of enrollment were more mobile than 

their counterparts who worked part time or did not work at all. Full-time employees were more 

likely not only to attend more than one institution, with 62 percent doing so compared with 33–

Table 8-A.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions

Table 8-A.—who attended multiple institutions, by student and enrollment characteristics—Continued

Type of multiple enrollment

Student- Enrolled in

 Four identified 2-year

Student and enrollment characteristics One Total Two Three or more Co-enrolled transfer institutions

Hours worked per week while enrolled during first year

 None 66.2 33.8 26.5 5.3 2.0 4.5 11.0 27.7

 Less than 35 hours 67.0 33.0 23.7 8.0 1.3 5.6 13.6 28.4

 35 hours or more 38.4 61.6 43.3 10.0 8.3 4.6 43.0 47.8

1 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Black includes African American, and Hispanic 

includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

2 Risk factors include delaying enrollment, not having a high school diploma, enrolling part time, being financially independent

(typically students over 24), having dependents other than a spouse, being a single parent, and working full time while enrolled. For

more information, see Horn, L.J., and Premo, M.D. (1995). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education Institutions:

1992–93, With an Essay on Undergraduates at Risk (NCES 96–237).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.

asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal 

Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

More than one

Students who began in 4-year institutions

Number of institutions attended
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

44 

34 percent of their part-time or unemployed peers, but also to transfer between institutions (43 

vs. 11–14 percent). 

Students who graduated with low cumulative GPAs—less than 2.25 on a 4-point scale, 

roughly equivalent to earning mostly C’s and lower—were more likely than students with higher 

GPAs upon graduation to have attended more than one institution. Roughly two-thirds of 

students with low cumulative GPAs attended multiple institutions, compared with 44 percent 

with moderate GPAs (2.25–3.25) and 49 percent with high GPAs (3.25 and higher). Academic 

success, as measured by GPA, was not statistically related to the likelihood of co-enrolling, but 

students who performed poorly were more likely than their more successful peers to transfer (38 

percent vs. 24–27 percent) and to attend 2-year institutions (51 percent vs. 36–38 percent). Thus, 

among bachelor’s degree recipients, it appears that students who began in 4-year institutions and 

struggled academically were more likely to change schools than those who earned higher grades. 

Time to Degree 

Research has shown that students who begin in public 4-year institutions tend to take 

longer to attain a bachelor’s degree than students who begin in private not-for-profit 4-year 

institutions (Bradburn et al. 2003). Just over one-third (38 percent) of college graduates who 

began in public 4-year institutions earned a degree within 4 years, while the majority (65 percent) 

of students who began at private not-for-profit institutions did so (tables 8-B and 8-C). The 

average time between initial enrollment in postsecondary education and bachelor’s degree 

completion was about 6 years for graduates who began at public 4-year institutions and about 5 

years for graduates who began at private not-for-profit 4-year institutions. Because of this 

difference, the time between postsecondary entry and bachelor’s degree attainment is reported 

separately for students who began in public 4-year institutions and those who began in private 

not-for-profit 4-year institutions. Nonetheless, students who attended more than one institution 

took longer to complete their degree than students who attended just one institution, regardless of 

the sector in which they began. Students who began in public institutions and remained at the 

same institution to earn a degree averaged about 5 years between initial enrollment and 

bachelor’s degree attainment, while students who enrolled in two institutions took about 6 years, 

students who enrolled in three institutions took about 9 years, and students who enrolled in four 

or more institutions took an average of 12 years. Similarly, for private not-for-profit institutions, 

as the number of institutions attended increased, so did the average time to completion (4, 5, 7, 

and 12 years, respectively). Among bachelor’s degree recipients who began in 4-year institutions, 

co-enrolling, transferring, and attending a 2-year institution at some point also corresponded to 

taking more time between postsecondary entry and degree completion. 
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

45 

Table 8-B.—Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 4-year

Table 8-B.—institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and average time to completion, 

Table 8-B.—by multiple institution attendance patterns

Average time

More than to completion

Attendance patterns 4 years 5 years 6 years 6 years (in years)

 Total 37.6 29.7 10.1 22.6 6.2

Number of institutions attended

 One 45.3 34.9 9.8 10.0 4.9

 More than one 29.2 24.1 10.4 36.2 7.7

 Two 36.1 30.3 9.6 24.0 6.3

 Three 22.1 16.7 13.6 47.6 8.5

 Four or more 12.6 11.4 7.5 68.5 11.9

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 38.4 30.5 10.0 21.2 6.1

 Sometimes co-enrolled 27.1 20.9 11.9 40.2 7.9

Enrolled in 2-year institutions

 No 41.7 33.2 9.8 15.4 5.4

 Yes 31.4 24.5 10.6 33.5 7.4

Student-identified transfer

 No 43.7 33.0 9.4 13.9 5.4

 Yes 20.3 20.6 12.1 47.1 8.5

 First transfer direction1

 Upward † † † † †

 Lateral 20.8 23.5 11.9 43.9 8.4

 Downward 10.9 15.3 15.0 58.8 9.3

Attempted to transfer credits2

 No 37.8 23.3 9.1 29.7 7.2

 Yes 28.5 23.9 10.9 36.7 7.6

† Not applicable.

1 A small percentage of cases contained inconsistent information indicating that some students who began in 4-year institutions

transferred upward in their first transfer. 

2 Only students who attended multiple institutions in order to transfer, take additional classes, or both were asked whether they

attempted to transfer credits.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in public 4-year institutions

Time between postsecondary entry and bachelor’s degree completion
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

46 

Table 8-C.—Among 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who began in private not-for-profit

Table 8-D.—4-year institutions, percentage distribution according to time to degree and average time to 

Table 8-D.—completion, by multiple institution attendance patterns

Average time

More than to completion

Attendance patterns 4 years 5 years 6 years 6 years (in years)

 Total 64.6 17.0 5.4 13.0 5.3

Number of institutions attended

 One 79.7 13.6 2.9 3.8 4.1

 More than one 46.5 21.2 8.3 24.1 6.7

 Two 58.8 21.2 5.9 14.0 5.3

 Three 31.5 27.2 10.9 30.4 7.3

 Four or more 20.6 8.2 13.6 57.6 12.0

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 66.6 17.1 5.0 11.4 5.0

 Sometimes co-enrolled 43.2 16.3 9.7 30.8 8.1

Enrolled in 2-year institutions

 No 71.9 15.9 4.6 7.6 4.5

 Yes 49.0 19.6 6.9 24.5 6.8

Student-identified transfer

 No 74.7 14.3 3.3 7.7 4.7

 Yes 33.1 25.4 11.7 29.9 7.1

 First transfer direction1

 Upward † † † † †

 Lateral 33.4 26.7 11.3 28.6 6.8

 Downward 25.5 24.1 11.9 38.6 7.8

Attempted to transfer credits2

 No 60.4 21.9 7.2 10.6 5.7

 Yes 44.8 22.6 8.5 24.1 6.7

† Not applicable.

1 A small percentage of cases contained inconsistent information indicating that some students who began in 4-year institutions

transferred upward in their first transfer. 

