Post-secondary Enrollment and Graduate Retention

Public, Post-secondary Education

Public, post-secondary education in Kansas is composed largely of three types of institutions: four-year universities, community colleges, and technical colleges.

Four-year universities primarily provide students with baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees and, with the exception of Washburn University, are governed by the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). Community and technical colleges primarily provide associate degrees and certificate programs. They are governed by KBOR and directly overseen by their individual board of trustees or board of directors.

Post-secondary Enrollment

Overall

Public colleges and universities in Kansas have seen a collective 9.9 percent decline in headcount enrollment from academic year (AY) 2017 to AY 2022, and a full-time equivalent enrollment decline of 10.5 percent for AY 2017 to AY 2022.

Four-year Universities

Enrollment at public, four-year universities, including Washburn University, from AY 2017 to AY 2022 declined by 3.6 percent. The greatest decline occurred at Kansas State University, with a 14.1 percent decrease from 25,777 to 22,133 students. The greatest growth occurred at Wichita State University, which grew by 14.4 percent from 16,913 to 19,346 students.

Community Colleges

Enrollment at community colleges from AY 2017 to AY 2022 declined by 19.2 percent. The greatest decline occurred at Barton Community College, with a 30.9 percent decrease from 14,736 to 10,187 students. The greatest growth occurred at Pratt Community College, with a 1.2 percent increase from 1,641 to 1,661 students.

Technical Colleges

Enrollment at technical colleges from AY 2017 to AY 2022 grew by 14.1 percent. The largest decline occurred at Washburn Institute of Technology, with a 22.2 percent decrease from 2,074 to 1,614 students. The largest growth occurred at Flint Hills Technical College, with a 73.1 percent increase from 1,432 to 2,479 students.

Headcount Enrollment by Institution Type for Academic Year 2017 – 2022
	AY 2017	AY 2018	AY 2019	AY 2020	AY 2021	AY 2022	% Change AY 17 – 22
State Universities	107,728	107,849	108,039	108,730	106,259	104,712	-2.80%
Washburn University	7,702	7,745	7,527	7,226	6,747	6,529	-15.20%
Community Colleges	114,247	113,182	109,402	104,837	95,926	92,337	-19.20%
Technical Colleges	14,042	15,742	17,342	17,207	15,530	16,026	14.10%
Total	243,719	244,518	242,310	238,000	224,462	219,604	-9.90%

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment by Institution Type for Academic Year 2017-2022
	AY 2017	AY 2018	AY 2019	AY 2020	AY 2021	AY 2022	% Change AY 17-22
State Universities	79,212	78,434	78,085	77,452	75,344	73,474	-7.20%
Washburn University	5,069	5,106	4,994	4,768	4,400	4,280	-15.60%
Community Colleges	47,456	46,776	45,374	43,626	40,638	39,316	-17.20%
Technical Colleges	6,494	7,103	7,522	7,497	6,533	6,711	-16.10%
Total	138,231	137,419	135,975	133,343	126,915	123,781	-10.50%

Post-graduation Retention

Overall

Post-graduate retention is tracked by KBOR utilizing internal data and data from the Kansas Department of Labor to attempt to determine the percentage of graduates who continue to reside in Kansas following completion of their certificate or degree at a public, post-secondary institution. According to this data, approximately 69.0 percent of all students who are awarded certificates or degrees reside in Kansas the year of completion of their award. These numbers decrease year over year, with approximately 54.0 percent of all students who received an award in 2012 still residing in Kansas following their award completion.

Award Breakdown

When broken down by award type, the order of retention from highest to lowest is generally as follows:

• Short-term Certificate;
• Certificate;
• Master’s Degree;
• Associate Degree;
• Bachelor’s Degree; and
• Doctoral Degree.

Short-term certificates generally have post-graduation retention rates of approximately 76.0 percent for graduates the year of completion and approximately 57.0 percent 10 years after completion. Doctoral degrees generally have post-graduation retention rates of approximately 50.0 percent the year of completion and approximately 44.0 percent 10 years after completion.

Institution Type

When broken down by institution type, retention generally follows the pattern seen with award types as state universities, excluding Washburn University, have the lowest retention rate of approximately 66.0 percent the year of award completion and approximately 51.0 percent 10 years after completion. Technical colleges have the highest retention rate, with approximately 77.0 percent the year of award completion and approximately 62.0 percent 10 years after award completion.

The data referenced in this article, and more, can be found on KBOR’s Kansas Higher Education Statistics website.

Percent of All Post-Secondary Graduates Who Reside in Kansas Following Completion of Any Award (2012 – 2021)
Graduation Year	Entry Year	After 1 Year	After 2 Years	After 3 Years	After 4 Years	After 5 Years	After 6 Years	After 7 Years	After 8 Years	After 9 Years	After 10 Years
2012	68.90%	65.90%	63.80%	61.90%	60.30%	58.80%	57.90%	57.10%	55.10%	54.40%	54.00%
2013	69.10%	66.00%	64.10%	62.00%	60.40%	58.90%	57.70%	55.80%	55.10%	54.70%	–
2014	69.70%	66.50%	64.10%	62.40%	60.90%	59.90%	57.70%	56.60%	55.90%	–	–
2015	69.90%	66.30%	64.00%	62.50%	61.20%	59.00%	57.80%	56.80%	–	–	–
2016	69.40%	66.10%	63.80%	62.00%	59.70%	58.40%	57.30%	–	–	–	–
2017	69.10%	65.90%	63.60%	61.10%	60.50%	59.10%	–	–	–	–	–
2018	69.70%	67.00%	63.70%	62.50%	61.20%	–	–	–	–	–	–
2019	71.10%	66.90%	64.80%	63.00%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2020	69.80%	67.20%	65.00%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2021	70.50%	67.70%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–