It would be better if graduation rates included 8-semester or 12-quarter graduation rates, in order to give a better idea of what graduation rates are like at colleges where doing co-ops or otherwise taking a semester or quarter off school is common.
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When my S was looking at colleges a few years ago, this was one of issues we paid particular attention to when we toured those schools (we visited about 30 of them). We selected a few representative courses and asked CS students and others about what they had to do to register for these courses, if there were any restrictions, whether a waitlist was necessary, the class size, and how many students were typically interested in such a class in any one semester/quarter.
Most colleges, but not all, have some system/process in place for prioritization, etc. which could mean that a student may not be able to take a class in a year s/he wants to take. This has factored into our college selection decision. My S has never had any isssue with any course selection at his college.
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We paid close attention to this as well as we heard horror stories for engineering as well.
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Cooper Union in NYC might be a very cool option. Rose Hulman probably has better outcomes than many colleges that get a lot of love on here. Olin is insanely competitive and very unique. You do get 50% off tuition if admitted automatically. Olin is basically a hub for MIT rejects.
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