2 Only students who attended multiple institutions in order to transfer, take additional classes, or both were asked whether they

attempted to transfer credits.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions

Time between postsecondary entry and bachelor’s degree completion
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

47 

Reasons for Attending Multiple Institutions

Students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1999–2000 who attended more than 

one institution during their undergraduate education were asked why they had decided to attend 

multiple institutions. In the next section, the reasons students gave for attending 2-year 

institutions, transferring between schools, and co-enrolling will be examined separately for 

graduates who began in public 2-year, public 4-year, and private not-for-profit 4-year institutions. 

Attended 2-Year Institutions 

College graduates in 1999–2000 who had attended 2-year institutions at some point during 

their undergraduate education, including those who began in public 2-year institutions, were 

asked their reasons for having done so. Among students who began in public 2-year institutions, 

the largest proportion (31 percent) reported convenience in scheduling or location as their 

primary reason for attending these institutions (table 9). Twenty-two percent of these graduates 

cited financial reasons as their motivation to attend 2-year institutions, 13 percent said they 

enrolled to earn a degree or certificate, and 9 percent said they chose to attend because 2-year 

institutions offered a desired program. College graduates who first attended public 2-year 

institutions and later attended just one other institution (presumably a 4-year institution where 

they attained a bachelor’s degree) were more likely to cite financial reasons as their motivation 

than their counterparts who attended at least two additional institutions (27 vs. 15 percent or less, 

respectively). 

Among those who began in public and private not-for-profit 4-year institutions, students 

were more likely to report attending 2-year institutions because they offered a desired program 

than for any other reason (27 and 32 percent, respectively). Roughly one-fifth of those who began 

at 4-year institutions listed a convenient schedule or location as their reason for attending 2-year 

institutions, and an additional 17 percent listed financial reasons. 

Transferred 

The majority (70 percent) of bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year 

institutions and later transferred reported that their reason for doing so was to earn a degree or 

because the destination institution offered a desired program not available at their current 

institution (table 10). Bachelor’s degree recipients who began in public 2-year institutions and 

attended just one other institution—presumably the 4-year institution from which they attained a 

bachelor’s degree—were more likely to report transferring to earn a degree or to participate in a 
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

48 

desired program (79 percent) than their peers who attended three or more institutions (of whom 

42–60 percent reported that their motivation was to earn a degree). 

Among college graduates who started in 4-year institutions, about one-third of those who 

began in both public and private not-for-profit institutions reported having transferred for a 

desired program or to earn a degree. This may reflect students who decided to change majors or 

had academic problems, since they began in bachelor’s degree-granting schools. An additional 31 

percent of students who began in public institutions and 26 percent of those who began in private 

not-for-profit institutions reported having transferred because the destination school had 

Table 9.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who ever attended 2-year 

Table 9.—institutions and percentage distribution according to reason for doing so, by beginning institution

Table 9.—type and number of institutions attended

Learn 

 Enrolled in job skills/ Offered Earn Convenient 

2-year personal desired degree/ Preparing location/ Financial 

Number of institutions institutions enrichment program certificate to transfer schedule reasons Other

 Total 100.0 6.3 9.5 12.5 9.8 31.4 21.7 9.0

Number of institutions attended

 Two 100.0 5.4 7.8 10.9 10.2 30.2 26.7 8.7

 Three 100.0 7.6 12.1 14.2 10.3 32.1 14.6 9.1

 Four or more 100.0 7.3 11.7 16.6 6.4 35.7 12.6 9.8

 Total 40.0 8.5 27.1 9.5 6.2 19.6 17.3 11.9

Number of institutions attended

 Two 52.8 4.9 29.8 7.1 5.8 20.7 20.6 11.2

 Three 81.6 11.3 26.9 9.1 6.8 18.9 16.3 10.8

 Four or more 90.5 10.9 21.8 15.3 6.1 18.6 11.8 15.6

 Total 32.3 7.3 31.8 5.7 10.2 17.0 17.0 11.0

Number of institutions attended

 Two 42.4 6.4 36.1 4.8 8.0 16.3 18.2 10.4

 Three 62.9 7.7 28.3 5.8 11.1 17.2 18.6 11.1

 Four or more 84.0 8.6 28.3 7.4 13.2 17.9 12.8 12.0

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Respondents who had attended 2-year or less-than-2-year institutions were

asked why they enrolled there. Up to three responses were coded. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/

reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond 

Longitudinal Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Reason for attending 2-year institutions

Students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions

Students who began in public 4-year institutions

Students who began in public 2-year institutions
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

49 

certain characteristics, such as location or reputation. Twelve percent of college graduates who 

began at private not-for-profit 4-year institutions, 7 percent who began at public 4-year 

institutions, and 4 percent of those who began at public 2-year institutions cited financial reasons 

for transferring between schools. Students who began in 4-year institutions were more likely to 

cite academic problems or personal reasons for transferring than those who began in 2-year 

institutions: 6 percent of those who began in community colleges transferred due to academic 

problems or personal reasons, compared with 18 percent of students who began in public 4-year 

institutions and 19 percent of those who began in private not-for-profit institutions. Among 

Table 10.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who reported transferring

Table 11.—during their undergraduate education and percentage distribution according to reason for doing

Table 11.—so, by beginning institution type and number of institutions attended

 Offered School Affordable/ Personal

 Student- desired characteristics other reasons/ 

identified program/ (location, financial academic

Number of institutions transfer earn degree reputation) reasons problems Other

 Total1 70.1 70.0 11.0 4.1 5.9 9.0

Number of institutions attended

 Two 69.0 78.6 7.8 2.9 3.0 7.8

 Three 71.6 59.7 15.6 7.5 8.3 8.8

 Four or more 72.6 41.5 19.1 2.6 19.3 17.5

 Total 26.2 31.6 30.6 7.4 17.7 12.7

Number of institutions attended

 Two 44.9 32.5 31.6 7.8 18.1 10.0

 Three 63.7 31.4 27.8 8.9 18.1 13.8

 Four or more 78.4 28.4 33.2 2.9 15.7 19.9

 Total 24.4 30.8 25.6 12.2 18.5 13.0

Number of institutions attended

 Two 45.4 31.8 27.5 12.2 19.4 9.1

 Three 64.6 27.5 23.4 13.9 18.9 16.3

 Four or more 68.3 34.9 22.8 7.4 13.8 21.1

1 In B&B:2000/01, only students who reported that they attended multiple institutions in order to transfer were identified as transfer 

students. In some cases, students who began at 2-year institutions attended 4-year institutions without having met this definition of

transfer.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Respondents who transferred were asked, “Why did you decide to transfer to

another school?” Up to three responses were coded. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal 

Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Students who began in public 4-year institutions

Students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions

Reason for first transfer
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

50 

college graduates who began in 4-year institutions, few differences could be detected in the 

reasons given for first transfer when considering the total number of institutions attended before 

earning a bachelor’s degree. 

Co-Enrolled 

In order to decrease respondent burden in B&B:2000/01, students who co-enrolled were 

only asked to report the reasons they decided to do so if they met the following criteria: attended 

three or more institutions and had overlapping enrollment at two or more of these institutions for 

more than 1 month (5 percent of all respondents) or attended two 4-year institutions 

simultaneously for at least 2 months and did not report that their purpose for enrolling was solely 

to transfer from one institution to the other (1 percent of all respondents). Thus, in this section, 

sample sizes are often too small to detect any difference between groups. To increase the 

likelihood of attaining statistical significance, some similar answers were grouped together in this 

analysis (table 11). 

