@Atlanta68 you are likely correct that the differential in graduation rates of need-based aid students in comparison to those who don’t qualify for need-based aid has more to do with academic preparedness rather than finances, or as I suspect it could be a mixture of the two. I’m uncertain which issue is the predominate cause.
In any event, 88.3% graduation rate for the UA Honors College students is fantastic. The average graduation rate of the 50 public schools honors programs profiled in A Review of Public University Honors Programs is 89% - so for all intents and purposes there is no meaningful distinction between the graduation of Bama’s Honor College students and those of the other top 50 public honors colleges. Keep in mind also that,according to Public University Honors, Bama has “the largest honors college or program on one campus” somewhere between 5,500-6,000 students. In comparison LSU is 1,491; UGA is 2,250; A&M is 1,385 and Tennessee is 1,585. The mean enrollment of the top 50 public honors programs is 1,714.
I think its harder to maintain a high graduation rate when you have more students. That’s why I’m not blown away by the graduation rates of the private selective schools. The entire student body of a school like Rice University is 3,926; Dartmouth is 4,289, CalTech is 983 and each one of those students is 32+ACT/2100+SAT. Its much easier to have an impressive graduation rate when the entire student body is dwarfed by most state schools entering freshmen class.