The second edition of Sallie Mae's How America Completes College 2024 report focuses on the experiences of current undergraduate students and considers real-time barriers to graduation.  This year's report identifies key factors impacting a student's journey from accessing higher education to completing their degree of program of study.  

Key findings include:

• At-risk students are more likely to be the first in their family to attend college.
• At-risk students were more likely to grow up in lower-income households.
• At-risk students are more likely to work off campus and work more hours.  
• At-risk students are nearly three times more likely to have transferred schools.
• Finances, change in motivation and mental health are the top reasons at-risk students have considered leaving school.

Read the full study here.  

Key Findings:

1. Offer both degree and non-degree options to attract online college students.
2. Offer credit for prior experience as a way to attract students.
3. Pay particular attention to reenrolling students who have stopped out.
4. Include marketing messaging related to career advancement.
5. Feature flexible study options within online programs.

Download the full report here.  

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources published highlights from their 2023-24 survey.

2023-24 Key Findings

• Median pay increases for most higher education employees in 2023-24 continued the trend of the historically high pay increases seen last year.
• This is the first year since the pandemic that median pay increases (for most employee categories) exceeded the inflation rate.
• Non-tenure-track teaching faculty received their highest raise in the past eight years.
• Staff (generally non-exempt employees) received the highest increase in pay in comparison to other workforce areas. This was true last year as well.
• Tenure-track faculty continued to receive the lowest pay increases (and were the only group of employees whose raise did not surpass inflation).