Graduate Profile

HIGHLIGHTS

• Of the 579 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 12% were Associate of Applied Science; and 57% were certificates.
• Of the 392 graduates (completers), 49% were from the five-county service area; 39% were from other areas of Colorado; and 12% were from out of state or international.
• One hundred sixty one (161) were former high school concurrent students prior to graduation, and 69 graduates received awards while still in high school. 

Awards and Transfer Status

Academic year 2026 (AY 2026) consists of three semesters, Summer and Fall 2025 and Spring 2026.  Northeastern awarded 579 certificates and degrees to 392 graduates (completers).

Of the 579 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 12% were Associate of Applied Science; and 57% were certificates.         

The following tables show each specific certificate or degree awarded for AY 2026 compared to the previous four years.                                                  

As of September 2026, 23% (91) of Northeastern graduates have transferred to four-year universities across Colorado and the United States.  This compares to 18% for 2025 and 9% for 2024.

The following table shows the universities Northeastern students have chosen to attend.  Some of the majors listed for these transfer students are Agronomy, Criminal Justice, and Political Science to name just a few.  Transfer data is gathered from the National Student Clearinghouse.

The following large table shows the follow up on the five-year progress of AY 2021 graduates who transferred out to other universities.  At the time of the AY 2021 Graduate Profile report, 59 had transferred out to 4-year universities.  Today, 118 have completed degrees at other colleges and universities from Colorado and across the U.S.

The degrees earned for those 118 graduates are shown below.  Those who earned awards from two-year colleges are shown at the beginning of the table, those who earned master’s degrees are shown three fourths down in the table, and the doctoral degree earned is at the end of the table.

Of the 392 graduates, 41% (161) were previously high school concurrent (also known as dual enrollment) at Northeastern prior to becoming new college students, and of those, 69 were still in high school.  This represents a 75% increase from the previous year due to the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Cosmetology program emphasis for high school students last year.

The 69 high school students earned a total of 69 awards, 20% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 67% were CNA and Cosmetology certificates; and 13% were various certificates and an AAS degree.

Graduate Demographics

Forty-nine percent (49%) of graduates came from Northeastern service area counties of Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma.  This percentage decreased from 51% in AY 2025, and 54% in AY 2024.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) came from other areas of Colorado and 12% came from out of state or were international students.

The percentage of female graduates was higher at 63% than for male graduates which was 37%. This compares to 61% and 39% for females and males in AY 2025.  

Female graduates earned 53% of all awards while male graduates earned 47%.  When measuring CTE and Transfer awards, females earned 34% of AA, AS, and AGS awards and 66% CTE; while males earned 27% of AA, AS and AGS awards and 73% CTE awards.  Transfer awards are decreasing for male and female graduates while CTE awards are increasing.  

Of the 392 graduates, 102 (26%) were of Students of Color.  This compares to 23% for AY 2025 and 26% for AY 2024.

Of this group, Hispanic students are the largest ethnicity with 88% (n=90). 

Students of Color earned 131 awards in AY 2026, this is an increase from 110 awards in AY 2025, and 125 in AY 2024. 

Students of Color represented 26% of all graduates and earned 23% of all awards. This percentage decreased in AY 2026, while in the four previous years it had been increasing or staying even. Groups of students with different demographics should earn the same percentage of awards as their percentage of the total student population.

Of the 131 awards earned by Students of Color, 30% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 9% were Associate of Applied Science and 61% were certificates.  These percentages show that Students of Color earned a larger percentage of certificates than the overall group of graduates, while a lower percentage of A.A., A.S., A.G.S., and A.A.S. were earned.  The ideal percentages would be closer to what has been earned by the overall number of graduates.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of AY 2026 graduates were age 24 and under, the remaining 12% were Adult Learners.

Of the 392 graduates, 30% were students who were eligible for Pell grants and 52% identified themselves as first generation (meaning their parent(s) or guardian(s) did not earn a bachelor’s degree).

Conclusion

The number of Northeastern graduates (completers) was higher than in the previous four years.  With 579 awards earned, this number represents a 31% increase over AY 2025.  

Though this report does not follow any cohort of students and only focuses on those who have graduated, there are areas of the report that show increases and decreases.

Possible areas of concern moving forward:

• Male graduates represented 37% of graduates, 
• Female graduates represented 63% of graduates yet earning only 53% of all awards,
• Students of Color earning less awards than their overall percentage of the entire group of graduates,

Following up on AY 2021 graduates who transferred out to other colleges and universities shows that many students who transferred have earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees which is evidence of the success of Northeastern’s mission in helping graduates to continue achieving their educational goals. 

It should also be noted that over the past few years since this data has been introduced to this report, the number of graduates transferring into universities has increased in the five-year time period since leaving Northeastern indicating that while the percentage is lower right after graduation, it does seem to increase a few years later.  This could be an indication that while some graduates may not have planned to attain more education after earning an award from Northeastern, they are ending up in other universities and earning more awards.

This is important because other reports have shown that Colorado learners earning bachelor’s degrees will, on average, earn over $ 8,000 more per year after 10 years of experience, which adds up to a significant amount of money over a lifetime of working. 

Northeastern continues to work toward closing equity gaps while continuing to face the challenges of a changing higher education landscape.