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Part-Time Students Lag Behind Full-Time Peers, Study Finds

By  Paula Wasley
July 13, 2007

Students who attend college part time are at a disadvantage relative to their full-time peers, according to a report released in June by the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

The report analyzes data from a 2004 national postsecondary student-aid study to create a profile of part-time undergraduates and determine the relationship between part-time study and college persistence and degree attainment.

The researchers found that, even controlling for factors like gender, family income, and educational expectations, part-time students lagged behind full-timers in both areas.

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Students who attend college part time are at a disadvantage relative to their full-time peers, according to a report released in June by the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

The report analyzes data from a 2004 national postsecondary student-aid study to create a profile of part-time undergraduates and determine the relationship between part-time study and college persistence and degree attainment.

The researchers found that, even controlling for factors like gender, family income, and educational expectations, part-time students lagged behind full-timers in both areas.

According to the report, “Part-Time Undergraduates in Postsecondary Education: 2003-4,” 35 percent of undergraduates during the 2003-4 academic year attended college on a part-time basis.

Compared with their full-time counterparts, those students tended to be older, financially independent, and first-generation students. They were also more likely to be female, Hispanic, and less academically prepared; to come from low-income families; and to have lower educational expectations than full-time students.

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A majority of part-time students attended two-year institutions — as compared with 25 percent of full-time students — and were enrolled in associate-degree or nondegree programs. Eighty-three percent worked while enrolled. Of those, more than half worked full time, and 47 percent considered themselves employees first and students second, the study found.

Researchers also profiled a subset of part-time students who, demographically speaking, “looked” like full-timers — those who were 23 years old or younger, financially dependent on their parents, and who had graduated from high school with a regular diploma. Students in that subset (25 percent of the part-time population) were more likely to come from high-income families, to have well-educated parents, and to expect to earn an advanced degree. They were also more likely than other part-time students to be white and male.

Like other part-time students, they were more likely to attend two-year colleges and enroll in nondegree or subbaccalaureate programs.

Unlike their part-time peers, however, the full-time lookalikes tended to place a greater importance on study than on work. Twenty-one percent worked full time while enrolled, and only 11 percent identified themselves primarily as employees.

Still, for both groups, an analysis of data from a separate longitudinal study indicated that part-time enrollment correlated negatively with academic results.

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Researchers found that, in a representative sample of undergraduates who entered college in 1995 and attended exclusively on a part-time basis, only 15 percent had completed a degree or certificate by the end of six years, and none had attained a bachelor’s degree. Seventy-three percent had left college without earning a degree, and 46 percent had left within their first year of study.

By comparison, among the full-time students in the longitudinal study, 64 percent had earned either a degree or a certificate by the end of six years, and 44 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree. Seventy-two percent of the full-time students persisted with their studies, either by earning a degree within six years or by remaining enrolled.


http://chronicle.com Section: Students Volume 53, Issue 45, Page A25

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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