THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:

Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee

FROM:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier

SUBJECT:

Proprietary Colleges in New York State – Higher Education Data

 

DATE:

August 31, 2006

 

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1 and 2

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Discussion

 

A review of higher education data requested by members of the Committee.

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

For information

         

Proposed Handling

 

The Committee will discuss data relating to higher education in areas such as enrollment, student characteristics, performance, degrees awarded, finances and faculty. This discussion will be a prelude to discussing draft regulations concerning admission requirements and the definition of developmental and remedial courses later this year or early in 2007.

 

Procedural History

 

At its May 2006 meeting, the Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee received a report from the Department concerning how proprietary colleges are approved and evaluated in New York State. Within that report, the Department advanced five recommendations, three of which related specifically to proprietary colleges and two of which related to all colleges in New York State.  The Regents endorsed the five recommendations, four of which require regulatory action to implement.

 

At the May meeting, members of the Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee requested additional data concerning the proprietary sector, and comparable data for the other three sectors, to inform their later discussion of draft regulations concerning recommendations four and five.    Specifically, staff was asked for data concerning enrollment, student characteristics, persistence, transfers, graduation rates, degrees awarded, finances and faculty characteristics. 

 

Background Information

 

Over the last few years, the Office of Higher Education has established a risk analysis approach in its review of institutions of higher education. This performance driven strategy allows the Department to focus on those institutions where students could potentially be at risk. Indicators that the quality of education at an institution could be compromised include, but are not limited to, rapid change in enrollment, low graduation and/or persistence rates, student complaints, sudden changes in the proportion of students receiving State and federal aid, proportion of students admitted through an ability-to-benefit provision, and indexing tuition to the amount of State and federal aid made available.

 

Through this approach, a number of proprietary institutions were identified for review and, in some cases, undercover investigations were conducted to determine whether institutions are complying with their own stated admission procedures and the Commissioner’s Regulations.

 

Based upon a number of visits and undercover investigations that took place, significant violations were found, and in one instance, fraudulent practices were identified. The Regents asked the Department to fully examine how the Department approves new institutions to become proprietary colleges in the State and how those institutions are regulated under the Commissioner’s Regulations.

 

The May report to the Committee provided a full review of the history and process for approving proprietary colleges in New York State and advanced five recommendations that related to both proprietary colleges and all colleges. The five recommendations are:

 

1.               Require a transition period before new higher education institutions in New York State are given final authority to award degrees to ensure that standards of quality are upheld and students are appropriately served at proprietary colleges during periods of transition. This recommendation would also limit any expansion during the provisional period.

 

2.               Require that the sale of degree-granting proprietary institutions in New York State be approved by the Education Department prior to purchase and that the new owners demonstrate capacity to meet the education and fiscal standards to operate the institution before ownership is established. Regents approval of the transfer of degree authority to the new institution and/or owner will still be required.

 

3.               Endorse the Department’s legislative strategy to enhance the capacity to monitor the proprietary sector to ensure high standards of educational quality, protect the public’s investment, and to take action in cases where institutions are out of compliance and students could be at risk.

 

4.     Clearly define and differentiate remedial and developmental coursework from credit-bearing college coursework to ensure that students are appropriately prepared to succeed and to graduate.

 

5.     Strengthen admissions policies. Ensure prospective college students, especially those without a high school diploma or GED, have accurate information on the college, job placement, and/or transfer opportunities necessary to make educated enrollment decisions.

 

The Regents endorsed the five recommendations and directed the Department to begin to draft regulations concerning recommendations one and two relating to the awarding of degree authority for proprietary colleges and the sale of proprietary colleges in New York State.  Those draft regulations will be before the Committee for discussion in October.  Draft regulations concerning recommendations four and five relating to admission requirements and the definition of developmental and remedial courses at all institutions of higher education will be developed and advanced to the Regents for discussion later this year or in early 2007. The third recommendation addresses the Regents legislative strategy concerning the monitoring capacity of the Department and does not require regulatory action.

 

After the Regents endorsed the recommendations, a memo was sent to the four higher education sector leaders (SUNY, CUNY, the Association of Proprietary Colleges (APC) and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu)) and all College Presidents and/or Chief Executive Officers of Colleges and Universities in New York State asking for their comments/input on the recommendations. The comments received in response to that memo are being taken into consideration in the drafting of the proposed regulations. 

 

 This report includes the data requested by the Committee concerning all four sectors of higher education which will inform the Committee’s discussion on recommendations four and five later this year.

 

Recommendation

 

N/A

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

          N/A

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Review of Higher Education Data

Comparison of the Four Sectors of Higher Education

 

New York State Education Department

Office of Higher Education

Office of Research and Information Systems (ORIS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2006

 

 

 

 

Commissioner Richard P. Mills

Deputy Commissioner, Office of Higher Education

and Office of the Professions, Johanna Duncan-Poitier

Assistant Commissioner, Office of Quality Assurance, Joseph Frey

Coordinator, Office of Research and Information Systems (ORIS), Glenwood Rowse


Table of Contents

 

Institutions of Higher Education

 

     Table 1 - Degree-Granting Colleges and Universities......................................... 1

     Table 2 - Off-Campus Locations (In-State)....................................................... 2

     Table 3 - Geographic Distribution.................................................................... 3

 

Enrollment and Student Characteristics

 

     Table 4 - Fall Final Degree-Credit Enrollment by Proprietary Institution............... 4

     Table 5 - Degree-Credit Enrollment Growth by Institutional Sector..................... 5

     Table 6 - Full-Time Fall Enrollment Shares by Race/Ethnicity and Gender........... 6

     Table 7 - Part-Time Fall Enrollment Shares by Race/Ethnicity and Gender.......... 8

     Table 8 - First-time Students by Sector and Level........................................... 10

     Table 9 - Admissions of First-Time Applicants by Attendance Level.................. 12

 

Performance

 

     Table 10 - Persistence, 2004........................................................................ 14

     Table 11 - Transfers from Two-Year to Four-Year Institutions......................... 15

     Table 12 - Graduation Rates - Less-than-Baccalaureate................................. 16

     Table 13 - Graduation Rates - Baccalaureate................................................. 17

     Table 14 - Ten Year Graduation Rates.......................................................... 18

     Table 15 - Putting the Pieces Together, Associate and Baccalaureate Graduation Rates 19

 

Degrees Awarded by Sector, Race/Ethnicity and Gender

 

     Table 16 - Associate..................................................................................... 20

     Table 17 - Baccalaureate.............................................................................. 21

     Table 18 - Master’s...................................................................................... 22

     Table 19 - Doctorate.................................................................................... 23

     Table 20 - First-Professional......................................................................... 24

 

Finance

 

     Table 21 - Tuition and Fees........................................................................... 25

     Table 22 - Undergraduate TAP, Pell and Federal Loans by Sector................... 26

     Table 23 - Undergraduate TAP, Pell and Federal Loans by Sector and Level.... 27

 

Faculty

 

   Four-Year Institutions

 

     Table 24 - Full-Time Faculty.......................................................................... 29

     Table 25 - Part-Time Faculty......................................................................... 30

     Table 26 - Full-Time Shares of Faculty........................................................... 31

    

   Two-Year Institutions

 

     Table 27 - Full-Time Faculty.......................................................................... 32

     Table 28 - Part-Time Faculty......................................................................... 33

     Table 29 - Full-Time Shares of Faculty........................................................... 34


New York State

Degree-Granting Colleges and Universities

Sector Descriptions

 

Highlights*

 

Institutions of Higher Education

 

v    Table 1:  New York State has 271 degree-credit colleges of which 42 (15%) are proprietary colleges, 146 (54%) are independent institutions, 64 (24%) are State University of New York (SUNY) colleges and 19 (7%) are The City University of New York (CUNY) colleges.  Most proprietary colleges are two-year colleges (70%) while most of the public and nonprofit private colleges  (60%) are four-year colleges.

 

v    Table 2:  Coursework is offered at over 1,600 off-campus locations in the State greatly increasing the accessibility of higher education.  On average, proprietary colleges have less than one off-campus location each, while independent colleges average seven off-campus locations, CUNY colleges average five, and the SUNY colleges average 16 off-campus locations.

 

v    Table 3:  While proprietary colleges are present in every region of the State, they are more concentrated in New York City than are public or independent colleges.  Over 40% of proprietary college campuses and 70% of their enrollments are in New York City.  Overall, one third of all of the State’s colleges and 40% of the total higher education enrollment are in New York City (3% of SUNY’s enrollment, 100% of CUNY’s enrollment and 44% of the independent sector’s enrollment).

 

Enrollment and Student Characteristics

 

v    Table 4:  Proprietary colleges enrolled just under 50,000 students in 2005 out of the total higher education enrollment in the State of 1.14 million students.  Proprietary colleges are typically quite small, ranging from 38 to 6,070 students in fall 2005.  Half of these colleges had fewer than 500 students and only three had more than 3,000 students. Most proprietary college students attended full-time (86%).

 

v    Table 5:  Proprietary colleges have experienced much greater relative growth in the last ten years than have the other sectors.  Between 1995 and 2005, enrollment increased 8% at public colleges, 15% at independent colleges, and 75% at proprietary colleges.

 

v    Tables 6-7:  In 2005, the proprietary colleges and CUNY each enrolled relatively high proportions of Black and Hispanic students (52-49% of their full-time enrollments respectively) compared to SUNY and the independent colleges (15-16% of full-time enrollments respectively).  All sectors enrolled a similar mix of men and women (53-62% women among full-time students and 61-65% women among part-time students respectively).

 

v    Table 8:  The college-going rate of New York State high school graduates has been increasing.  The percentage enrolling instate increased from 66.9% in 2000 to 72% in 2002.  The percentage enrolling in other states also increased from 12.9% to 14.5% resulting in an overall college going rate in 2002 of 86.5%. 

 

Approximately 3% of New York high school graduates enroll in New York proprietary colleges soon after they graduate from high school compared to 35% for SUNY, 11% for CUNY, and 23% for independent colleges.  The highest proportion of out-of-state students are in the independent sector while CUNY shows the highest percentages of foreign students.  In four-year and two-year colleges, SUNY, CUNY and the proprietary sector enroll 90% or more New York State residents as compared to the independent sector which enrolls 65% in its four-year colleges and over 90% in its two-year colleges.

 

v    Table 9:  Proprietary colleges report similar or slightly higher acceptance rates for full-time students compared to the statewide average.  In 2004, 81% of associate program applicants at two-year proprietary colleges (as compared to 90% for SUNY, 86% for CUNY and 58% for the independent sector) and 72% of the baccalaureate program applicants at four-year proprietary colleges were accepted for full-time study (as compared to 50% for SUNY, 38% for CUNY and 53% for the independent sector).

 

Performance

 

v    Table 10:  At four-year colleges, 80% of full-time, first-time students persist or are still enrolled at the beginning of the second year.  This rate is similar for SUNY (80%), CUNY (78%), and independent colleges (82%) but somewhat lower at proprietary colleges (61%). In two-year colleges, 61% persisted in 2004, statewide, compared to 61% at SUNY, 62% at CUNY, 45% at independent colleges and 57% at proprietary colleges. 

 

v    Table 11:  Substantial numbers of students transfer to four-year institutions without receiving an associate degree.  In 2003, almost 23% transferred from SUNY two-year colleges, 29% from CUNY two-year colleges and 62% from independent two-year colleges. Only about 6% of students in proprietary colleges transfer to four-year institutions without receiving an associate degree.

 

 

 

v    Table 12:  In 2004, average graduation rates from associate programs (within 3 years at the initial institution) at proprietary colleges (30.7%) were above the statewide average (24.4%).  This is in comparison to the three-year graduation rate of associate degree programs for SUNY (26%), CUNY (11%) and the independent sector (37%). However, because the proprietary sector has very few of its students still enrolled after three years (3%), its graduation rate does not increase much after a longer time period. Other sectors have higher percentages of students continuing to work toward a degree after three years.  On average, approximately 25% of program entrants are still enrolled at CUNY after three years. Therefore, when reviewing graduation data, transfer students and the extended graduate rates must be taken into consideration.

 

v    Table 13: In 2004, approximately 48% of proprietary college students graduated from baccalaureate programs within six years at their initial institution compared to 61% statewide.  This is in comparison to the six-year graduation rate for SUNY (59%), CUNY (39%) and the independent sector (66%). Only 2% of the students in the proprietary sector are typically enrolled after this six year baseline period.  Only, CUNY has a higher rate than proprietary colleges with, on average, 10% still enrolled.

 

v    Table 14:  A portion of students at SUNY and CUNY take longer than 150% of program length to earn their degree.  Over 10% of students take 4 to 10 years to earn their associate degrees (at their initial institution) and an additional 3% of baccalaureate program students earn a degree after their sixth year.  Data is not available for the proprietary and independent sectors because too few of these institutions report this data.

 

v    Table 15:  To fully measure graduation rates, it is important to include all paths to obtaining a degree.  It is estimated that, when we combine graduation at the initial institution in the traditional time period with those who take longer and with those who transfer in-state and receive a degree, at least 52% of associate program students and 72% of baccalaureate program students eventually receive a degree somewhere.  The rate is actually higher as some students will transfer out-of-state and receive degrees.