Among college graduates who began in public 2-year institutions and co-enrolled, about 

one-quarter did so to take easier classes or fulfill requirements. Between 14 and 16 percent coenrolled to take extra classes or because the program was not available, for financial reasons, or 

to get a better class schedule. Roughly one-fifth who began their postsecondary education in 

public 4-year institutions stated that their reason for co-enrolling was to take easier classes or 

fulfill requirements. An additional 18 percent co-enrolled to take extra classes or because a 

desired program was not available. Among graduates who began in private not-for-profit 4-year 

institutions, 18 percent co-enrolled to take easier classes or fulfill requirements, and one-quarter 

did so to take extra classes or because a desired program was not available. 

Summary: Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

Most college graduates who earned a bachelor’s degree in 1999–2000 attended more than 

one institution before attaining a degree. While those who began in public 2-year institutions had 

to attend more than one institution in order to enroll in a bachelor’s degree program, nearly half 

of students who began in 4-year institutions attended at least one additional institution before 

earning a degree. Over one-third of all bachelor’s degree recipients transferred. Co-enrollment 

was the least common form of multiple institution attendance, with 9 percent of bachelor’s 

degree recipients participating. Among those who started at 4-year institutions and attended 
 1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 

51 

multiple institutions, the most common form of multiple institution attendance was enrolling in a 

2-year institution. 

Among bachelor’s degree recipients, independent students, older students, and students 

with more persistence risk factors were more mobile during their postsecondary studies than 

dependent students and students with fewer persistence risk factors. Students who graduated with 

characteristics that put them at risk of not completing their postsecondary education were more 

likely to attend multiple institutions (more than one institution for students who began in 4-year 

institutions and more than two for those who began in 2-year institutions) than their counterparts 

Table 11.—Percentage of 1999–2000 first-time bachelor’s degree recipients who co-enrolled during their 

Table 11.—undergraduate education and percentage distribution according to reason for doing so, by

Table 11.—beginning institution type and number of institutions attended

Take easier Taking extra

classes/ classes/

Number of Get done fulfill Better class Preparing program not Financial

institutions Co-enrolled sooner requirements schedule to transfer available reasons Other

 Total 11.9 6.9 23.4 15.7 8.3 14.6 14.4 16.7

Number of institutions attended

 Two 5.4 † † † † † † †

 Three 18.1 3.5 20.3 16.2 11.1 16.3 11.8 20.9

 Four or more 30.9 11.4 27.5 15.0 4.6 12.5 17.7 11.3

 Total 7.6 12.2 22.5 13.9 6.9 18.1 1.3 25.0

Number of institutions attended

 Two 10.9 # 11.2 5.8 12.1 30.6 1.1 39.2

 Three 18.6 11.1 30.1 12.5 5.8 13.7 1.3 25.6

 Four or more 32.9 18.2 17.3 18.8 6.4 19.0 1.3 19.0

 Total 8.0 7.0 18.2 10.6 6.6 27.0 6.5 24.3

Number of institutions attended

 Two 11.1 7.6 5.9 4.2 5.9 42.9 # 33.5

 Three 23.4 4.4 15.4 14.7 6.4 27.9 9.3 21.9

 Four or more 34.9 10.1 28.3 8.3 7.0 17.4 6.1 22.8

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. To lighten respondent burden, only respondents who attended three or more

institutions and had overlapping enrollment at two or more of these institutions for more than 1 month, and respondents who attended

two institutions at the same time for at least 2 months who did not attend 2-year or less-than-2-year institutions and who did not only

transfer between institutions were asked why they decided to enroll at more than one school. Respondents could select up to three

responses. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal

Study, First Follow-up (B&B:2000/01). 

Students who began in private not-for-profit 4-year institutions

Students who began in public 2-year institutions

Reason for co-enrolling

Students who began in public 4-year institutions
1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients

52 

who graduated without any risk factors. However, by definition, over the course of their 

enrollment, college graduates may become independent and develop additional persistence risk 

factors such as becoming a parent. Furthermore, students who take longer to attain a degree have 

more opportunities to attend multiple institutions. Nonetheless, among college graduates who 

began at 4-year institutions, those who delayed entry into postsecondary education and those who 

worked full time during their first year enrolled—both persistence risk factors measured when 

graduates began their postsecondary education—were more likely than their counterparts who 

did not delay enrollment or work full time to attend multiple institutions. 

For 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients, multiple institution attendance was negatively 

related to time to degree. Students who attended multiple institutions had a longer average time 

to completion than their peers who attended one institution (or, in the case of those who began in 

public 2-year institutions, two institutions). Reasons may be related to the difficulty of 

transferring credits, different requirements at various institutions, or mitigating factors such as a 

move, job change, or change in family status. For students who began in 4-year institutions, coenrolling and transferring were also associated with slowed progress toward the bachelor’s 

degree. 
53 

Conclusions 

This study provides an overview of the extent to which undergraduates attend multiple 

institutions as well as the relationship between multiple institution attendance and persistence, 

attainment, and time to degree. The results of the study clearly show that attending more than one 

institution is a common practice for undergraduates. Among students who enrolled in 

postsecondary education for the first time in 1995–96, 40 percent had attended more than one 

institution as of 2001, while among 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients, nearly 60 percent 

had done so. 

As would be expected, among 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students, those who began 

in a community college were more likely to transfer than those who began in 4-year institutions; 

nevertheless, about one-quarter of those who started in 4-year institutions had transferred, and for 

these students, transfer was associated with lower persistence rates. In addition, students who 

began in community colleges with intentions of earning a bachelor’s degree, those with repeated 

multiple institution attendance (attending three or more institutions), and repeated transfers were 

less likely to attain a degree than their counterparts with fewer occurrences of multiple 

attendance. 

When taking risk status and other related variables into account, multivariate analyses of 

beginning postsecondary students who began their postsecondary education in a 4-year institution 

with a bachelor’s degree goal indicated a negative association between transfer and persistence. 

That is, among these students, those who transferred were less likely than those who had not 

transferred to attain a degree or be enrolled in 4-year institutions 6 years after first enrolling in 

postsecondary education. As with transfer, beginning postsecondary students who began their 

postsecondary studies in a 4-year institution and who attended a community college at some time 

during their enrollment were less likely to persist for 6 years or attain a degree than their 

counterparts who had not attended a community college. In contrast, beginning students who had 

ever co-enrolled were more likely to persist or attain than those who had not. 

For 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients, multiple institution attendance was negatively 

related to time to degree. Students who attended multiple institutions had a longer average time 

to completion than their peers who attended one institution (or, in the case of those who began in 

public 2-year institutions, two institutions). Reasons may be related to the difficulty of 

transferring credits, different requirements at various institutions, or mitigating factors such as a 
Conclusions

54 

move, job change, or change in family status. For students who began in 4-year institutions, coenrolling and transferring were also associated with slowed progress toward the bachelor’s 

degree. 
55 

References 

Adelman, C. (1999). Answers in the Toolbox: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and 

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment (PLLI 1999–8021). U.S. Department of Education. 

Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. 

Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2002). Greater Expectations: A New Vision 

for Learning as a Nation Goes to College. Washington, DC: Author. 

Berkner, L., He, S., and Forrest Cataldi, E. (2002). Descriptive Summary of 1995–96 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later (NCES 2003–151). U.S. Department of Education, 

National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Bradburn, E.M., and Hurst, D.G. (2001). Community College Transfer Rates to 4-Year 

Institutions Using Alternative Definitions of Transfer (NCES 2001–197). U.S. Department of 

Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government 

Printing Office. 

