More complex college pathways that involve moving across institutions, credentials, or states are associated with longer enrollment times

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The median time it takes for college students to earn their first credential or degree is under four years across undergraduate award types, but many students take longer, especially when their pathways are less continuous, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

The 2026 Time to Degree report found that among the 2.33 million students who earned their first-ever undergraduate degree in 2024-25, median time to degree was 3.7 years (or four academic years) for bachelor’s degrees, 3.0 years for associate degrees, and 2.3 years for certificates.

The report also found that 13.5 percent of bachelor’s earners took seven or more years, as did more than a quarter of associate and certificate earners.

“Students’ pathways through college matter for how long it takes to earn a credential,” said Matthew Holsapple, Senior Director of Research at the National Student Clearinghouse. “Most students complete their first credential in less than four years, but disruptions along the way can impact how long it takes for them to finish.”

Complex pathways lengthened time to completion: Education pathways that involved transferring or attending multiple institutions, earning an award prior to finishing a bachelor’s degree, institution or sector changes, and moving across states, were associated with longer elapsed and active enrolled times (elapsed time minus time spent stopped out).

Stopouts were a major driver of longer completion times: Students who stopped out took longer overall and often needed more active enrolled time to earn an award. A stopout is any break in enrollment lasting more than 123 days—roughly longer than the period between a traditional spring and fall semester. For example, a student who enrolled in fall 2020, stopped enrolling after that term, and returned in fall 2022 would be counted as having a stopout.

Across all award types, the median elapsed time to degree increased with each additional stopout. Among first-time bachelor’s earners, median time to degree rose from 3.7 years for students with no stopouts to 5.1 years for those with one stopout, 7.3 years for those with two stopouts, and more than 10 years for those with three or more stopouts.

By definition, stopping out extends a student’s elapsed time to degree, but stopouts also extend the time students spent actively enrolled. Students who stopped out took additional enrolled terms after returning to complete their degree compared with those who did not stop out. Stopout frequency varied across award types and demographic groups, contributing to disparities in time to degree.  

Stopouts helped explain differences across sectors and student groups: Demographic differences in time to degree were minimal among students who did not stop out. When students did stop out, differences emerged across gender, race and ethnicity, and neighborhood income quintiles.

These findings suggest that differences in stopout patterns help explain a substantial share of the racial and ethnic disparities observed in overall time to degree.

The 2026 Time to Degree report examines the amount of time between a student’s first enrollment in postsecondary education and degree completion, providing additional insight into students’ pathways to a credential. The report uses the median to measure time to degree.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed in 1993. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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SOURCE National Student Clearinghouse