ED 428 123 AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION SPONS AGENCY _REPORT-NO ISBN PUB DATE NOTE AVAILABLE FROM PUB TYPE EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT DOCUMENT RESUME TM 029 595 McCormick, Alexander C. Credit Production and Progress toward the Bachelor's Degree: An Analysis of Postsecondary Transcripts for Beginning Students at 4-Year Institutions. Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Reports. MPR Associates, Berkeley, CA. National Center for Education Statistics (ED), Washington, DC. NCES-1999-1- ISBN-0-16-049927-5 1999-02-00 76p. U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328; U.S. Dept. of Education, ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398; Tel: 1-877-4ED-Pubs (Toll-Free). Numerical/Quantitative Data (110) -- Reports Evaluative (142) MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. Academic Records; *Bachelors Degrees; *College Students; *Credits; *Educational Attainment; *Graduation Requirements; Higher Education High School and Beyond (NCES) This report uses postsecondary transcript data for members of the High School and Beyond Sophomore Cohort (students who were sophomores in 1980) to examine progress toward the Bachelor's degree among high school graduates who expected at least a Bachelor's degree, first enrolled at a 4-year institution, and had completed at least 10 semester credits by September 1993. On average, this group, which accounted for 59 of 1980 high school sophomores who had attended a 4-year institution by September 1980, completed about 27 semester hours in their first year. Students enrolled in private, not-for-profit institutions were more likely to complete at least 30 credits. Students' academic preparation and test scores were related to the number of credits they completed in the first year, as was their academic performance in the first year. The number of years students took to cross certain credit thresholds can be used to infer the minimum number of years a student would need to complete a 120- credit Bachelor's degree. Three of four students in the analysis completed a Bachelor's degree, and completion of the degree was more likely for students with higher grade point averages. Other factors related to credit completion are identified. Three appendixes contain reference tables, a glossary, and technical notes and comments on methodology. (Contains 13 tables and 5 figures.) (SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************