An analysis of federal data by analytics software company Burning Glass Technologies finds that about 50 percent of programs that first graduated students in the 2012-13 or 2013-14 academic years reported five or fewer conferrals in 2018.
In “Bad Bets: The High Cost of Failing Programs in Higher Education,” Burning Glass also reports that two-thirds of new programs produced 10 or fewer graduates in 2018.
“Many colleges and universities are rushing new degree programs into place, hoping to draw in new students and the revenue they bring,” Burning Glass writes. “But that strategy will only work if those new programs cover their costs, which we estimate can conservatively run to $2 million over four years.”
Education Dive has more.