Bradburn, E.M., Berger, R., Li, X., Peter, K., and Rooney, K. (2003). A Descriptive Summary of 

1999–2000 Bachelor’s Degree Recipients 1 Year Later, With an Analysis of Time to Degree

(NCES 2003–165). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

de los Santos, Jr., A.G., and Wright, I. (1990). Maricopa’s Swirling Students. American 

Association of Community and Junior Colleges Journal, Jun/Jul: 32–34. 

Gose, B. (1995, August 4). Double Dippers. The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. A27–A28. 

Horn, L., and Berktold, J. (1998) Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education 

Institutions: 1995–96 (NCES 98–084). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for 

Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Horn, L., Peter, K., and Rooney, K. (2002). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary 

Institutions: 1999–2000 (NCES 2002–168). U.S. Department of Education, National Center 

for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 
References

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Horn, L.J., and Premo, M.D. (1995). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education 

Institutions: 1992–93, With an Essay on Undergraduates at Risk (NCES 96–237). U.S. 

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Government Printing Office. 

Lee, V., and Frank, K. (1990). Students’ Characteristics That Facilitate the Transfer From TwoYear to Four-Year Colleges. Sociology of Education, 60: 178–193. 

Light, A., and Strayer, W. (2004). Who Receives the College Wage Premium? Assessing the 

Labor Market Returns to Degrees and College Transfer Patterns. Journal of Human 

Resources, 39(3): 746–773. 

McCormick, A.C. (1997). Transfer Behavior Among Beginning Postsecondary Students: 1989–

94 (NCES 97–266). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

McCormick, A.C. (2003). Swirling and Double-Dipping: New Patterns of Student Attendance 

and Their Implications for Higher Education. New Directions for Higher Education, 2003 

(121): 13–24. 

Palmer, J., Ludwig, M., and Stapleton, L. (1994). At What Point Do Community College Students 

Transfer to Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions? Evidence From a 13-State Study. 

Washington, DC: American Council on Education, National Center for Academic 

Achievement and Transfer. 

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. 

Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
57 

Appendix A—Glossary 

This glossary describes the variables used in this report. The items were taken directly from the NCES BPS:1996/2001 and 

B&B:2000/01 Data Analysis Systems (DAS), NCES software applications that generate tables from the data. (See appendix 

B for a description of the DAS.) In the index below, the variables are organized by general topic and, within topic, listed in 

the order they appear in the report. The glossary is in alphabetical order by variable name (displayed in capital letters to the 

right of the label) within each dataset in the order presented below. 

The variables in the datasets used in the report are based on multiple sources of information. In the glossary, data that are 

derived solely from interview questions (asked during computer-assisted telephone or in-person interviews) are identified by 

the phrase “Response to the question [Interview question].” Otherwise, the variables were derived from a combination of 

data sources including the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), ACT database, and SAT records from ETS, 

Central Processing System data, and data from institutions collected using a computer-assisted data entry (CADE) program. 

GLOSSARY INDEX

BPS VARIABLES

STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

Age as of 12/31/95.................................................. AGE 

Delayed enrollment.......................................ENDELAY 

Income and dependency quartiles 1994 .........INCOME3 

First institution sector ...................................ITNPSECT 

Dependency status .......................................SBDEP2Y1 

Sex ............................................................. SBGENDER 

Race/ethnicity ..................................................SBRACE 

Number of risk factors 1995–96 ..................SBRSK1Y1 

ENROLLMENT CHARACTERISTICS

Received any aid 1995–96.............................AIDANY1 

Degree expected at first institution ............... DGEXPY1 

Attendance intensity through 2001 ...............ENIPTT2B 

Highest degree ever expected in 

1995–96 ....................................................EPHDEGY1 

Hours worked per week while enrolled 

1995–96 .....................................................J1HOURY1 

Grade point average 1995–96........................SEGPAY1 

PERSISTENCE AND ATTAINMENT

Time to bachelor’s degree...........................ELFMBA2B 

Highest degree attained anywhere............... PRENRL2B 

ATTENDANCE PATTERNS

Number of institutions attended ........................ ENNI2B 

Co-enrolled .................................................. ENEVSI2B 

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions.......... ENPU2Y2B 

Enrollment continuity through 2001........... ENSENU2B 

Transferred ....................................................ENTRN2B 

Level of first institution .....................................ITNPLV 

Type of first institution....................................ITNPSAS 

First transfer direction .................................PRTRTY2B 

B&B VARIABLES

STUDENT AND ENROLLMENT CHARACTERISTICS

Age when began postsecondary education .......AGEPSE 

Hours worked per week during first 

year enrolled ...............................................CBHOURS 

Delayed enrollment ................................... DELAYENR 

Dependency status...........................................DEPEND 

Sex...................................................................GENDER 

Cumulative grade point average ............................GPA2 

First institution sector.........................................I1SECT 

Income and dependency quartiles 1999–2000 

Dependent.......................................................PCTDEP 

Independent ................................................PCTINDEP 

Number of risk factors in 1999–2000...........RISKINDX 

Race/ethnicity..................................................... RACE1 

PERSISTENCE AND ATTAINMENT

First bachelor’s degree .................................. CBFSTBA 

Time between postsecondary entry and 

bachelor’s degree completion ......................... PSE_BA 
Appendix A—Glossary 

58 

ATTENDANCE PATTERNS

Reason for attending a 2-year 

institution ..................................................... CB2YRS1 

Co-enrolled ................................................ CBMULTPL 

Reason for co-enrolling................................. CBMLTS1 

Number of institutions attended ................ CBNUMSCH 

Undergraduate multiple institutions 

purpose..................................................... CBTRNSCH 

Attempted to transfer credits ...................... CBTRNSFR 

Enrolled in 2-year institutions ..................COMMCOLL 

Student-identified transfer .............................TRNPURP 

Reason for first transfer ...................................... TRNR1 

First transfer direction ...................................TXFRTYP 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

59 

BPS:1996/2001 

Age of as 12/31/95 AGE

Indicates student’s age on 12/31/95. 

18 years or younger 

19–23 years 

24–29 years 

30 years or older 

Received any aid 1995–96 AIDANY1

Response to the question “Did you receive any aid during academic year 1995–96?” 

No 

Yes 

Degree expected at first institution DGEXPY1

Highest degree expected at the first institution attended in 1995–96. 

None 

Certificate 

Associate’s degree 

Bachelor’s degree 

Time to bachelor’s degree ELFMBA2B

Number of months elapsed from the first month enrolled through the month the first bachelor’s degree was attained. 

 

No bachelor’s degree 0 month 

4 years or less 48 months or less 

5 years 49–60 months 

6 years 61–84 months 

More than 6 years 85 months or more 

Delayed enrollment ENDELAY

Indicates whether student delayed enrollment in postsecondary education, as determined by receipt of a high school 

diploma prior to 1995 or reaching the age of 20 before December 31, 1995. 

No Did not delay 

Yes Delayed 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

60 

Co-enrolled ENEVSI2B

Indicates whether student ever simultaneously enrolled at more than one institution for at least 1 month as of June 

2001. 

Never co-enrolled 

Sometimes co-enrolled

Attendance intensity through 2001 ENIPTT2B

Pattern of attendance intensity for all months in any institutions enrolled as of June 2001. 

