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In the state supplement to the National Student Clearinghouse's sixth Signature Report, a national study on college completion, the authors take a state-by-state look at the various pathways that students take to complete a college degree or certificate. The results are displayed in three sets of tables organized by institution type, showing each state's outcomes for students who started postsecondary education at four-year public institutions, two-year public institutions, and four-year private nonprofit institutions. Each set of tables provides state-level overviews of college completion outcomes. Further results are included, showing state-level six-year outcomes for students. Among the study's findings are: (1) Nationally, 13% of students who started at four-year public institutions completed at an institution other than the starting institution. In 18 states, students who started at four-year public institutions had a higher completion rate elsewhere, with Minnesota having the highest rate at 26 percent followed by Missouri and Nebraska each with 19 percent; (2) 3.6 percent of all students who started at a four-year public institution received their first degree/certificate at a two-year institution. The rate was over five percent in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; (3) In seven states, more than 20 percent of the students who started in two-year public institutions completed at a four-year institution (with or without first receiving a credential at a two-year institution) within six years, with Kansas having the highest rate at 26 percent followed by Virginia at 23 percent; and (4) In 14 states, at least one in every five women who started at two-year public institutions completed at a four-year institution. Only in three states did at least 20 percent of men who started in a two-year public institution complete at a four-year institution. [This report is a supplement to "Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates, Fall 2007 Cohort. (Signature Report No. 6)" (ED596257).]

College completion, earning a degree or certificate, is considered to be a key college success outcome, supported by every educational policymaker. Yet, institutions and policymakers in the U.S. know surprisingly little about the rates of completion for students who follow all but the most traditional of postsecondary pathways. This is because traditional graduation rate calculations are institution based and only count students who finish at the same institution where they started. Building on findings from previous reports in the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's "Signature Report" series, this new report measures this key college success outcome--rates of first completion--encompassing postsecondary credentials of all levels and types at any institution in any state, whether it is the first, second, third, or more, attended. This report draws on the Clearinghouse database's near-census national coverage of enrollments and awarded degrees to explore the six-year outcomes of a cohort of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who started in fall 2006 (N=1,878,484). It enhances the traditional graduation rate by reporting in four key ways: (1) Student completion anywhere, beyond institutional boundaries, across state lines, and over time; (2) Persistence anywhere, not just at the starting institution, for those who have not yet completed but are still pursuing a degree; (3) College outcomes broken out by student age at first entry and enrollment intensity, thus addressing questions about the role of students' varied postsecondary pathways in progress toward national completion goals; and (4) Enrollment intensity based on the enrollment status in all terms of enrollment, and not just the first term. Specifically, this report examines: (1) Six-year college outcomes, including the first instance of degree or certificate completion (first completion), persistence, and stop-out. Outcomes are broken out by students' age at first entry, students' enrollment intensity, enrollment intensity within each age group, and type of starting institution; (2) Six-year college outcomes for students who started at four-year public institutions, at two-year public institutions, at four-year private nonprofit institutions, and at four-year private for-profit institutions; and (3) Patterns of completion across state lines, broken out by students' enrollment intensity, students' age at first entry, and enrollment intensity within each age group. The findings presented in this report show that within six years, 12.1 percent of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who enrolled in fall 2006 completed a degree or certificate at an institution other than their starting institution, raising the overall completion rate from 42.0 percent to 54.1 percent. Mixed enrollment students completed at an institution other than their starting institution at a higher rate (14.6 percent) than exclusively full-time (10.6 percent) and exclusively part-time (3.1 percent) students. Appended are: (1) Methodological Notes; (2) Coverage Tables; and (3) Results Tables. (Contains 29 figures, 34 tables, and 5 footnotes.)