Take 5: College graduation rate, job prediction report, and health care insurance

NH Business Review's biweekly snapshot of business and industry statistics

SEO agency Hennessey Digital looked at the graduation rates across all colleges in each state based on data from U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, with New Hampshire ranking No. 19 nationally for college graduation rates at 60.69% — slightly below the national average of 60.92%. The Granite State trails Vermont (No. 5 at 69.80%) by over 9 percentage points, Massachusetts (No. 1 at 75.41%) by nearly 15 points, and Connecticut (No. 3 at 70.77%) by 10 points. Only Maine (No. 21 at 60.09%) performed worse among New England states.

IN a Robert Half survey of more than 2,500 workers on the state of mentorship among U.S. professionals, data revealed that one-third (33%) of respondents serve as mentors to others in their organization, whereas 29% have an informal mentorship in their organization. Additionally, 17% said they were interested in gaining a professional mentor but didn’t have one, with 20% citing zero interest in having a mentor in the workplace.

RESUME templates service Zety released its 2026 Job Predictions Report, revealing employees’ top concerns going into 2026. The greatest concerns for employees were salary not keeping up with inflation (51%) and not finding a job if needed (34%). Burnout or mental health concerns (27%), as well as job security or risk of layoffs (33%), were also a factor.

BEFORE the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care insurance enrollment via the Affordable Care Act exchanges plateaued at around 10.5 million people, but it surged after Congress enhanced the premium subsidies in 2021, according to data presented by the Pew Research Center. About 6.9% of the total U.S. population buys health insurance through the ACA exchanges, with 64.4 million Americans (19.1% of the population) covered by Medicare in 2024 and 59.4 million covered by Medicaid (17.6%).

DATA from WalletHub’s 2026 Economic Index shows that consumers’ stress levels regarding money are slightly lower (-0.1%) in January 2026 compared to the same period last year, but people’s confidence in having a job in the next six months is slightly lower (-0.5%) in January 2026 compared to last year. Making big-item purchases, such as a car (+11%) or a home (+17.6%) in the next six months, also saw increases over last year.