Always full time 

Always part time 

Mixed 

Number of institutions attended ENNI2B

Number of institutions attended as an undergraduate as of June 2001. Includes transfers and co-enrollment. 

One 

More than one 

 Two 

 Three 

 Four or more

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions ENPU2Y2B

Indicates whether or not the students had ever enrolled at a public 2-year institution as an undergraduate. 

No Never attended public 2-year institution 

Yes Attended public 2-year institution 

Enrollment continuity through 2001 ENSENU2B

Number of enrollment spells at any institution through June 2001. An enrollment spell is defined as a period of 

continuous enrollment without a break of more than 4 months. 

Continuously enrolled Student was continuously enrolled without any interruption of 

more than 4 months. 

Two enrollment spells Student had two enrollment spells (was not continuously 

enrolled) from fall 1995 through June 2001 (one stopout 

period). 

Three or more spells Student had three or more enrollment spells (was not 

continuously enrolled) from fall 1995 through June 2001 

(more than one stopout period). 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

61 

Transferred ENTRN2B

Number of transfers between institutions as of June 2001. A transfer occurred when the student left one institution 

and enrolled at another institution for 4 or more months. 

Never transferred 

Transferred 

 Once 

 Twice 

 Three times 

Highest degree ever expected in 1995–96 EPHDEGY1

Response to the question “What is the highest level of education you ever expect to complete?” 

No degree or certificate 

Certificate 

Associate’s degree 

Bachelor’s degree 

Higher than a bachelor’s degree

Income and dependency quartiles 1994 INCOME3

Total income in 1994 by dependency. Categories approximately represent income quartiles for dependents and 

independents. For dependent students, total income is the income of the parents. 

Dependent 

 Low quartile Less than $25,000 

 Middle quartiles $25,000–69,999 

 High quartile $70,000 or more 

Independent 

 Low quartile Less than $6,000 

 Middle quartiles $6,000–24,999 

 High quartile $25,000 or more 

Level of first institution ITNPLV

Level of the first institution attended in 1995–96. 

4-year Denotes 4-year institutions that can award bachelor’s degrees 

or higher, including institutions that award doctorate degrees 

and first-professional degrees. 

2-year Institution that does not confer bachelor’s degrees, but does 

provide 2-year programs that result in a certificate or an 

associate’s degree, or 2-year programs that fulfill part of the 

requirements for a bachelor’s degree or higher at 4-year 

institutions. 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

62 

Level of first institution (continued) ITNPLV

Less-than-2-year At least one of the programs offered at the institution is 3 

months or longer, and produces a terminal award or certificate. 

In addition, no program at the institution lasts longer than 2 

years. 

Type of first institution ITNPSAS

Level and control of the first institution attended in 1995–96. 

Public 2-year 

Public 4-year 

Private not-for-profit 4-year 

Private for-profit less-than-4-year 

First institution sector ITNPSECT

The sector of institution where the respondents first attended as of June 2001. 

Public 

Private not-for-profit 

Hours worked per a week while enrolled 1995–96 J1HOURY1

Indicates the student-reported average number of hours the student worked per week while enrolled during 1995–96. 

 

None 

Less than 35 hours 

35 hours or more 

Highest degree attained anywhere PRENRL2B

Indicates the highest degree the student attained or the level of the institution in which the student is still enrolled if 

no degree had been attained, as of June 2001. 

Highest degree attained anywhere: 

 Bachelor’s degree 

 Associate’s degree 

 Certificate 

No degree anywhere: 

 Still enrolled 

 At 4-year institutions 

 At less-than-4-year institutions 

 Not enrolled 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

63 

First transfer direction PRTRTY2B

Indicates the type of first transfer as of June 2001. Institution level refers to 4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year. 

Upward Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with a higher level. 

Lateral Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with the same level. 

Downward Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with a lower level. 

Dependency status SBDEP2Y1

Student dependency status. 

Dependent 

Independent 

Sex SBGENDER

Male 

Female 

Race/ethnicity SBRACE

American Indian 

Asian/Pacific Islander 

Black 

White 

Other 

Hispanic 

Number of risk factors 1995–96 SBRSK1Y1

Represents an index of risk from 0–7 related to 7 characteristics known to adversely affect persistence and 

attainment. Characteristics included are the following: 

a) Delayed enrollment after high school 

b) No high school diploma (including GED recipients) 

c) Part-time enrollment 

d) Financial independence 

e) Having dependents other than spouse 

f) Single parent status 

g) Working full time while enrolled (35 hours or more) 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

64 

Number of risk factors 1995–96 (continued) SBRSK1Y1

None 

One 

Two or more 

Grade point average 1995–96 SEGPAY1

Student grade point average (GPA) at the sampled NPSAS institution as reported by the institution during 1995–96. 

Less than 2.25 

2.25 to 3.25 

Greater than 3.25 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

65 

B&B:2000/01 

Age when began postsecondary education AGEPSE 

Age when first enrolled in postsecondary education. 

 

18 years or younger 

19–23 years 

24–29 years 

30 or older years 

Reason for attending a 2-year institution CB2YRS1

Response to the question “Why did you attend a 2-year institution during your undergraduate enrollment?” 

Learn job skills/personal enrichment 

Offered desired program 

Earn degree/certificate 

Preparing to transfer 

Convenient location/schedule 

Financial reasons 

Other 

First bachelor’s degree CBFSTBA

Response to the question “Was the bachelor’s degree you received from [bachelor’s degree school] the first 

bachelor’s degree you’ve ever received?” 

No 

Yes

Hours worked per a week during first year enrolled CBHOURS

Response to the question “how many hours did you typically work each week for pay during your first year of 

college?” 

None 

Less than 35 hours 

35 hours or more 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

66 

Reason for co-enrolling CBMLTS1

Response to the question “Why did you attend more than one institution at the same time during your undergraduate 

enrollment?” 

Get done sooner 

Take easier classes/fulfill requirements 

Better class schedule 

Preparing to transfer 

Taking extra classes/program not available 

Financial reasons 

Other 

Co-enrolled CBMULTPL

Indicator of overlapping enrollment, which is defined as co-enrollment for a period greater than 1 month within the 

regular academic year (September–April). 

Never co-enrolled 

Sometimes co-enrolled 

Number of institutions attended CBNUMSCH

Total number of postsecondary institutions attended for undergraduate study until completion of the bachelor’s 

degree in the 1999–2000 school year. 

 

One 

More than one 

 Two 

 Three 

 Four or more 

Undergraduate multiple institutions purpose CBTRNSCH

Response to the question “Since you started college, you’ve enrolled at more than one school. Did you...” 

Transfer between schools 

Enroll for additional classes 

Enroll for additional degree 

Transfer and take additional classes 

None of the above 

Attempted to transfer credits CBTRNSFR

Response to the question “Did you attempt to transfer any credits between schools?” 

No 

Yes 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

67 

Enrolled in 2-year institutions COMMCOLL

Response to the question “Have you ever attended a community college or other two-year college?” 

No 

Yes 

Delayed enrollment DELAYENR

Indicate the number of years between the year of high school graduation and the first year enrolled in postsecondary 

education. 

No Did not delay 

Yes Delayed 

Dependency status DEPEND

Student dependency status for federal financial aid. Students under age 24 are generally considered to be dependent 

on their parents for financial support. Students were considered to be independent in 1999–2000 if they met any of 

the following criteria: 

1) 24 years old or older as of 12/31/1999; 

2) A veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces; 

3) Enrolled in a graduate or professional program beyond a bachelor’s degree; 

4) Married; 

5) Orphan or ward of the court; or 

6) Had legal dependents other than a spouse. 

