How America Completes College 2022 - College Completion Study Key Insights

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

How America Completes College 2022 examines the factors shaping a student’s journey from accessing higher education to completing a degree or program. The study compares Completers—those who entered and graduated—with Non-Completers—those who entered but left without earning a credential. It identifies barriers to completion and highlights opportunities to support students and families, based on an English online survey fielded between February 2 and February 22, 2022.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages46

Reading Time1 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Key Insights

Who are the Completers and Non-Completers?

Reasons for leaving school

Two in 10 Non-Completers plan to return to college in the next five years

Conclusion

Technical Notes

Data Tables

2022 Completes College Understanding What Helps Students Graduate Conducted by Ipsos Start smart. Learn big.SM How America Completes College 2022 Sallie Mae | Ipsos ii We are on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journeys—helping them plan and pay for college, earn their degrees, and feel ready for what’s next. As the leader in private education lending, we provide financing and expertise to support college access and completion. We believe college should be affordable, equitable, and accessible for all students, and we’re committed to making that a reality. By offering free resources, we make planning and paying for college simpler, helping students find the right college fit, giving them a quicker way to complete the FAFSA®, and personalized support in setting and reaching their financial goals. We also offer a suite of loan products for undergraduates and graduates to help families achieve their goal of higher education. Students and families want help navigating this important time in their lives. We’re committed to helping them understand their options, make smart choices, and set themselves up for success now and in the future. Ipsos is the world’s third-largest insightsand analytics company. Our team of 18,000 across 90 countries serves 5,000 clients and undertakes 70,000 different projects each year. Our polling practice is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research. As a global research and insights organization, Ipsos aims to make our changing world easier and faster to navigate and to inspire our clients to make smarter decisions. We are committed to driving the industry with innovative, best-in-class research techniques that are meaningful in today’s connected society. We deliver research with security, speed, simplicity, and substance. Our tagline “Game Changers” summarizes our ambition. Our broad range of industry experts offers an intimate understanding of people, markets, brands, and society. Whether testing communications content, bringing concepts to market, assessing customer experience, or gauging public opinion, Ipsos strives to identify and offer the right solutions to our client’s specific challenges. Ipsos is committed to building an organization dedicated to a single endeavor: providing our clients with the best service, using qualitative or quantitative methods, at local, regional, and international levels. This is what drives us to ask and probe, to subject our hypotheses to rigorous analyses, and, finally, to deliver reliable data and the most effective recommendations in the shortest time possible. FAFSA is a registered service mark of U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. © 2022 Sallie Mae Bank. All rights reserved. Sallie Mae, the Sallie Mae logo, and other Sallie Mae names are service marks or registered service marks of Sallie Mae Bank. All other names and logos used are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Sallie Mae Bank, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America. SMSM MKT16424 0622 How America Completes College 2022 Sallie Mae | Ipsos iii Sallie Mae’s new study, How America Completes College, explores the factors and considerations that impact a student’s journey from accessing higher education to completing their degree or program of study. Specifically, the research focuses on two groups, Completers—those who entered and graduated college, and Non-Completers—those who entered college, but left school without earning a degree. The research compares higher education motivations and perceptions of Completers and Non-Completers, as well as their high school and colle

FAQs

What groups does the study compare?

The research compares Completers and Non-Completers. Completers entered and graduated college, while Non-Completers entered but left school without earning a degree.

How was the research conducted and when?

Results are based on an English online survey conducted between February 2, 2022 and February 22, 2022.

What are the study’s main goals?

The study identifies barriers to college completion and highlights opportunities to support students and families as they work toward a degree.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah