Graduate Profile

HIGHLIGHTS

• Of the 490 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 14% were Associate of Applied Science; and 54% were certificates.
• Of the 337 graduates (completers), 54% were from the five-county service area; 33% were from other areas of Colorado; and 12% were from out of state or international.
• Sixty-five (65) were former high school concurrent students prior to graduation, and 22 graduates received awards while still in high school. 

Awards and Transfer Status

Academic year 2024 (AY 2024) consists of three semesters, Summer and Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.  Northeastern awarded 490 certificates and degrees to 337 graduates (completers).

Of the 490 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 14% were Associate of Applied Science; and 54% were certificates.

The following tables show each specific certificate or degree awarded for AY 2024 compared to the four previous years.                                                                              

As of September 2024, 9% (32) of Northeastern graduates have transferred to four-year universities across Colorado and the United States.  This compares to 19% for 2023, 10% for 2022 and 16% for 2021.

National Student Clearinghouse collects college enrollment data for the U.S. Department of Education and partners with 99% of all public and private higher education institutions nationwide to assist in providing an accounting of student enrollment and achievement.  The following table shows the universities Northeastern students have chosen to attend. 

Some of the majors listed for these transfer students are Equine Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Sports Management to name just a few. 

The following large table shows the follow up on the five-year progress of AY 2019 graduates who transferred out to other universities.  At the time of the AY 2019 Graduate Profile report, 108 had transferred out to 4-year universities.  Today, 136 have completed degrees at other colleges and universities from Colorado and across the U.S.

Majors earned by former Northeastern graduates include Biosystem Engineering, Quantitative Economics and Econometrics, and Audiology/Speech Language Science to name a few.

The degrees earned for those 136 graduates are shown below. 

Of the 337 graduates, 19% (65) were previously high school concurrent (also known as dual enrollment) at Northeastern prior to becoming new college students.  Thirty-two percent (32%) of this group earned 25 credits or more before becoming new college students. 

In AY 2024, 22 students who were still in high school received awards, mostly in Nursing and Automotive Technology.   

Graduate Demographics

Fifty-four percent (54%) of graduates came from Northeastern service area counties of Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma.  This percentage has increased from 53% in AY 2023 and AY 2022.

Thirty-three percent (33%) came from other areas of Colorado and 12% came from out of state or were international students.   

For AY 2024, the percentage of female graduates was higher at 62% than for male graduates which was 38%.  This compares to 59% and 41% for females and males in AY 2023.  

For AY 2024, female graduates earned 53% of all awards while male graduates earned 47%.  When measuring CTE and Transfer awards, females earned 34% of AA, AS, and AGS awards and 66% CTE; while males earned 27% of AA, AS and AGS awards and 73% CTE awards.  When compared to the previous year, females and males have earned more CTE and less transfer awards.  Male graduates are framed in the boxes below to show the contrast between Transfer and CTE awards earned. 

Of the 337 graduates, 89 (26%) were of Students of Color.  This compares to 27% for AY 2023 and 22% for AY 2022.

Of this group, Hispanic students are the largest ethnicity with 73% (n=89). 

Students of Color earned 125 awards in AY 2024, this is a decrease from 142 awards in AY 2023. 

Students of Color represented 26% of all graduates and earned 26% of all awards. This percentage has been improving over the previous three years as groups of students with different demographics should earn the same percentage of awards as their percentage of the total student population.  These percentages for the past two years appear to show that diversity efforts are moving in the right direction. 

Of the 125 awards earned by Students of Color, 24% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 14% were Associate of Applied Science and 62% were certificates.  These percentages show that a larger percentage of certificates were earned by Students of Color than the overall group of graduates, while a lower percentage of A.A., A.S., and A.G.S. were earned.  The ideal percentages would be closer to what has been earned by the overall number of graduates.

Eighty percent (80%) of AY 2024 graduates were age 25 and under, the remaining 20% were Adult Learners.

Of the 337 graduates, 34% were students who were eligible for Pell grants and 49% identified themselves as first generation (meaning their parent(s) or guardian(s) did not earn a bachelor’s degree).

Conclusion

In AY 2024, the number of Northeastern graduates (completers) was lower than in the previous year.  With 490 awards earned, this number is lower than the previous four years.  

Though this report does not follow any cohort of students and only focuses on those who have graduated, areas of this report show student success gaps narrowing with the percentage of awards earned by Students of Color reflecting the same percentage as that of individual Students of Color.   

Possible areas of concern moving forward:

• Male graduates represented 38% of graduates and are earning less transfer awards, 
• Female graduates represented 62% of graduates yet earned only 53% of all awards,
• Students of Color earned less A.A, A.S., and A.G.S. awards that the overall group of graduates.   

Following up on AY 2019 graduates who transferred out to other colleges and universities shows that many students who transferred have earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, which is evidence of the success of Northeastern’s mission in helping graduates to continue achieving their educational goals. 

It should also be noted that over the past few years since this data has been introduced to this report, the number of graduates transferring into universities has increased in the five-year time period since leaving Northeastern indicating that while the percentage is lower right after graduation, it does seem to increase a few years later.  This could be an indication that while some graduates may not have planned to attain more education after earning an award from Northeastern, they are ending up in other universities and earning more awards.

Northeastern continues to work toward closing equity gaps while continuing to face the challenges of a changing higher education landscape.