In the autumn of 2017 there were 2,213 new entrants in three year Bachelor’s degree programmes in universities in Iceland. Three years later, 42.3% had graduated on time with a bachelor’s degree. An additional 1.3% had graduated from other tertiary programmes, such as two-year diploma programmes. A total of 18.3% of those new entrants had dropped out of school or taken a temporary leave from study, while 38.0% were still in education without having graduated. Almost 44% of female and more than 40% of male entrants had graduated from tertiary programmes in three years.
Over seven out of ten new entrants had graduated six years after entering
When comparing the completion rate of new entrants in the autumn of 2017, who had graduated six years after entering and three years after the programme should have been completed, it can be observed that 71.8% of new entrants had graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and 1.7% had graduated from another tertiary programme.
This is a higher graduation rate than in previous data published by Statistics Iceland, both for those entrants who graduated in three years and in six years. At the same time the number of dropouts decreased compared with earlier data, which covered new entrants in 2004, 2011 and 2014. The new entrants in 2017, who graduated in 2020 after three years of study, or by 2023, after six years of study, attended university during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is not clear what effect the pandemic had on the completion rate and dropout of students.
Almost one out of five new entrants had dropped out one year after entry
A total of 18.4% of new entrants in the autumn of 2017 had dropped out in the first year of study, while 80.3% continued studying for a Bachelor’s degree and 1.3% had transferred to another tertiary programme.
One-third of new entrants had graduated from the upper secondary level in the same year
Out of 2,213 new entrants in three year bachelor’s degree programmes in the autumn of 2017, 740 had graduated from the upper secondary level in 2017, or 33.4%. This proportion has been declining since 2011, when it was 42.9%.
Higher completion rate for entrants who have parents with university education
Three years after entering 47.3% of new entrants with tertiary educated parents had graduated from the tertiary level, but 41.1% of new entrants who had parents with basic education, i.e. parents who had completed compulsory education or short programmes at the upper secondary level. The completion rate was lowest among new entrants whose parents have education at the upper secondary level, or 37.4%. Dropout three years after entering was highest for children of parents with upper secondary education, or 23.1%, while it was 15.5% for children of parents with tertiary education.
More students in private schools have graduated in three years
The data on the completion rate and dropout in public and private universities show that three years after entering more students in private schools have graduated, or 50.5%, but 40.8% of students in public schools. Six years after entering, the completion rate is also higher in private schools, or 78.1%, as opposed to 71.6% in public schools.
What is dropout?
Dropout from education can be defined in several ways. The method used for these data is to follow up on new entrants in full-time study in the autumn after three and six years, the so-called cohort rate.
About the data
New entrants in these data are students who were registered in three-year bachelor’s degree programmes in the autumn for the first time since the start of the Statistics Iceland student register in 1975. These data include all Icelandic citizens in full-time education in the first year of study. Full-time is defined as being registered for 75% or more of a full-time study load. Graduates are those who have graduated from the tertiary level three years and six years after entering. Students still in education are those students who are studying in tertiary education in Iceland in the autumn, who have not graduated.
These data are based on OECD definitions on completion rate and dropout. Last September, the organisation published comparable data for member countries.
The methodology used for these data is different from the methodology used to compute the completion rate at the tertiary level, which has been published on the Statistics Iceland’s website every two years. Those numbers include both new entrants in full-time and part-time study and both Icelandic and foreign citizens.