Dependent 

Independent 

Sex GENDER

Male 

Female 

Cumulative grade point average GPA2

Student cumulative grade point average in 1999–2000 on a 4.0 scale. 

 

Less than 2.25 

2.25–3.25 

Greater than 3.25 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

68 

First institution sector I1SECT

Indicates the sector of the first postsecondary institution attended. 

Public 

Private not-for-profit 

Dependent student income quartiles PCTDEP

Indicates income percentiles for parents of dependent students. 

Low quartile Less than $31,099 

Middle quartiles $31,100–81,769 

High quartile $81,770 or more 

Independent student income quartiles PCTINDEP

Indicates income percentiles for parents of independent students. 

 Low quartile Less than $11,999 

 Middle quartiles $12,000–46,999 

 High quartile $47,000 or more 

Time between postsecondary entry and bachelor’s degree completion PSE_BA

Indicates the time between first entry into postsecondary education and bachelor’s degree completion (in months). 

This variable was calculated only for those respondents who did not have a prior bachelor’s degree. 

4 years 

5 years 

6 years 

More than 6 years 

Race/ethnicity RACE1

Student’s race/ethnicity, including Hispanic/Latino. 

American Indian 

Asian/Pacific Islander 

Black 

White 

Other 

Hispanic 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

69 

Number of risk factors in 1999–2000 RISKINDX

Represents an index of risk from 0–7 related to 7 characteristics known to adversely affect persistence and 

attainment. Characteristics included are the following: 

a) Delayed enrollment after high school 

b) No high school diploma (including GED recipients) 

c) Part-time enrollment 

d) Financial independence 

e) Having dependents other than spouse 

f) Single parent status 

g) Working full-time while enrolled (35 hours or more) 

None 

One 

Two or more

Student-identified transfer TRNPURP 

Students who indicated that they had attended more than one postsecondary institution before completing a 

bachelor’s degree were asked why they chose to attend multiple institutions. Specifically, students were given the 

option of choosing one of the following reasons: transfer between schools, enroll for additional classes, enroll for an 

additional degree, transfer and take additional classes, or none of the above. Those who said they had attended 

multiple institutions in order to transfer between schools or to transfer and take additional classes were considered to 

have met the definition of student-identified transfer. 

No Did not transfer or reported main reason for attending more 

than one institution was for reasons other than to transfer. 

Yes Reported main reason for attending more than one institution 

was to transfer or to transfer and take additional classes. 

Reason for first transfer TRNR1

Response to the question “Why did you decide to transfer to another school?” 

Offered desired program/earn degree 

School characteristics (location, reputation) 

Affordable/other financial reasons 

Personal reasons/academic problems 

Other 
Appendix A—Glossary 

DAS Variable Name 

70 

First transfer direction TXFRTYP

Indicates the type of first transfer. Institution level refers to 4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year. 

Upward Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with a higher level. 

Lateral Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with the same level. 

Downward Transfers involving a move from one institution to another 

with a lower level. 
71 

Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

This analysis uses data from the 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study (BPS:96/01) and the 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:2000/01). Two NPSAS data collections conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s 

National Center for Education Statistics provide the base-year sample for the BPS and the B&B 

studies. The BPS survey participants were sampled from the 1995–96 National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96) and the B&B survey participants were sampled from the 2000 

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000). 

The NPSAS survey data underwent several data quality evaluations, which included both 

on-line data editing procedures and post-data collection editing. The on-line data editing ensured 

that the data collected fell within legitimate ranges and where feasible, items were cross-checked 

against other related items. After data collection, the data were cleaned and edited using several 

steps including verification of one-way frequencies for each item, cross-tabulations of related 

items, standard variable recoding and formatting (such as dates), the determination of outlier 

values, and logical imputations. After the CATI data were cleaned and edited, composite 

variables for specific data analyses were created, which were subjected to similar cleaning and 

checking procedures. 

Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study 

The Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study is composed of the 

students who participated in NPSAS:96. The BPS sample consists of approximately 12,000 

students identified in NPSAS:96 who were beginning postsecondary education for the first time 

in 1995–96. Among the NPSAS:96 respondents the response rate was 85.9 percent.1 The First 

Follow-up of the BPS cohort (BPS:96/98) was conducted in 1998, approximately 3 years after 

these students first enrolled. Approximately 10,300 of the students who first began in 1995–96 

were located and interviewed in the 1998 follow-up, for an overall weighted response rate of 79.8 

percent. This response rate includes those who were nonrespondents in 1996. The Second 

Follow-up of the BPS cohort (BPS:96/2001) was conducted in 2001, 6 years after students’ 

 

1 For more information on the BPS:96/98 survey, consult U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics, Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study First Follow-up 1996–98, Methodology Report (NCES 2000–

157) (Washington, DC: 2000). 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

72 

college entry. All respondents to the First Follow-up, as well as a subsample of nonrespondents 

in 1998, were eligible to be interviewed. Over 9,100 students were located and interviewed. The 

overall weighted response rate was 76.1 percent, with an institutional response rate of 91.1 

percent and student response rate of 83.6 percent.2 

Nonresponse among cohort members causes bias in survey estimates when the outcomes of 

respondents and nonrespondents are shown to be different. A bias analysis was conducted on the 

2001 survey results to determine if any variables were significantly biased due to nonresponse.3

Considerable information was known from the 1996 and 1998 surveys for nonrespondents to the 

2001 interviews, and nonresponse bias could be estimated using variables with this known 

information. Weight adjustments were applied to the BPS:96/2001 sample to reduce any bias 

found due to unit nonresponse. After the weight adjustments, some variables were found to 

reflect zero bias, and for the remaining variables, the bias did not differ significantly from zero. 

The weight variable used in this report for analysis of the BPS:96/2001 data is B01LWT2. 

The 2001 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

The 2001 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:2000/01), is a spring 2001 

follow-up of bachelor’s degree recipients from NPSAS:2000. For B&B:2000/01, those members 

of the NPSAS:2000 sample who completed a bachelor’s degree between July 1, 1999 and June 

30, 2000 were identified and contacted for a follow-up interview. The estimates in this report are 

based on the results of surveys with approximately 10,000 bachelor’s degree recipients, 

representing about 1.3 million bachelor’s degree completers from 1999–2000.4 The weighted 

overall response rate for the B&B:2000/01 interview was 74 percent, reflecting an institution 

response rate of 90 percent and a student response rate of 82 percent. 

Accuracy of Estimates 

The statistics in this report are estimates derived from a sample. Two broad categories of 

error occur in such estimates: sampling and nonsampling errors. Sampling errors occur because 

observations are made only on samples of students, not entire populations. Nonsampling errors 

occur not only in sample surveys but also in complete censuses of entire populations. 

 

2 For more information on the BPS:1996/2001 survey, consult U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics, Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study:1996–2001 Methodology Report (NCES 2002–171) 

(Washington, DC: 2002). 

3 Ibid. 

4 For more information on the B&B survey, consult U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,

Methodology Report for the 2001 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (NCES 2003–156) (Washington, DC: 2003). 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

73 

Nonsampling errors can be attributed to a number of sources: inability to obtain complete 

information about all students in all institutions in the sample (some students or institutions 

refused to participate, or students participated but answered only certain items); ambiguous 

definitions; differences in interpreting questions; inability or unwillingness to give correct 

information; mistakes in recording or coding data; and other errors of collecting, processing, 

sampling, and imputing missing data. 

