College students often move before graduating, study finds

Today’s mobile college students are switching schools not just within their state, but outside of it.

A recently released report found that 6 percent of students who started at a four-year college and completed their degree did so in a different state.

The report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said there was an increase, from nine to 12, in the number of states where more than 10 percent of students took this path.

In seven states, more than 20 percent of students who started at a two-year public institution completed a degree at a four-year institution within six years. Kansas, at 26 percent, had the highest rate of students doing so, followed by Virginia at 23 percent.

The report is a follow-up to a study by the center that found that 56 percent of students who started college in 2007 graduated within six years. Among the graduates, 13 percent finished at a college different from where they started.

Researchers gathered the data by tracking students who started college in fall 2007.