Credential stacking drove 1.1% increase in undergraduate degrees earned last year - Rick Seltzer, Higher Ed Dive

Undergraduate credential earners totaled 3.7 million. That’s up 1.1%, or about 39,000 people, from the number reported in each of the last two years. Growth came from students with prior awards who were stacking credentials. About 1 million students graduating in 2020-21 had prior awards, up 3.9% or 37,800 students from 2019-20. First-time graduates, meanwhile, held steady at 2.69 million after dropping from 2.71 million in 2018-19.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/credential-stacking-drove-11-increase-in-undergraduate-degrees-earned-las/625912/