ETS Study Tracks Worrisome Trend in Rate of College Completion

By Debra Viadero

Higher education is becoming like the Bermuda Triangle, says a study by the nation's biggest testing company. Record numbers of students are going in, but most are not coming out.

The report published last month by the Educational Testing Service's Policy Information Center suggests that community colleges are not alone in producing few bachelor's-degree candidates. Four-year colleges and universities also have low--and worsening--graduation rates.

While rising numbers of students have been enrolled on college campuses, the percentage of all 25- to 29-year-olds who have completed four years of college or more has held steady for the past two decades at about 25...