 

Degrees Awarded

 

v    Table 16:  The proprietary colleges awarded over 10,000 associate degrees, or 17% of the 59,000 awarded statewide in 2004-05.  Consistent with the enrollment growth in the sector, this was a 70% increase from 1999-00.  SUNY awarded 30,959, CUNY 9,639 and independent colleges 8,609 associate degrees in 2004-05.  The number of degrees awarded by these sectors increased from 6 to 14%, considerably less than in the proprietary sector. Almost two-thirds of the associate degrees went to women in all sectors.

 

v    Tables 17-20:  Of the 110,305 baccalaureate degrees awarded statewide in 2004-05, 28,690 were awarded by SUNY, 15,349 by CUNY, 63,536 by independent colleges and 2,730 by proprietary colleges.  The majority of all graduate degrees were awarded by independent colleges.  The proprietary colleges awarded 423 master’s degrees compared to 9,186 by SUNY, 6,944 by CUNY, and 45,257 by independent colleges.  SUNY awarded 753 doctoral degrees compared to 298 by CUNY and 3,041 by independent colleges.  Independent colleges also awarded the majority of the first-professional degrees awarded statewide.  Of the 8,866 first-professional degrees awarded, 975 were by SUNY, 144 by CUNY, and 7,747 by independent colleges.  

 

Finance

 

v    Table 21:  On average, the proprietary sector has the highest undergraduate tuition and fees among two-year institutions.  In 2005-06, the average at two-year proprietary colleges, at approximately $12,000, is almost four times that in the public sector ($3,181 at SUNY and $3,093 at CUNY).  The average is also higher than at two-year independent colleges ($9,822). At four-year institutions, the averages were $5,877 at SUNY, $4,309 at CUNY, $20,754 at independent colleges and $14,597 at proprietary colleges.

 

v    Table 22:  Average TAP aid per recipient for each sector reflects differences in the income distribution of students attending each sector.  The average in 2003-04 was $1,984 for SUNY, $2,768 for CUNY, $2,849 for independent colleges, and $3,936 for proprietary colleges. Thus, relatively more students in proprietary colleges have low incomes and consequently receive more TAP aid than in any other sector.

 

In 2003-04, federal loans averaged $3,876 per undergraduate at proprietary colleges compared to $4,547 at independent colleges, $1,612 at SUNY colleges, and $488 at CUNY colleges.

 

v    Table 23:  Four-year proprietary college students are heavy users of student aid.  About 50% of undergraduate students in the proprietary sector received TAP in 2003-04 compared to between 31%-41% in the other sectors.  Similarly, about 56% received Pell compared to between 26%-36% in the other sectors.  In 2003-04, federal loans averaged $4,314 per undergraduate at proprietary colleges compared to $4,573 at independent colleges, $3,018 at SUNY colleges, and $710 at CUNY colleges.  Two-year proprietary college students also have a larger percent of students using student financial aid than do the other sectors.  Approximately 60% of undergraduate students received TAP compared to about 23-50% in the other sectors.  About 80% received Pell compared to 23-65% in the other sectors.  For two year colleges, in 2003-04, federal loans averaged $3,621 per undergraduate at proprietary colleges compared to $3,195 at independent colleges, $583 at SUNY colleges, and $167 at CUNY colleges.

 

Faculty

 

v    Tables 24-26:  In 2005, there were 43,758 full-time faculty and 38,853 part-time faculty at four-year colleges statewide.  Thus, 53% of the faculty were full-time for all institutions.  In the four-year proprietary sector, 24% were full-time, as compared to SUNY (57%), CUNY (44%) and the independent sector (55%).

 

v    Tables 27-29:  In 2005, there were also 6,789 full-time and 13,078 part-time faculty at two-year colleges.  Thus, 34% of the faculty were full-time for all institutions. The full-time/part-time distribution still differs by sector but not as much.  The share of faculty working full-time was 33% at SUNY, 39% at CUNY, 46% at independent colleges, and 30% at proprietary colleges.  The percent full-time declined substantially between 2001 and 2005 for proprietary colleges, grew substantially for CUNY and was relatively stable at SUNY and independent colleges.

 



* The Regents requested additional data on the proprietary sector along with a comparative review of data from the other sectors. The tables present data in the following order: SUNY, CUNY, independent, and proprietary colleges.

 

 

Attachment