Item Response Rates 

Weighted item response rates were calculated for all variables used in this report. The 

weighted item response rates were calculated by dividing the weighted number of valid responses 

by the weighted population for which the item was applicable. All of the items had very high 

response rates (at least 85 percent). For these variables, it is unlikely that reported differences are 

biased because of missing data. 

Data Analysis System 

The estimates presented in this report were produced using the Data Analysis System 

(DAS) for each of the surveys analyzed. The DAS software makes it possible for users to specify 

and generate their own tables. With the DAS, users can replicate or expand upon the tables 

presented in this report. In addition to the table estimates, the DAS calculates proper standard 

errors5 and weighted sample sizes for these estimates. For example, table B-1 contains 

standard errors that correspond to table 2, generated by the DAS. If the number of valid cases is 

too small to produce a reliable estimate (less than 30 cases), the DAS prints the message “low-N” 

instead of the estimate. All standard errors for estimates presented in this report can be viewed at 

http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp. 

In addition to tables, the DAS will also produce a correlation matrix of selected variables to 

be used for linear regression models. Included in the output with the correlation matrix are the 

design effects (DEFTs) for each variable in the matrix. Since statistical procedures generally 

compute regression coefficients based on simple random sample assumptions, the standard errors 

 

5 None of the survey samples were based on simple random sampling procedures and, therefore, simple random sample 

techniques for estimating sampling error cannot be applied to these data. The DAS takes into account the complexity of the 

sampling procedures and calculates standard errors appropriate for such samples. The method for computing sampling errors 

used by the DAS involves approximating the estimator by the linear terms of a Taylor series expansion. The procedure is 

typically referred to as the Taylor series method. 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

74 

must be adjusted with the design effects to take into account the stratified sampling method used 

in the surveys. 

Table B-1.—Standard errors for table 2: Percentage distribution (by columns) of 1995–96 beginning 

Table B-1.—postsecondary students by the level and type of the first institution attended, according to 

Table B-1.—multiple institution attendance patterns

Private Private

Less- not-for- for-profit

than- Public Public profit less-thanAttendance patterns Total 2-year 2-year 4-year 2-year 4-year 4-year 4-year

 Total † † † † † † † †

Number of institutions attended

 One 1.11 2.15 2.02 0.75 2.19 0.96 1.19 1.97

 More than one 1.11 2.15 2.02 0.75 2.19 0.96 1.19 1.97

 Two 1.01 1.84 1.88 0.70 2.05 0.94 1.04 1.73

 Three 0.58 0.92 1.08 0.43 1.17 0.56 0.66 0.72

 Four or more 0.25 0.19 0.47 0.22 0.51 0.26 0.36 0.18

Co-enrolled

 Never co-enrolled 0.57 0.67 1.03 0.53 1.13 0.72 0.78 0.59

 Sometimes co-enrolled 0.57 0.67 1.03 0.53 1.13 0.72 0.78 0.59

Transfer status

 Never transferred 1.03 1.81 1.83 0.78 1.97 0.98 1.28 1.72

 Transferred 1.03 1.81 1.83 0.78 1.97 0.98 1.28 1.72

 Number of times transferred

 Once 0.99 1.83 1.80 0.73 1.96 0.98 1.02 1.66

 Twice 0.44 0.70 0.80 0.35 0.87 0.46 0.55 0.59

 Three times 0.11 0.17 0.18 0.14 0.20 0.15 0.21 0.11

 First transfer direction

 Upward 0.89 1.72 1.64 † 1.77 † † 1.45

 Lateral 0.60 1.07 1.07 0.61 1.16 0.81 0.91 1.14

 Downward 0.38 † 0.61 0.55 0.66 0.71 0.80 0.53

Enrolled in public 2-year institutions

 No 1.09 1.64 0.56 0.72 † 0.97 0.97 1.44

 Yes 1.09 1.64 0.56 0.72 † 0.97 0.97 1.44

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:96/01); and Berkner, L., He, S., and Forrest Cataldi, E. (2002). 

Descriptive Summary of 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later (NCES 2003–151).

Level of first institution

Type of first institution
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

75 

For more information about the Data Analysis Systems, consult the NCES DAS web site 

(http://nces.ed.gov/das) or contact: 

Aurora D’Amico 

National Center for Education Statistics 

1990 K Street, NW 

Room 8115 

Washington, DC 20006 

(202) 502-7334 

aurora.d’amico@ed.gov

Statistical Procedures 

Differences Between Means 

The descriptive comparisons were tested in this report using Student’s t statistic. 

Differences between estimates are tested against the probability of a Type I error,6 or significance 

level. The significance levels were determined by calculating the Student’s t values for the 

differences between each pair of means or proportions and comparing these with published tables 

of significance levels for two-tailed hypothesis testing. 

Student’s t values may be computed to test the difference between estimates with the 

following formula: 

2

2

2

1

1 2

se se

E E

t

+

− = (1)

where E1 and E2 are the estimates to be compared and se1 and se2 are their corresponding 

standard errors. This formula is valid only for independent estimates. When estimates are not 

independent, a covariance term must be added to the formula: 

1 2

2

2

2

1

1 2

se se 2(r)se se

E E

t

+ −

− = (2)

 

6 A Type I error occurs when one concludes that a difference observed in a sample reflects a true difference in the population 

from which the sample was drawn, when no such true difference is present. 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

76 

where r is the correlation between the two estimates.7 This formula is used when comparing two 

percentages from a distribution that adds to 100. If the comparison is between the mean of a 

subgroup and the mean of the total group, the following formula is used: 

t = E E

se se p se

sub tot

sub tot sub

−

+ − 22 2 2 

(3)

where p is the proportion of the total group contained in the subgroup.8 The estimates, standard 

errors, and correlations can all be obtained from the DAS. 

There are hazards in reporting statistical tests for each comparison. First, comparisons 

based on large t statistics may appear to merit special attention. This can be misleading since the 

magnitude of the t statistic is related not only to the observed differences in means or percentages 

but also to the number of respondents in the specific categories used for comparison. Hence, a 

small difference compared across a large number of respondents would produce a large t statistic. 

A second hazard in reporting statistical tests is the possibility that one can report a “false 

positive” or Type I error. In the case of a t statistic, this false positive would result when a 

difference measured with a particular sample showed a statistically significant difference when 

there is no difference in the underlying population. Statistical tests are designed to control this 

type of error, denoted by alpha. The alpha level of .05 selected for findings in this report 

indicates that a difference of a certain magnitude or larger would be produced no more than one 

time out of twenty when there was no actual difference in the quantities in the underlying 

population. When we test hypotheses that show t values at the .05 level or smaller, we treat this 

finding as rejecting the null hypothesis that there is no difference between the two quantities. 

However, there are other cases when exercising additional caution is warranted. When there are 

significant results not indicated by any hypothesis being tested or when we test a large number of 

comparisons in a table, Type I errors cannot be ignored. For example, when making paired 

comparisons among different fields of study, the probability of a Type I error for these 

comparisons taken as a group is larger than the probability for a single comparison. 

