4-Year Grad Rate

Colleges and Universities A-Z Drexel University
1

<p>Why is the 4-year grad rate (27% according to collegeapps) so low at Drexel?</p>

2

<p>Because the vast majority of Drexel student participate in Drexel’s five-year 3 co-op program. If you’re unfamiliar with this program, definitely look it up online, but here’s a picture that goes along with my attempt to explain it:
<a href=“http://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Images/coresite/Drexel-Difference/co_op_chart.ashx”>http://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Images/coresite/Drexel-Difference/co_op_chart.ashx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Drexel uses a quarter system, instead of traditional university semesters. Each quarter is 10-11 weeks long. In your first, freshman year as a Drexel student, you go to school for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. You’ll spend about 32 weeks in school (not including breaks between quarters), and then you will have vacation for the summer term. Basically, you have the same freshman year experience as most other universities do. </p>

<p>After that, things start to get slightly different. If you are on the five year program, as many students are, for the next three years, you will spend two quarters (about six months) on Co-Op, and the other two quarters in school, taking classes. Co-Op is a six-month period of work you complete as a means of getting relevant job experience in your field. Co-Ops are generally paid and are great way to gain experience that is invaluable in the real world, but also to learn outside of the classroom and really see your career and industry first-hand. </p>

<p>After those three years, you’ll spend another three quarters in school (Fall, Winter, Spring) and then graduate. Essentially, you are graduating a year after your high school peers who attended four year programs. However, you have an invaluable 18 months of real-world work experience. In many cases, students even find jobs with employers that had hired them for co-ops. </p>

<p>Alternatively, Drexel does offer a four year program. Instead of doing three co-ops in your 2nd,3rd,4th years, you just do one co-op in your 3rd year. This program is still great because you get a valuable 6 months of real world experience before you graduate, but you graduate on the same schedule as your peers from high school.</p>

<p>Because most students are in the five year program, the four year graduation rate is quite low, and thus not really too accurate.</p>