Graduate Profile

HIGHLIGHTS

• Of the 442 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 14% were Associate of Applied Science; and 54% were certificates.
• Of the 295 graduates (completers), 51% were from the five-county service area; 36% were from other areas of Colorado; and 12% were from out of state or international.
• Fifty-seven (57) were former high school concurrent students prior to graduation, and 35 graduates received awards while still in high school. 

Awards and Transfer Status

Academic year 2025 (AY 2025) consists of three semesters, Summer and Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.  Northeastern awarded 442 certificates and degrees to 295 graduates (completers).

Of the 442 awards, 31% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 14% were Associate of Applied Science; and 54% were certificates.

The following tables show each specific certificate or degree awarded for AY 2025 compared to the four previous years.                                                                              

As of September 2025, 18% (53) of Northeastern graduates have transferred to four-year universities across Colorado and the United States.  This compares to 9% for 2024 and 19% for 2023.

National Student Clearinghouse collects college enrollment data for the U.S. Department of Education and partners with 99% of all public and private higher education institutions nationwide to assist in providing an accounting of student enrollment and achievement.  The following table shows the universities Northeastern students have chosen to attend. 

Some of the majors listed for these transfer students are International Studies, Quantitative Bioscience Engineering, and Wildlife Law Enforcement to name just a few. 

The following large table shows the follow up on the five-year progress of AY 2020 graduates who transferred out to other universities.  At the time of the AY 2020 Graduate Profile report, 108 had transferred out to 4-year universities.  Today, 122 have completed degrees at other colleges and universities from Colorado and across the U.S.

Majors earned by former Northeastern graduates include Agroecology, Aviation, Juris Doctor (Lawyer), and Marine Biology and Sustainable Aquaculture, to name a few.

The degrees earned for those 122 graduates are shown below.

Of the 295 graduates, 31% (92) were previously high school concurrent (also known as dual enrollment) at Northeastern prior to becoming new college students, and of those, 35 were still in high school.  Fifty-two percent (52%) of this group earned 25 credits or more before becoming new college students. 

The 35 high school students earned a total of 55 awards, 20% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 5% were Associate of Applied Science; and 75% were certificates.

Graduate Demographics

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

Thirty-six percent (36%) 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 61% than for male graduates which was 39%. This compares to 62% and 38% for females and males in AY 2024.  

Female graduates earned 52% of all awards while male graduates earned 48%.  When measuring CTE and Transfer awards, females earned 37% of AA, AS, and AGS awards and 63% CTE; while males earned 26% of AA, AS and AGS awards and 74% CTE awards.  Transfer awards are decreasing for male and female graduates while CTE awards are increasing.  

Of the 295 graduates, 69 (23%) were of Students of Color.  This compares to 26% for AY 2024 and 30% for AY 2023.

Of this group, Hispanic students are the largest ethnicity with 78% (n=54). 

Students of Color earned 110 awards in AY 2025, this is a decrease from 125 awards in AY 2024, and 142 in AY 2023. 

Students of Color represented 23% of all graduates and earned 25% of all awards. This percentage has been improving over the previous three years as groups of students with different demographics should earn the same percentage of awards as their percentage of the total student population.  These percentages for the past two years appear to show that diversity efforts are moving in the right direction. 

Of the 110 awards earned by Students of Color, 23% were Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of General Studies; 13% were Associate of Applied Science and 65% 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., and A.G.S. were earned.  The ideal percentages would be closer to what has been earned by the overall number of graduates.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of AY 2025 graduates were age 24 and under, the remaining 15% were Adult Learners.

Of the 295 graduates, 30% were students who were eligible for Pell grants and 49% 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 lower than in the previous year.  With 442 awards earned, this number is lower than the previous four years.  

Though this report does not follow any cohort of students and only focuses on those who have graduated, areas of this report show student success gaps narrowing with the percentage of awards earned by Students of Color reflecting the same percentage as that of individual Students of Color.   

Possible areas of concern moving forward:

• Male graduates represented 39% of graduates,
• Female graduates represented 61% of graduates yet earned only 52% of all awards,
• Students of Color earned less A.A, A.S., and A.G.S. awards than the overall group of graduates,
• The percentage of Students of Color is decreasing as well as the number of awards.   

Following up on AY 2020 graduates who transferred out to other colleges and universities shows that many students who transferred have earned bachelor’s and master’s 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.