Linear Trends 

While many descriptive comparisons in this report were tested using Student’s t statistic, 

some comparisons among categories of an ordered variable with three or more levels involved a 

test for a linear trend across all categories (in particular for persistence risk index and income), 

 

7 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, A Note from the Chief Statistician, no. 2, 1993. 

8 Ibid. 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

77 

rather than a series of tests between pairs of categories. In this report, when differences among 

percentages were examined relative to a variable with ordered categories, Analysis of Variance 

(ANOVA) was used to test for a linear relationship between the two variables. To do this, 

ANOVA models included orthogonal linear contrasts corresponding to successive levels of the 

independent variable. The squares of the Taylorized standard errors (that is, standard errors that 

were calculated by the Taylor series method), the variance between the means, and the 

unweighted sample sizes were used to partition total sum of squares into within- and betweengroup sums of squares. These were used to create mean squares for the within- and betweengroup variance components and their corresponding F statistics, which were then compared with 

published values of F for a significance level of .05.9 Significant values of both the overall F and 

the F associated with the linear contrast term were required as evidence of a linear relationship 

between the two variables. Means and Taylorized standard errors were calculated by the DAS. 

Unweighted sample sizes are not available from the DAS and were provided by NCES. 

Multivariate Commonality Analysis 

Many of the independent variables included in the analyses in this report are related, and to 

some extent the pattern of differences displayed in the descriptive tables reflect a common 

variation. For example, when examining the degree attainment by multiple institution attendance 

patterns, some of the observed relationship may be due to differences in other factors related to 

attending multiple institutions, such as attendance intensity and persistence risk factors. 

However, if nested tables were used to present the influence of all related factors, cell sizes 

would become too small to find the significant differences in patterns. When the sample size 

becomes too small to include another level of variation, other methods must be used to take such 

variation into account. 

The method in this report uses multiple linear regression to adjust for the common variation 

among a list of independent variables.10 This approach is sometimes referred to as commonality 

analysis11 because it identifies lingering relationships after adjustment for common variation. 

This method is used simply to confirm statistically significant associations observed in the 

bivariate analysis while taking into account the interrelationship of the independent variables. 

The analysis is not based on a theoretical model or used to establish causal inferences and the 

 

9 More information about ANOVA and significance testing using the F statistic can be found in any standard textbook on 

statistical methods in the social and behavioral sciences. 

10 For more information about least squares regression, see Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Applied Regression: An Introduction, 

Vol. 22 (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1980); William D. Berry and Stanley Feldman, Multiple Regression in 

Practice, Vol. 50 (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1987). 

11 For more information about commonality analysis, see Kerlinger and Pedhazur, Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research 

(Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., 1973). 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

78 

regression model is not reduced. In other words, subsequent models were not run that removed 

nonsignificant independent variables. Significant coefficients reported in the regression tables 

indicate that when the variable is deleted from the model, it results in a non-zero change in Rsquared, which is the basis of the commonality analysis. In other words, a significant coefficient 

means that the independent variable has a relationship that is unique, or distinct from the 

independent variables’ common relationship with other independent variables in the model. 

As discussed in the section “Data Analysis System” above, all analyses included in PEDAR 

reports must be based on the DAS, which is available to the public on-line 

(http://www.nces.ed.gov/DAS). Exclusively using the DAS in this way provides readers direct 

access to the findings and methods used in the report so that they may replicate or expand on the 

estimates presented. However, the DAS does not allow users access to the raw data, which limits 

the range of covariation procedures that can be used. Specifically, the DAS produces correlation 

matrices, which can be used as input in standard statistical packages to produce least squares 

regression models. This means that logit or probit procedures, which are more appropriate for 

dichotomous dependent variables, cannot be used.12 However, empirical studies have shown that 

when the mean value of a dichotomous dependent variable falls between 0.25 and 0.75 (as it does 

in this analysis), regression and log-linear models are likely to produce similar results.13

The independent variables analyzed in this study and subsequently included in the 

multivariate model were chosen based on the descriptive analysis rather than on a theoretical 

model. Before conducting the study, a detailed analysis plan was reviewed by a Technical 

Review Panel (TRP) of experts in the field of higher education research and additional 

independent variables requested by the TRP were considered for inclusion. The analysis plan 

listed all the independent variables to be included in the study. The TRP also reviewed the 

preliminary results as well as the first draft of this report. The analysis plan and subsequent report 

were modified based on TRP comments and criticism. 

Missing Data and Adjusting for Complex Sample Design 

The DAS computes the correlation matrix using pairwise missing values. In regression 

analysis, there are several common approaches to the problem of missing data. The two simplest 

 

12 See John H. Aldrich and Forrest D. Nelson, “Linear Probability, Logit and Probit Models” (Quantitative Applications in 

Social Sciences, Vol. 45) (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1984). Analysts who wish to estimate other types of models can apply for a 

restricted data license from NCES. 

13 See for example, L.A. Goodman, “The Relationship Between Modified and Usual Multiple-Regression Approaches to the 

Analysis of Dichotomous Variables,” pp. 83–110 in David Hoise, ed., Sociological Methodology (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 

1976); and D. Knoke, “A Comparison of Log-Linear and Regression Models for Systems of Dichotomous Variables” 

(Sociological Methods and Research, Vol. 3: Sage, 1975). 
Appendix B—Technical Notes and Methodology 

79 

approaches are pairwise deletion of missing data and listwise deletion of missing data. In 

pairwise deletion, each correlation is calculated using all of the cases for the two relevant 

variables. For example, suppose you have a regression analysis that uses variables X1, X2, and 

X3. The regression is based on the correlation matrix between X1, X2, and X3. In pairwise 

deletion, the correlation between X1 and X2 is based on the nonmissing cases for X1 and X2. 

Cases missing on either X1 or X2 would be excluded from the calculation of the correlation. In 

listwise deletion, the correlation between X1 and X2 would be based on the nonmissing values 

for X1, X2, and X3. That is, all of the cases with missing data on any of the three variables 

would be excluded from the analysis. 

The correlation matrix produced by the DAS can be used by most statistical software 

packages as the input data for least squares regression. The DAS provides either the SPSS or 

SAS code necessary to run least squares regression models. The DAS also provides additional 

information to incorporate the complex sample design into the statistical significance tests of the 

parameter estimates. Most statistical software packages assume simple random sampling when 

computing standard errors of parameter estimates. Because of the complex sampling design used 

for the survey, this assumption is incorrect. A better approximation of their standard errors is to 

multiply each standard error by the design effect associated with the dependent variable 

(DEFT),14 where the DEFT is the ratio of the true standard error to the standard error computed 

under the assumption of simple random sampling. It is calculated by the DAS and displayed with 

the correlation matrix output. 

Interpreting the Results 

The least squares regression coefficients displayed in the regression tables are expressed as 

percentages. Significant coefficients represent the observed differences that remain between the 

analysis group (such as those who co-enrolled) and the comparison group (did not co-enroll) after 

controlling for the relationships of all the selected independent variables. For example, in table 5, 

the least squares coefficient for those who co-enrolled is 12.7. This means that compared to those 

who did not co-enroll, about 13 percent more of the group who co-enrolled would be expected to 

attain a degree or be enrolled in a 4-year institution, after controlling for the relationships among 

all the other independent variables. 

 

14 The adjustment procedure and its limitations are described in C.J. Skinner, D. Holt, and T.M.F. Smith, eds., Analysis of 

Complex Surveys (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989).