When high-paying jobs are relatively easy to find, some students opt to work for a while rather than go to school. Further, ACT data reveal a growing disparity between students' expectations for college and their readiness for college-level work. A lack of structured assistance for students at lower levels of preparedness may result in increased numbers of dropouts or transfers. Record lows in bold. 1984 data unavailable.
Students attending two-year colleges also continue to leave in less than a year at greater rates.
These institutions report that a new high of 44.6 percent of first-year students did not return for a second year, an increase of 1.4 percent since 1983. Private institutions have contributed slightly more than public institutions to the increase. Record highs in bold. 1984 data unavailable. The data reported in this release and in ACT's annual compilations of national dropout and graduation rates are derived from information reported to ACT by the majority of the nation's accredited postsecondary institutions.